Light Heavyweight Title History

WBC

Willy Hutchinson

7 November 2026Reigning for 1 month

Won the vacant WBC light heavyweight title by unanimous decision over Joshua Buatsi in Manchester.

Details

Won the vacant WBC light heavyweight title.

Won the vacant WBC light heavyweight title by unanimous decision over Joshua Buatsi in Manchester

WBC source

Event date recorded in the source.

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Division

All recorded title changes155

Exact dates are shown where recorded. Month-only dates mark the first appearance in our ranking archive, not necessarily the date the title was won.

Light Heavyweight champions and recorded title changes
Date	Organisation	Champion	Title	Evidence
7 November 2026	WBC	Willy Hutchinson	Champion	Won the vacant WBC light heavyweight title by unanimous decision over Joshua Buatsi in Manchester WBC source
8 August 2025	WBA	Albert Ramirez	Interim Champion	Won the interim title by stopping Jerome Pampellone in the seventh round in Benghazi, Libya WBA source
7 April 2025	WBC	David Benavidez	Champion	Promoted from Interim Champion after Dmitry Bivol vacated the WBC light heavyweight title WBC source
22 February 2025	WBO	Callum Smith	Interim Champion	Won the interim title by defeating Joshua Buatsi by unanimous decision WBO source
22 February 2025	WBA WBC IBF WBO RING	Dmitry Bivol	Super Champion, Champion	Won the title by defeating Artur Beterbiev by majority decision in their rematch. Won the title by defeating Artur Beterbiev. Won the Ring light heavyweight title by majority decision over Artur Beterbiev in their rematch in Riyadh. WBA / IBF / WBO source WBC source RING source
1 February 2025	WBA	David Benavidez	World Champion	Won the title by defeating David Morrell WBA source
12 October 2024	WBA RING	Artur Beterbiev	Super Champion, Champion	Won the title by defeating Dmitry Bivol. WBA / RING source
21 September 2024	WBO	Joshua Buatsi	Interim Champion	Won the vacant interim title by split decision against Willy Hutchinson at Wembley WBO source
3 August 2024	WBA	David Morrell	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Radivoje Kalajdzic WBA source
15 June 2024	WBC	David Benavidez	Interim Champion	Won the vacant interim title by unanimous decision against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Las Vegas WBC source
18 June 2022	WBO	Artur Beterbiev	Champion	Won the title by defeating Joe Smith Jr WBO source
10 April 2021	WBO	Joe Smith Jr	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Maxim Vlasov WBO source
2 November 2019	WBO	Saul Alvarez	Champion	Won the title by defeating Sergey Kovalev WBO source
18 October 2019	WBC	Artur Beterbiev	Champion	Won the title by defeating Oleksandr Gvozdyk WBC source
10 October 2019	WBA	Jean Pascal	World Champion	Promoted from interim champion when Dmitry Bivol became Super Champion WBA source
10 October 2019	WBA	Dmitry Bivol	Super Champion	Promoted from regular champion to Super Champion WBA source
2 February 2019	WBO	Sergey Kovalev	Champion	Won the title by defeating Eleider Alvarez WBO source
1 December 2018	WBC	Oleksandr Gvozdyk	Champion	Won the title by defeating Adonis Stevenson WBC source
4 August 2018	WBO	Eleider Alvarez	Champion	Won the title by defeating Sergey Kovalev WBO source
25 November 2017	WBO	Sergey Kovalev	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Vyacheslav Shabranskyy WBO source
11 November 2017	IBF	Artur Beterbiev	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Enrico Kolling IBF source
14 October 2017	WBA	Dmitry Bivol	World Champion	Promoted from interim champion after Badou Jack vacated the title WBA source
26 August 2017	WBA	Badou Jack	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Nathan Cleverly WBA source
17 June 2017	RING	Andre Ward	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Sergey Kovalev RING source
19 November 2016	WBA IBF WBO	Andre Ward	Super Champion, Champion	Won the title by defeating Sergey Kovalev. WBA source IBF source WBO source
1 October 2016	WBA	Nathan Cleverly	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Juergen Braehmer WBA source
16 January 2015	WBO	Sergey Kovalev	Super Champion	Awarded WBO Super Champion status at a ceremony in San Juan while already holding its world title WBO source
8 November 2014	WBA IBF	Sergey Kovalev	Super Champion, Champion	Won the title by defeating Bernard Hopkins. WBA / IBF source
19 April 2014	WBA	Bernard Hopkins	Super Champion	Won the title by defeating Beibut Shumenov WBA source
14 December 2013	WBA	Juergen Braehmer	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Marcus Oliveira WBA source
8 October 2013	WBA	Beibut Shumenov	Super Champion	Promoted from regular champion to Super Champion WBA source
