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." 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). 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. (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–June 27, 1988
3	Mike Tyson	June 27, 1988-February 11, 1990
4	James "Buster" Douglas	February 11, 1990–October 25, 1990
5	Evander Holyfield	October 25, 1990–November 13, 1992
6	Riddick Bowe	November 13, 1992–November 6, 1993
7	Evander Holyfield	November 6, 1993-
8	George Foreman	1994–1995
9	Evander Holyfield	1996–1998
10	Lennox Lewis	1999–February 6, 2004
11	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	Pernell Whitaker	1990 –
4	Floyd Mayweather Jr.	April 20, 2002–May 22, 2004
5	José Luis Castillo	June 5, 2004–May 7, 2005
6	Diego Corrales	May 7, 2005–October 8, 2006
7	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	?–?

See also

• List of current world boxing champions
• List of male boxers
• The Ring

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