List of world cruiserweight boxing champions explained

This is a chronological list of world cruiserweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:

Championship recognition

No.Reign beganReign endedChampionRecognition
131 March 198025 November 1980 Marvin CamelUniversal

Camel and Mate Parlov fought to a draw in the first Cruiserweight championship bout on 12 August 1979, sanctioned by the World Boxing Council. Camel won the rematch to become champion. Since the WBC was the only sanctioning body to recognize a Cruiserweight division at the time, he is considered by some an undisputed champion.

225 November 198013 February 1982 Carlos De LeónUniversal
313 February 198227 June 1982 Carlos De LeonWBC
413 February 19821 December 1984 Ossie OcasioWBA

Ocasio defeated Robbie Williams in the first Cruiserweight championship bout sanctioned by the World Boxing Association.

527 June 198217 July 1983 S. T. GordonWBC
617 July 19836 June 1985 Carlos De LeónWBC
713 February 19836 October 1984 Marvin CamelIBF

Just as he had done with the WBC title, Camel became the first champion in the division crowned by the International Boxing Federation, defeating Roddy McDonald to win the vacant title.

86 October 198425 October 1986 Lee Roy MurphyIBF
91 December 198427 July 1985 Piet CrousWBA
106 June 198521 September 1985 Alfonso RatliffWBC
1127 July 198512 July 1986 Dwight Muhammad Qawi (Dwight Braxton)WBA
1221 September 198522 March 1986 Bernard BentonWBC
1322 March 19869 April 1988 Carlos De LeónWBC
1412 July 198615 May 1987 Evander HolyfieldWBA
1525 October 198615 May 1987 Rickey ParkeyIBF
1615 May 19879 April 1988 Evander HolyfieldWBA & IBF
179 April 19884 December 19882 Evander HolyfieldUniversal

Holyfield unified his titles with Carlos De Leon's WBC title, making him the division's first truly undisputed champion.

1825 March 198925 September 19892 Taoufik BelbouliWBA

Belbouli defeated Michael Greer to win the vacant title.

1917 May 198927 July 1990 Carlos De LeónWBC

De Leon defeated Sammy Reeson to win the vacant title.

203 June 198922 March 1990 Glenn McCroryIBF

McCrory defeated Patrick Lumumba to win the vacant title.

2127 November 19898 March 1991 Robert DanielsWBA

Daniels defeated Dwight Muhammad Qawi to win the vacant title.

223 December 198917 May 1990 Boone PultzWBO

Pultz defeated Magne Havnå to win the inaugural WBO cruiserweight title.

2322 March 199027 July 19911 Jeff LampkinIBF
2417 May 19901 May 1992 Magne Havnå2WBO
2527 July 199020 July 1991 Massimiliano DuranWBC
268 March 19915 August 19932 Bobby CzyzWBA
2720 July 19917 July 19952 Anaclet WambaWBC
287 September 199130 July 1992 James WarringIBF

Warring defeated James Pritchard to win the vacant title.

2925 July 199213 February 1993 Tyrone BoozeWBO

Booze defeated Derek Angol to win the vacant title.

3030 July 199230 April 19962 Alfred ColeIBF
3113 February 199326 June 1993 Markus BottWBO
3226 June 199317 December 1994 Nestor Hipolito GiovanniniWBO
336 November 199322 July 1995 Orlin NorrisWBA

Norris defeated Marcelo Victor Figueroa to win the vacant title.

3417 December 19941 January 19952 Dariusz MichalczewskiWBO
3510 June 19954 October 1997 Ralf RocchigianiWBO

Rocchigiani defeated Carl Thompson to win the vacant title.

3622 July 19958 November 1997 Nate MillerWBA
3725 July 199521 February 1998 Marcelo DominguezWBC

Dominguez defeated Akim Tafer to win the vacant title.

3831 August 199621 June 1997 Adolpho WashingtonIBF

Washington defeated Torsten May to win the vacant title.

3921 June 19978 November 1997 Uriah GrantIBF
404 October 199727 March 1999 Carl ThompsonWBO
418 November 199730 October 1998 Imamu MayfieldIBF
428 November 19979 December 2000 Fabrice TiozzoWBA
4321 February 199819 February 20022 Juan Carlos GómezWBC
4430 October 19985 June 1999 Arthur WilliamsIBF
4527 March 199922 September 20062 Johnny NelsonWBO
465 June 199926 April 2003 Vassiliy JirovIBF
479 December 200023 February 2002 Virgil HillWBA
4823 February 20022 April 2005 Jean-Marc MormeckWBA
4911 October 20022 April 2005 Wayne BraithwaiteWBC

Braithwaite defeated Vincenzo Cantatore to win the vacant title.

502 April 20057 January 2006 Jean-Marc MormeckWBA & WBC

Upon unifying the WBA and WBC titles against Wayne Braithwaite, the WBA upgraded Mormeck to the title of "super champion" and the "regular" title was declared vacant.

