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

Championship recognition

No. Reign began Reign ended Champion Recognition
1 31 March 1980 25 November 1980 United States Marvin Camel Universal
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.
2 25 November 1980 13 February 1982 Puerto Rico Carlos De León Universal
3 13 February 1982 27 June 1982 Puerto Rico Carlos De Leon WBC
4 13 February 1982 1 December 1984 Puerto Rico Ossie Ocasio WBA
Ocasio defeated Robbie Williams in the first Cruiserweight championship bout sanctioned by the World Boxing Association.
5 27 June 1982 17 July 1983 United States S. T. Gordon WBC
6 17 July 1983 6 June 1985 Puerto Rico Carlos De León WBC
7 13 February 1983 6 October 1984 United States Marvin Camel IBF
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.
8 6 October 1984 25 October 1986 United States Lee Roy Murphy IBF
9 1 December 1984 27 July 1985 South Africa Piet Crous WBA
10 6 June 1985 21 September 1985 United States Alfonso Ratliff WBC
11 27 July 1985 12 July 1986 United States Dwight Muhammad Qawi (Dwight Braxton) WBA
12 21 September 1985 22 March 1986 United States Bernard Benton WBC
13 22 March 1986 9 April 1988 Puerto Rico Carlos De León WBC
14 12 July 1986 15 May 1987 United States Evander Holyfield WBA
15 25 October 1986 15 May 1987 United States Rickey Parkey IBF
16 15 May 1987 9 April 1988 United States Evander Holyfield WBA & IBF
17 9 April 1988 4 December 19882 United States Evander Holyfield Universal
Holyfield unified his titles with Carlos De Leon's WBC title, making him the division's first truly undisputed champion.
18 25 March 1989 25 September 19892 Tunisia Taoufik Belbouli WBA
Belbouli defeated Michael Greer to win the vacant title.
19 17 May 1989 27 July 1990 Puerto Rico Carlos De León WBC
De Leon defeated Sammy Reeson to win the vacant title.
20 3 June 1989 22 March 1990 United Kingdom Glenn McCrory IBF
McCrory defeated Patrick Lumumba to win the vacant title.
21 27 November 1989 8 March 1991 United States Robert Daniels WBA
Daniels defeated Dwight Muhammad Qawi to win the vacant title.
22 3 December 1989 17 May 1990 United States Boone Pultz WBO
Pultz defeated Magne Havnå to win the inaugural WBO cruiserweight title.
23 22 March 1990 27 July 19911 United States Jeff Lampkin IBF
24 17 May 1990 1 May 1992 Norway Magne Havnå2 WBO
25 27 July 1990 20 July 1991 Italy Massimiliano Duran WBC
26 8 March 1991 5 August 19932 United States Bobby Czyz WBA
27 20 July 1991 7 July 19952 France Anaclet Wamba WBC
28 7 September 1991 30 July 1992 United States James Warring IBF
Warring defeated James Pritchard to win the vacant title.
29 25 July 1992 13 February 1993 United States Tyrone Booze WBO
Booze defeated Derek Angol to win the vacant title.
30 30 July 1992 30 April 19962 United States Alfred Cole IBF
31 13 February 1993 26 June 1993 Germany Markus Bott WBO
32 26 June 1993 17 December 1994 Argentina Nestor Hipolito Giovannini WBO
33 6 November 1993 22 July 1995 United States Orlin Norris WBA
Norris defeated Marcelo Victor Figueroa to win the vacant title.
34 17 December 1994 1 January 19952 Germany Dariusz Michalczewski WBO
35 10 June 1995 4 October 1997 Germany Ralf Rocchigiani WBO
Rocchigiani defeated Carl Thompson to win the vacant title.
36 22 July 1995 8 November 1997 United States Nate Miller WBA
37 25 July 1995 21 February 1998 Argentina Marcelo Dominguez WBC
Dominguez defeated Akim Tafer to win the vacant title.
38 31 August 1996 21 June 1997 United States Adolpho Washington IBF
Washington defeated Torsten May to win the vacant title.
39 21 June 1997 8 November 1997 Jamaica Uriah Grant IBF
40 4 October 1997 27 March 1999 United Kingdom Carl Thompson WBO
41 8 November 1997 30 October 1998 United States Imamu Mayfield IBF
42 8 November 1997 9 December 2000 France Fabrice Tiozzo WBA
43 21 February 1998 19 February 20022 Cuba Juan Carlos Gómez WBC
44 30 October 1998 5 June 1999 United States Arthur Williams IBF
45 27 March 1999 22 September 20062 United Kingdom Johnny Nelson WBO
46 5 June 1999 26 April 2003 Kazakhstan Vassiliy Jirov IBF
47 9 December 2000 23 February 2002 United States Virgil Hill WBA
48 23 February 2002 2 April 2005 France Jean-Marc Mormeck WBA
