This is a chronological list of world cruiserweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
Championship recognition The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA), The World Boxing Council (WBC), founded in 1963, The International Boxing Federation (IBF), founded in 1983, The World Boxing Organization (WBO), founded in 1988,
No.Reign beganReign endedChampionRecognition131 March 198025 November 1980 Marvin CamelUniversalCamel 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 LeónUniversal313 February 198227 June 1982 Carlos De LeonWBC413 February 19821 December 1984 Ossie OcasioWBAOcasio defeated Robbie Williams in the first Cruiserweight championship bout sanctioned by the World Boxing Association.527 June 198217 July 1983 S. T. GordonWBC617 July 19836 June 1985 Carlos De LeónWBC713 February 19836 October 1984 Marvin CamelIBFJust 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 MurphyIBF91 December 198427 July 1985 Piet CrousWBA106 June 198521 September 1985 Alfonso RatliffWBC1127 July 198512 July 1986 Dwight Muhammad Qawi (Dwight Braxton)WBA1221 September 198522 March 1986 Bernard BentonWBC1322 March 19869 April 1988 Carlos De LeónWBC1412 July 198615 May 1987 Evander HolyfieldWBA1525 October 198615 May 1987 Rickey ParkeyIBF1615 May 19879 April 1988 Evander HolyfieldWBA & IBF179 April 19884 December 19882 Evander HolyfieldUniversalHolyfield 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 BelbouliWBABelbouli defeated Michael Greer to win the vacant title.1917 May 198927 July 1990 Carlos De LeónWBCDe Leon defeated Sammy Reeson to win the vacant title.203 June 198922 March 1990 Glenn McCroryIBFMcCrory defeated Patrick Lumumba to win the vacant title.2127 November 19898 March 1991 Robert DanielsWBADaniels defeated Dwight Muhammad Qawi to win the vacant title.223 December 198917 May 1990 Boone PultzWBOPultz defeated Magne Havnå to win the inaugural WBO cruiserweight title.2322 March 199027 July 19911 Jeff LampkinIBF2417 May 19901 May 1992 Magne Havnå2WBO2527 July 199020 July 1991 Massimiliano DuranWBC268 March 19915 August 19932 Bobby CzyzWBA2720 July 19917 July 19952 Anaclet WambaWBC287 September 199130 July 1992 James WarringIBFWarring defeated James Pritchard to win the vacant title.2925 July 199213 February 1993 Tyrone BoozeWBOBooze defeated Derek Angol to win the vacant title.3030 July 199230 April 19962 Alfred ColeIBF3113 February 199326 June 1993 Markus BottWBO3226 June 199317 December 1994 Nestor Hipolito GiovanniniWBO336 November 199322 July 1995 Orlin NorrisWBANorris defeated Marcelo Victor Figueroa to win the vacant title.3417 December 19941 January 19952 Dariusz MichalczewskiWBO3510 June 19954 October 1997 Ralf RocchigianiWBORocchigiani defeated Carl Thompson to win the vacant title.3622 July 19958 November 1997 Nate MillerWBA3725 July 199521 February 1998 Marcelo DominguezWBCDominguez defeated Akim Tafer to win the vacant title.3831 August 199621 June 1997 Adolpho WashingtonIBFWashington defeated Torsten May to win the vacant title.3921 June 19978 November 1997 Uriah GrantIBF404 October 199727 March 1999 Carl ThompsonWBO418 November 199730 October 1998 Imamu MayfieldIBF428 November 19979 December 2000 Fabrice TiozzoWBA4321 February 199819 February 20022 Juan Carlos GómezWBC4430 October 19985 June 1999 Arthur WilliamsIBF4527 March 199922 September 20062 Johnny NelsonWBO465 June 199926 April 2003 Vassiliy JirovIBF479 December 200023 February 2002 Virgil HillWBA4823 February 20022 April 2005 Jean-Marc MormeckWBA4911 October 20022 April 2005 Wayne BraithwaiteWBCBraithwaite defeated Vincenzo Cantatore to win the vacant title.502 April 