5126 April 20039 December 20032 James ToneyIBF
521 May 200420 May 20052 Kelvin DavisIBF

Davis defeated Ezra Sellers to win the vacant title.

5320 May 20057 January 2006 O'Neil BellIBF

Bell defeated Dale Brown to win the vacant title.

547 January 200631 March 20061 O'Neil BellWBA (super Champion), WBC, & IBF

O'Neil Bell defeated Jean-Marc Mormeck on 7 January 2006, by knockout in round 10, unifying his IBF belt with Mormeck's WBA and WBC belts. That distinction lasted just under three months, as the IBF withdrew its recognition of Bell when Bell failed to reach an agreement to fight the organization's mandatory challenger.

5527 January 200624 November 2007 Virgil HillWBA (regular champion)

Hill defeated Valery Brudov to win the vacant WBA "regular" title.

5631 March 200617 March 2007 O'Neil BellWBA (super champion) & WBC
5722 September 20068 March 2008 Enzo MaccarinelliWBO

Maccarinelli won the interim title by defeating Marcelo Dominguez on 8 July 2006. Upon champion Johnny Nelson's retirement, Maccarinelli was upgraded to full champion status.

5826 November 200626 May 2007 Krzysztof WłodarczykIBF

Wlodarczyk defeated Steve Cunningham to win the vacant title.

5917 March 200710 November 2007 Jean-Marc MormeckWBA (super champion), WBC
6026 May 200711 December 2008 Steve CunninghamIBF
6110 November 20078 March 2008 David HayeWBA (super champion), WBC
6224 November 200728 September 2008 Firat ArslanWBA (regular champion)
638 March 200812 May 20082 David HayeWBA (super champion), WBC, WBO

David Haye defeated Enzo Maccarinelli on 8 March 2008 and unified his WBA and WBC titles with Maccarinelli's WBO title. On 12 May, he relinquished his WBC belt and would eventually relinquish the WBA and WBO belts in order to move up in weight.

6428 September 200830 October 2012 1 Guillermo JonesWBA

On 30 October 2012, Guillermo Jones was stripped of the WBA title and named "Champion in Recess" due to his failure to meet mandatory challenger and interim champion Denis Lebedev in a timely manner thus elevating Lebedev to full champion status. The two would eventually meet on 17 May 2013 with Jones knocking Lebedev out in the 11th round of a brutal fight. However, in the post-fight drug screen Jones tested positive for a banned substance and although the fight still stands as a win for Jones, Lebedev was subsequently reinstated as champion. The WBA ordered a rematch that was scheduled to take place on 25 April 2014 however, Jones once again tested positive for a banned substance in the pre-fight drug screen and the rematch was canceled.

6528 October 200822 November 2009 Giacobbe FragomeniWBC

Fragomeni defeated Rudolf Kraj to win the vacant title.

6611 December 200818 October 20092 Tomasz AdamekIBF
6717 January 200929 August 2009 Victor Emilio RamírezWBO

Ramirez defeated Aleksandr Alekseyev to win the interim title. Once champion David Haye made it clear he would no longer compete in the cruiserweight division, Ramirez was upgraded to full champion status.

6829 August 200914 August 2015 Marco HuckWBO
6922 November 200922 January 20102 Zsolt ErdeiWBC
7015 May 201027 September 2014 Krzysztof WłodarczykWBC

Wlodarczyk defeated Giacobbe Fragomeni to win the vacant title.

715 June 20101 October 2011 Steve CunninghamIBF

Cunninghum defeated Troy Ross to win the vacant title.

721 October 201121 September 20151 Yoan Pablo HernándezIBF
7330 October 20121 February 2018 Denis LebedevWBA
7429 May 2016Vacated Tony BellewWBC
7527 September 201417 September 2016 Krzysztof GłowackiWBO
7621 September 201521 May 2016 Victor Emilio RamirezIBF
7721 May 20163 December 2016 Denis LebedevWBA, IBF
7817 September 20165 June 2019 Oleksandr UsykWBO
793 December 201621 July 2018 Murat GassievIBF
801 April 201727 January 2018 Mairis BriedisWBC
8127 January 201827 March 2019 Oleksandr UsykWBO, WBC
823 February 201821 July 2018 Murat GassievWBA, IBF
8321 July 201827 March 2019 Oleksandr UsykWBO, WBC, WBA, IBF, The Ring
8431 May 2019Present Arsen GoulamirianWBA
8531 January 2020Present Ilunga MakabuWBC
8626 September 20202 July 2022 Mairis BriedisIBF, The Ring
8720 March 202127 May 2023 Lawrence OkolieWBO
882 July 2022Present Jai OpetaiaIBF
8927 May 2023Present Chris Billam-SmithWBO

Footnotes

1 Championship recognition withdrawn due to champion's failure/refusal to defend title against mandatory or designated challenger.

2 Relinquished title.

Cruiserweight champions who won belts in other divisions

See also