18 August 2013	WBO	Sergey Kovalev	Champion	Won the title by defeating Nathan Cleverly WBO source
8 June 2013	WBC RING	Adonis Stevenson	Champion	Won the title by defeating Chad Dawson. WBC source RING source
9 March 2013	IBF	Bernard Hopkins	Champion	Won the title by defeating Tavoris Cloud IBF source
28 April 2012	WBC RING	Chad Dawson	Champion	Won the title by defeating Bernard Hopkins. WBC source RING source
21 May 2011	WBC RING	Bernard Hopkins	Champion	Won the title by defeating Jean Pascal. WBC source RING source
19 May 2011	WBO	Nathan Cleverly	Champion	Promoted from interim champion after Juergen Braehmer was stripped WBO source
11 December 2010	WBO	Nathan Cleverly	Interim Champion	Won the vacant interim title by unanimous decision against Nadjib Mohammedi in Liverpool WBO source
14 August 2010	RING	Jean Pascal	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Chad Dawson RING source
29 January 2010	WBA	Beibut Shumenov	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Gabriel Campillo WBA source
13 November 2009	WBO	Juergen Braehmer	Champion	Promoted from interim champion after Zsolt Erdei vacated the title WBO source
28 August 2009	IBF	Tavoris Cloud	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Clinton Woods IBF source
22 August 2009	WBO	Juergen Braehmer	Interim Champion	Won the vacant interim title by stopping Aleksy Kuziemski in the eleventh round in Budapest WBO source
20 June 2009	WBA	Gabriel Campillo	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Hugo Hernan Garay WBA source
19 June 2009	WBC	Jean Pascal	Champion	Won the title by defeating Adrian Diaconu WBC source
11 October 2008	IBF	Chad Dawson	Champion	Won the title by defeating Antonio Tarver IBF source
11 July 2008	WBC	Adrian Diaconu	Champion	Was promoted from interim champion after Chad Dawson relinquished the title, confirmed in the WBC statement dated 11 July 2008, which does not separately date the promotion ruling WBC source
3 July 2008	WBA	Hugo Hernan Garay	World Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Yuriy Barashian WBA source
19 April 2008	RING	Joe Calzaghe	Champion	Won the title by defeating Bernard Hopkins RING source
12 April 2008	IBF	Antonio Tarver	Champion	Won the title by defeating Clinton Woods IBF source
16 December 2007	WBA	Danny Green	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Stipe Drews WBA source
28 April 2007	WBA	Stipe Drews	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Silvio Branco WBA source
3 February 2007	WBC	Chad Dawson	Champion	Won the title by defeating Tomasz Adamek WBC source
19 October 2006	WBA	Silvio Branco	World Champion	Promoted from interim champion after Fabrice Tiozzo vacated the title WBA source
27 July 2006	WBA	Silvio Branco	Interim Champion	Won the interim title by unanimous decision against Manny Siaca in Milan WBA source
10 June 2006	RING	Bernard Hopkins	Champion	Won the title by defeating Antonio Tarver RING source
18 June 2005	RING	Antonio Tarver	Champion	Won the title by defeating Glen Johnson RING source
21 May 2005	WBC	Tomasz Adamek	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Paul Briggs WBC source
4 March 2005	IBF	Clinton Woods	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Rico Hoye IBF source
18 December 2004	RING	Glen Johnson	Champion	Won the title by defeating Antonio Tarver RING source
15 May 2004	WBA WBC RING	Antonio Tarver	Super Champion, Champion	Won the title by defeating Roy Jones Jr. WBA source WBC source RING source
20 March 2004	WBA	Fabrice Tiozzo	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Silvio Branco WBA source
6 February 2004	IBF	Glen Johnson	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Clinton Woods IBF source
17 January 2004	WBO	Zsolt Erdei	Champion	Won the title by defeating Julio Gonzalez WBO source
8 November 2003	WBA WBC	Roy Jones Jr	Super Champion, Champion	Won the vacant unified title by defeating Antonio Tarver. Won the title by defeating Antonio Tarver. WBA source WBC source
18 October 2003	WBO	Julio Gonzalez	Champion	Won the WBO title by defeating Dariusz Michalczewski by split decision in Hamburg WBO source
10 October 2003	WBA	Silvio Branco	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Mehdi Sahnoune WBA source
26 April 2003	WBC IBF	Antonio Tarver	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Montell Griffin. WBC source IBF source
8 March 2003	WBA	Mehdi Sahnoune	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Bruno Girard WBA source
22 December 2001	WBA	Bruno Girard	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Robert Koon WBA source
2 December 2001	RING	Roy Jones Jr	Champion	Awarded the vacant title RING source
December 2000	WBA	Roy Jones Jr	Super Champion	Was already listed as WBA Super Champion in the original December 2000 ratings, which print Jones under both Super and World Champion headings. December replaces the later January archive boundary; the exact designation day remains unverified. WBA source