20057 January 2006 Jean-Marc MormeckWBA & WBCUpon 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 ToneyIBF521 May 200420 May 20052 Kelvin DavisIBFDavis defeated Ezra Sellers to win the vacant title.5320 May 20057 January 2006 O'Neil BellIBFBell defeated Dale Brown to win the vacant title.547 January 200631 March 20061 O'Neil BellWBA (super Champion), WBC, & IBFO'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) & WBC5722 September 20068 March 2008 Enzo MaccarinelliWBOMaccarinelli 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 WłodarczykIBFWlodarczyk defeated Steve Cunningham to win the vacant title.5917 March 200710 November 2007 Jean-Marc MormeckWBA (super champion), WBC6026 May 200711 December 2008 Steve CunninghamIBF6110 November 20078 March 2008 David HayeWBA (super champion), WBC6224 November 200728 September 2008 Firat ArslanWBA (regular champion)638 March 200812 May 20082 David HayeWBA (super champion), WBC, WBODavid 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 JonesWBAOn 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 FragomeniWBCFragomeni defeated Rudolf Kraj to win the vacant title.6611 December 200818 October 20092 Tomasz AdamekIBF6717 January 200929 August 2009 Victor Emilio RamírezWBORamirez 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 HuckWBO6922 November 200922 January 20102 Zsolt ErdeiWBC7015 May 201027 September 2014 Krzysztof WłodarczykWBCWlodarczyk defeated Giacobbe Fragomeni to win the vacant title.715 June 20101 October 2011 Steve CunninghamIBFCunningham defeated Troy Ross to win the vacant title.721 October 201121 September 20151 Yoan Pablo HernándezIBF7330 October 20121 February 2018 Denis LebedevWBA7429 May 2016Vacated Tony BellewWBC7527 September 201417 September 2016 Krzysztof GłowackiWBO7621 September 201521 May 2016 Victor Emilio RamirezIBF7721 May 20163 December 2016 Denis LebedevWBA, IBF7817 September 20165 June 2019 Oleksandr UsykWBO793 December 201621 July 2018 Murat GassievIBF801 April 201727 January 2018 Mairis BriedisWBC8127 January 201827 March 2019 Oleksandr UsykWBO, WBC823 February 201821 July 2018 Murat GassievWBA, IBF8321 July 201827 March 2019 Oleksandr UsykWBO, WBC, WBA, IBF, The Ring8431 May 201930 March 2024 Arsen GoulamirianWBA8531 January 202026 February 2023 Ilunga MakabuWBC8626 September 20202 July 2022 Mairis BriedisIBF, The Ring8720 March 202127 May 2023 Lawrence OkolieWBO882 July 202223 Mar 2026 Jai OpetaiaIBF, The RingIBF title vacated by Opetaia on 17 December 2023, after dispute with IBF. On 18 May 2024, Opetaia won IBF title again, defeating Mairis Briedis.8926 February 202317 September 2023 Badou JackWBC9027 May 202316 November 2024 Chris Billam-SmithWBO914 November 202311 December 2024 Noel MikaelianWBCMikaelian defeated Ilunga Makabu to win the vacant title.9230 March 20242 May 2026 Gilberto RamirezWBA9316 November 20242 May 2026 Gilberto RamirezWBO9411 December 202413 December 2025 Badou JackWBCJack reinstated by WBC.9513 December 2025Present Noel MikaelianWBC962 May 2026Present David BenavidezWBA, 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, Tiozzo, and Benavidez all were light-heavyweight champions. Holyfield, Haye, and Usyk are the only former cruiserweight champions to win the heavyweight title with Holyfield and Usyk 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 and Benavidez won titles at super middleweight.
See also List of Australian cruiserweight boxing champions List of British cruiserweight boxing champions List of New Zealand cruiserweight boxing champions List of British world boxing champions
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