List of The Ring world champions

This is a list of world champions who have been certified by The Ring magazine. The Ring is a boxing magazine that was founded in 1922. In 2002, The Ring created a championship system that is "intended to reward fighters who, by satisfying rigid criteria, can justify a claim as the true and only world champion in a given weight class."^[1] There are only three ways that a boxer can win The Ring's title: defeat the reigning champion; unify the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles; or win a box-off between The Ring's number-one and number-two rated contenders (or, sometimes, number-one and number-three rated).^[2] There are also only three ways that a boxer can lose The Ring's title: lose a championship fight, move to a different weight class, or retire.^[2] (The Ring does not strip its champions' titles like the sanctioning bodies do.)

Heavyweight

Champion	Reign
1	Larry Holmes	1980–September 21, 1985
2	Michael Spinks	September 21, 1985–
3	Mike Tyson	1986–1989
4	Evander Holyfield	1990–1991
5	Riddick Bowe	1992
6	Evander Holyfield	1993
7	George Foreman	1994–1995
8	Evander Holyfield	1996–1998
9	Lennox Lewis	1999–February 6, 2004
10	Vitali Klitschko	April 24, 2004–November 9, 2005

Cruiserweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Carlos De Leon	February 3, 1983–June 6, 1985
2	Alfonzo Ratliff	June 6, 1985–September 21, 1985
3	Bernard Benton	September 21, 1985–March 22, 1986
4	Carlos De Leon	March 22, 1986–
5	Jean-Marc Mormeck	April 2, 2005–January 7, 2006
6	O'Neil Bell	January 7, 2006–Present

Light Heavyweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Víctor Galíndez	1979-???
2	Matthew Saad Muhammad	1981–December 19, 1981
3	Dwight Muhammad Qawi	December 19, 1981–March 18, 1983
4	Michael Spinks	March 18, 1983–September 21, 1985
5	Roy Jones Jr.	2002–May 15, 2004
6	Antonio Tarver	May 15, 2004–December 18, 2004
7	Glen Johnson	December 18, 2004–June 18, 2005
8	Antonio Tarver	June 18, 2005–June 10, 2006
9	Bernard Hopkins	June 10, 2006–Present

Super middleweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Joe Calzaghe	March 4, 2006–Present

Middleweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Vito Antuofermo	1979–
2	Marvelous Marvin Hagler	1981-
3	Bernard Hopkins	2002–July 16, 2005
4	Jermain Taylor	July 16, 2005–Present

Super welterweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Masashi Kudo	1979-
2	Ayub Kalule	1981–June 25, 1981
3	Sugar Ray Leonard	June 25, 1981–June 25, 1982
4	Thomas Hearns	May, 1983–September 1986
5	Oscar de la Hoya	September 14, 2002–September 13, 2003
6	Shane Mosley	September 13, 2003–March 13, 2004
7	Winky Wright	March 13, 2004–November 7, 2005

Welterweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Wilfred Benitez	1979–
2	Sugar Ray Leonard	1981–November 9, 1982
3	Donald Curry	December 6, 1985–September 27, 1986
4	Lloyd Honeyghan	September 27, 1986–October 27, 1987
5	Jorge Vaca	October 27, 1987–March 29, 1988
6	Lloyd Honeyghan	March 29, 1988–
7	Vernon Forrest	January 26, 2002–January 25, 2003
8	Ricardo Mayorga	January 25, 2003–December 13, 2003
9	Cory Spinks	December 13, 2003–February 5, 2005
10	Zab Judah	February 5, 2005–January 7, 2006
11	Carlos Manuel Baldomir	January 7, 2006–Present

Super lightweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Antonio Cervantes	1979-
2	Aaron Pryor	1981-October, 1983
3	Kostya Tszyu	2002–June 4, 2005
4	Ricky Hatton	June 4, 2005–Present

Lightweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Jim Watt	1981–June 20, 1981
2	Alexis Arguello	June 20, 1981–February, 1983
3	Floyd Mayweather Jr.	April 20, 2002–May 22, 2004
4	José Luis Castillo	June 5, 2004–May 7, 2005
5	Diego Corrales	May 7, 2005–October 8, 2006
6	Joel Casamayor	October 8, 2006–Present

Super featherweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Samuel Serrano	1979–January 9, 1983
2	Roger Mayweather	January 9, 1983–February 26, 1984
3	Rocky Lockridge	February 26, 1984–May 19, 1985
4	Wilfredo Gómez	May 19, 1985–May 24, 1986
5	Alfredo Layne	May 24, 1986–September 27, 1986
6	Brian Mitchell	September 27, 1986–

Featherweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Danny Lopez	1979-
2	Salvador Sanchez	1981–August 12, 1982
3	Eusebio Pedroza	September 22, 1982–June 8, 1985
4	Barry McGuigan	June 8, 1985–June 23, 1986
5	Steve Cruz	June 23, 1986–March 6, 1987
6	Antonio Esparragoza	March 6, 1987–
7	Marco Antonio Barrera	June 22, 2002–November 15, 2003
8	Manny Pacquiao	November 15, 2003–March 19, 2005

Super bantamweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Wilfredo Gomez	1979-May, 1983
2	Paulie Ayala	February 23, 2002–May 2004
3	Israel Vázquez	December 3, 2005–Present

Bantamweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Jorge Lujan	1979-
2	Jeff Chandler	1981–April 7, 1984
3	Richie Sandoval	April 7, 1984-March 10, 1986
4	Gaby Canizales	March 10, 1986–June 4, 1986
5	Bernardo Pinango	June 4, 1986-

Super flyweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Vacant	?–?

Flyweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Chan-Hee Park	1979-???
2	Shoji Oguma	??? -May 12, 1981
3	Antonio Avelar	May 12, 1981–March 20, 1982
4	Prudencio Cardona	March 20, 1982–July 24, 1982
5	Freddie Castillo	July 24, 1982–November 6, 1982
6	Eleoncio Mercedes	November 6, 1982–March 15, 1983
7	Charlie Magri	March 15, 1983–September 27, 1983
8	Frank Cedeno	September 27, 1983–January 18, 1984
9	Koji Kobayashi	January 18, 1984-April 9, 1984
10	Gabriel Bernal	April 9, 1984-October 8, 1984
11	Sot Chitalada	October 8, 1984-

Light flyweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Rosendo Álvarez	March 31, 2003–October 2, 2004
2	Hugo Cázares	September 30, 2006–

Strawweight

Number	Champion	Reign
1	Vacant	?–?

Notes

^ The Ring editors. About The Ring. 26 June 2006. The Ring. URL accessed 6 July 2006.
^ ^a ^b Kellerman, Max. "Gatti vs. the unknown." 22 January 2004. ESPN.com. URL accessed 6 July 2006.

References

BoxRec.com editors. BoxRec title search. BoxRec.com. URL accessed 23 August 2006.
The Ring editors. The Ring Ratings. 20 August 2006. The Ring. URL accessed 23 August 2006.

External links

The Ring

[ringhistory-1] The Ring editors. About The Ring. 26 June 2006. The Ring. URL accessed 6 July 2006.

[kellerman-2] Kellerman, Max. "Gatti vs. the unknown." 22 January 2004. ESPN.com. URL accessed 6 July 2006.

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