5 June 1999	IBF	Roy Jones Jr	Champion	Won the title by defeating Reggie Johnson IBF source
18 July 1998	WBA	Roy Jones Jr	World Champion	Won the title by defeating Lou Del Valle WBA source
June 1998	WBC	Roy Jones Jr	Champion	The WBC restored Jones as champion in late June 1998. The court record documents that reversal without an exact day, so his earlier Griffin win is not substituted. WBC source
21 March 1998	WBC	Graciano Rocchigiani	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Michael Nunn WBC source
6 February 1998	IBF	Reggie Johnson	Champion	Won the title by defeating William Guthrie IBF source
20 September 1997	WBA	Lou Del Valle	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Eddy Smulders WBA source
7 August 1997	WBC	Roy Jones Jr	Champion	Won the title by defeating Montell Griffin WBC source
19 July 1997	IBF	William Guthrie	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Darrin Allen IBF source
13 June 1997	WBA IBF	Dariusz Michalczewski	Champion	Won the title by defeating Virgil Hill. WBA source IBF source
21 March 1997	WBC	Montell Griffin	Champion	Won the title by defeating Roy Jones Jr. WBC source
13 January 1997	WBC	Roy Jones Jr	Champion	Was promoted from interim champion to WBC Light Heavyweight Champion WBC source
23 November 1996	IBF	Virgil Hill	Champion	Won the title by defeating Henry Maske IBF source
16 June 1995	WBC	Fabrice Tiozzo	Champion	Won the title by defeating Mike McCallum WBC source
10 September 1994	WBO	Dariusz Michalczewski	Champion	Won the title by defeating Leeonzer Barber WBO source
23 July 1994	WBC	Mike McCallum	Champion	Won the title by defeating Jeff Harding WBC source
20 March 1993	IBF	Henry Maske	Champion	Won the title by defeating Charles Williams IBF source
29 September 1992	WBA	Virgil Hill	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Frank Tate WBA source
20 March 1992	WBA	Iran Barkley	Champion	Won the title by defeating Thomas Hearns WBA source
11 September 1991	WBC	Jeff Harding	Champion	Won the title by defeating Dennis Andries WBC source
3 June 1991	WBA	Thomas Hearns	Champion	Won the title by defeating Virgil Hill WBA source
9 May 1991	WBO	Leeonzer Barber	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Tom Collins WBO source
28 July 1990	WBC	Dennis Andries	Champion	Won the title by defeating Jeff Harding WBC source
24 June 1989	WBC	Jeff Harding	Champion	Won the title by defeating Dennis Andries WBC source
21 February 1989	WBC	Dennis Andries	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Tony Willis WBC source
7 November 1988	WBC	Sugar Ray Leonard	Champion	Won the title by defeating Donny Lalonde WBC source
27 November 1987	WBC	Donny Lalonde	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Eddie Davis WBC source
29 October 1987	IBF	Charles Williams	Champion	Won the title by defeating Bobby Czyz IBF source
5 September 1987	WBA	Virgil Hill	Champion	Won the title by defeating Leslie Stewart WBA source
23 May 1987	WBA	Leslie Stewart	Champion	Won the title by defeating Marvin Johnson WBA source
7 March 1987	WBC	Thomas Hearns	Champion	Won the title by defeating Dennis Andries WBC source
6 September 1986	IBF	Bobby Czyz	Champion	Won the title by defeating Slobodan Kačar IBF source
30 April 1986	WBC	Dennis Andries	Champion	Won the title by defeating J. B. Williamson WBC source
9 February 1986	WBA	Marvin Johnson	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Leslie Stewart WBA source
21 December 1985	IBF	Slobodan Kacar	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Eddie Mustafa Muhammad IBF source
10 December 1985	WBC	J. B. Williamson	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Prince Mama Mohammed WBC source
25 February 1984	IBF	Michael Spinks	Champion	Won the title by defeating Eddie Davis IBF source
18 March 1983	WBC RING	Michael Spinks	Champion	Won the title by defeating Dwight Muhammad Qawi. WBC source RING source
19 December 1981	WBC RING	Dwight Muhammad Qawi	Champion	Won the title by defeating Matthew Saad Muhammad. WBC source RING source
18 July 1981	WBA	Michael Spinks	Champion	Won the title by defeating Eddie Mustafa Muhammad WBA source
31 March 1980	WBA	Eddie Mustafa Muhammad	Champion	Won the title by defeating Marvin Johnson WBA source
30 November 1979	RING	Matthew Saad Muhammad	Champion	Awarded the vacant title RING source
30 November 1979	WBA	Marvin Johnson	Champion	Won the title by defeating Víctor Galíndez WBA source
July 1979	RING	Victor Galindez	Champion	The Ring ranking archive lists Galindez as champion from July 1979. His April WBA title win does not establish the separate Ring recognition day. RING source