49 11 October 2002 2 April 2005 Guyana Wayne Braithwaite WBC
Braithwaite defeated Vincenzo Cantatore to win the vacant title.
50 2 April 2005 7 January 2006 France Jean-Marc Mormeck WBA & 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.
51 26 April 2003 9 December 20032 United States James Toney IBF
52 1 May 2004 20 May 20052 United States Kelvin Davis IBF
Davis defeated Ezra Sellers to win the vacant title.
53 20 May 2005 7 January 2006 Jamaica O'Neil Bell IBF
Bell defeated Dale Brown to win the vacant title.
54 7 January 2006 31 March 20061 Jamaica O'Neil Bell WBA (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.
55 27 January 2006 24 November 2007 United States Virgil Hill WBA (regular champion)
Hill defeated Valery Brudov to win the vacant WBA "regular" title.
56 31 March 2006 17 March 2007 Jamaica O'Neil Bell WBA (super champion) & WBC
57 22 September 2006 8 March 2008 United Kingdom Enzo Maccarinelli WBO
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.
58 26 November 2006 26 May 2007 Poland Krzysztof Włodarczyk IBF
Wlodarczyk defeated Steve Cunningham to win the vacant title.
59 17 March 2007 10 November 2007 France Jean-Marc Mormeck WBA (super champion), WBC
60 26 May 2007 11 December 2008 United States Steve Cunningham IBF
61 10 November 2007 8 March 2008 United Kingdom David Haye WBA (super champion), WBC
62 24 November 2007 28 September 2008 Germany Firat Arslan WBA (regular champion)
63 8 March 2008 12 May 20082 United Kingdom David Haye WBA (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.
64 28 September 2008 30 October 2012 1 Panama Guillermo Jones WBA
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.
65 28 October 2008 22 November 2009 Italy Giacobbe Fragomeni WBC
Fragomeni defeated Rudolf Kraj to win the vacant title.
66 11 December 2008 18 October 20092 Poland Tomasz Adamek IBF
67 17 January 2009 29 August 2009 Argentina Victor Emilio Ramírez WBO
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.
68 29 August 2009 14 August 2015 Germany Marco Huck WBO
69 22 November 2009 22 January 20102 Hungary Zsolt Erdei WBC
70 15 May 2010 27 September 2014 Poland Krzysztof Włodarczyk WBC
Wlodarczyk defeated Giacobbe Fragomeni to win the vacant title.
71 5 June 2010 1 October 2011 United States Steve Cunningham IBF
Cunninghum defeated Troy Ross to win the vacant title.
72 1 October 2011 21 September 20151 Cuba Yoan Pablo Hernández IBF
73 30 October 2012 1 February 2018 Russia Denis Lebedev WBA
74 29 May 2016 Vacated United Kingdom Tony Bellew WBC
75 27 September 2014 17 September 2016 Poland Krzysztof Głowacki WBO
76 21 September 2015 21 May 2016 Argentina Victor Emilio Ramirez IBF
77 21 May 2016 3 December 2016 Russia Denis Lebedev WBA, IBF
78 17 September 2016 5 June 2019 Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk WBO
79 3 December 2016 21 July 2018 Russia Murat Gassiev IBF
80 1 April 2017 27 January 2018 Latvia Mairis Briedis WBC
81 27 January 2018 27 March 2019 Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk WBO, WBC
82 3 February 2018 21 July 2018 Russia Murat Gassiev WBA, IBF
83 21 July 2018 27 March 2019 Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk WBO, WBC, WBA, IBF, The Ring
84 31 May 2019 Present France Arsen Goulamirian WBA
85 31 January 2020 Present Democratic Republic of the Congo Ilunga Makabu WBC
86 26 September 2020 2 July 2022 Latvia Mairis Briedis IBF, The Ring
87 20 March 2021 27 May 2023 United Kingdom Lawrence Okolie WBO
88 2 July 2022 Present Australia Jai Opetaia IBF
89 27 May 2023 Present United Kingdom Chris Billam-Smith WBO

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

  • Braxton, Jack, Michalczewski, Hill, Erdei, Adamek, Shumenov and Tiozzo all were light-heavyweight champions.
  • Holyfield, Haye, and Usyk are the only former cruiserweight champions to win the heavyweight title with Holyfield earning recognition as undisputed champions in both divisions.
  • Toney won titles at middleweight and super middleweight. He also defeated John Ruiz in an attempt to win the heavyweight title but failed a post-fight drug test and the result was changed to a No Decision.
  • Jack won titles at super middleweight.

See also

References

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