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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 –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
Middleweight
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
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
Bantamweight
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
Strawweight
Number
Champion
Reign
1
Vacant
?–?
See also
Notes
References
External links