22 April 1979	WBC	Matthew Saad Muhammad	Champion	Won the title by defeating Marvin Johnson WBC source
14 April 1979	WBA	Victor Galindez	Champion	Won the title by defeating Mike Rossman WBA source
2 December 1978	WBC	Marvin Johnson	Champion	Won the title by defeating Mate Parlov WBC source
15 September 1978	WBA	Mike Rossman	Champion	Won the title by defeating Víctor Galíndez WBA source
8 January 1978	WBC	Mate Parlov	Champion	Won the title by defeating Miguel Ángel Cuello WBC source
21 May 1977	WBC	Miguel Angel Cuello	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Jesse Burnett WBC source
7 December 1974	WBA	Victor Galindez	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Len Hutchins WBA source
1 October 1974	WBC	John Conteh	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Jorge Ahumada WBC source
7 April 1972	WBA	Bob Foster	Champion	Won the title by defeating Vicente Rondón WBA source
27 February 1971	WBA	Vicente Rondon	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Jimmy Dupree WBA source
24 May 1968	WBA WBC RING	Bob Foster	Champion	Won the title by defeating Dick Tiger. WBA source WBC source RING source
16 December 1966	WBA WBC RING	Dick Tiger	Champion	Won the title by defeating José Torres. WBA source WBC source RING source
30 March 1965	WBA WBC RING	Jose Torres	Champion	Won the title by defeating Willie Pastrano. WBA source WBC source RING source
1 June 1963	WBA WBC RING	Willie Pastrano	Champion	Won the title by defeating Harold Johnson. WBA source WBC source RING source
14 February 1963	WBC	Harold Johnson	Champion	Was recognized as the inaugural WBC champion when the organization was founded, while already holding the world championship WBC source
12 May 1962	RING	Harold Johnson	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Doug Jones RING source
7 February 1961	NBA	Harold Johnson	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Jesse Bowdry NBA source
17 December 1952	NBA RING	Archie Moore	Champion	Won the title by defeating Joey Maxim. NBA source RING source
24 January 1950	NBA RING	Joey Maxim	Champion	Won the title by defeating Freddie Mills. NBA source RING source
26 July 1948	NBA RING	Freddie Mills	Champion	Won the title by defeating Gus Lesnevich. NBA source RING source
26 August 1941	RING	Gus Lesnevich	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Tami Mauriello RING source
24 May 1941	NBA	Gus Lesnevich	Champion	Won the title by defeating Anton Christoforidis NBA source
13 January 1941	NBA	Anton Christoforidis	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Melio Bettina NBA source
13 July 1939	NBA RING	Billy Conn	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Melio Bettina. NBA source RING source
31 October 1935	NBA RING	John Henry Lewis	Champion	Won the title by defeating Bob Olin. NBA source RING source
16 November 1934	NBA RING	Bob Olin	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Maxie Rosenbloom. Won the title by defeating Maxey Rosenbloom. NBA source RING source
24 March 1933	NBA	Maxie Rosenbloom	Champion	Won the title by defeating Bob Godwin NBA source
1 March 1933	NBA	Bob Godwin	Champion	The source lists this reign start but does not specify how the title was acquired NBA source
18 March 1932	NBA	George Nichols	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Dave Maier NBA source
16 September 1930	NBA	Maxie Rosenbloom	Champion	Was recognized as NBA champion at the Omaha convention, separately from his earlier NYSAC title win against Jimmy Slattery NBA source
25 June 1930	RING	Maxey Rosenbloom	Champion	Won the title by defeating Jimmy Slattery RING source
12 December 1927	NBA	Tommy Loughran	Champion	Won the title by defeating Jimmy Slattery NBA source
7 October 1927	RING	Tommy Loughran	Champion	Won the title by defeating Mike McTigue RING source
30 August 1927	NBA	Jimmy Slattery	Champion	Won the vacant title by defeating Maxie Rosenbloom NBA source
16 July 1926	NBA RING	Jack Delaney	Champion	Won the title by defeating Paul Berlenbach. NBA source RING source
30 May 1925	NBA RING	Paul Berlenbach	Champion	Won the title by defeating Mike McTigue. NBA source RING source
1924	RING	Mike McTigue	Champion	The source gives only the year of this inaugural Ring recognition. An exact award day is not established; 1 January was a placeholder and is not treated as an event date. RING source
17 March 1923	NBA	Mike McTigue	Champion	Won the title by defeating Battling Siki NBA source
24 September 1922	NBA	Battling Siki	Champion	Won the title by defeating Georges Carpentier NBA source
1921	NBA	Georges Carpentier	Champion	This record belongs to the NBA recognition era in 1921. The January archive boundary does not establish this boxer’s recognition month or day; the earlier world-title win predates the organization. NBA source