Title changes hands
Bare-knuckle championship
John L. Sullivan
Defeated Paddy Ryan · KO 9
Sullivan takes the American heavyweight crown under London Prize Ring rules; the gloved lineage develops later.
Championship history · Since 1882
Heavyweight Championship Timeline
The crown, the challengers, and the fights that changed boxing history.
One crown. Often more than one champion.
A selected chronology of the widely recognized championship succession and pivotal split-title changes, not every sanctioning-body reign. Lineal recognition, undisputed status and individual belts are different; each event names its title scope. Retirements, stripped titles and disputed recognition are marked separately from victories.
Historical selection updated October 11, 2026. Modern coverage ends at the latest included event, not a live championship tracker. Exact bout links appear only where the fight is present in this archive.
62 of 62 events · Oldest first
Vacant title decided
Early Queensberry recognition
John L. Sullivan
Defeated Dominick McCaffrey · PTS 7
Often used as the starting point of the gloved lineage. Historians differ on when a fully recognized world championship began.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
James J. Corbett
Defeated John L. Sullivan · KO 21
Corbett ends Sullivan’s reign in New Orleans under Queensberry rules.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Bob Fitzsimmons
Defeated James J. Corbett · KO 14
A body-shot knockout in Carson City makes Fitzsimmons a heavyweight champion.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
James J. Jeffries
Defeated Bob Fitzsimmons · KO 11
Jeffries wins the crown at Coney Island.
Outside the ring
Championship vacancy
James J. Jeffries
No deciding bout
Jeffries retires undefeated. No challenger defeats him to create this vacancy.
Vacant title decided
Vacant world heavyweight championship
Marvin Hart
Defeated Jack Root · KO 12
Hart wins with Jeffries refereeing. The extent of contemporary recognition was not universal.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Tommy Burns
Defeated Marvin Hart · PTS 20
Burns defeats Hart over twenty rounds in Los Angeles.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Jack Johnson
Defeated Tommy Burns · Stoppage, round 14
Johnson becomes the first Black world heavyweight champion in Sydney. Police halt the contest; historical records differ in how they label the result.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Jess Willard
Defeated Jack Johnson · KO 26
Willard ends Johnson’s reign in the long outdoor contest in Havana.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Jack Dempsey
Defeated Jess Willard · RTD 3
Willard retires after three completed rounds in Toledo; Dempsey becomes champion.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Gene Tunney
Defeated Jack Dempsey · UD 10
Tunney outboxes Dempsey in Philadelphia. Their famous Long Count rematch in 1927 is a defence, not a title change.
Outside the ring
Championship vacancy
Gene Tunney
No deciding bout
Tunney retires as champion, leaving the succession to be resolved by contenders.
Vacant title decided
Vacant world heavyweight championship
Max Schmeling
Defeated Jack Sharkey · DQ 4
A low blow disqualifies Sharkey; Schmeling wins the vacant title.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Jack Sharkey
Defeated Max Schmeling · SD 15
Sharkey takes the championship on a disputed split decision in the rematch.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Primo Carnera
Defeated Jack Sharkey · KO 6
Carnera knocks out Sharkey in New York.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Max Baer
Defeated Primo Carnera · TKO 11
Baer overwhelms Carnera and becomes champion.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
James J. Braddock
Defeated Max Baer · UD 15
The Cinderella Man wins a major upset over Baer.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Joe Louis
Defeated James J. Braddock · KO 8
Louis begins a reign lasting until 1949, with 25 successful title defences.
Outside the ring
Championship vacancy
Joe Louis
No deciding bout
Louis announces retirement while champion; he later returns as a challenger.
Vacant title decided
Vacant NBA heavyweight title
Ezzard Charles
Defeated Jersey Joe Walcott · UD 15
Charles wins National Boxing Association recognition. New York does not initially recognize him as champion.
Titles unified
World championship recognition consolidated
Ezzard Charles
Defeated Joe Louis · UD 15
Victory over the returning Louis establishes Charles’s wider recognition; it is not his first NBA title win.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Jersey Joe Walcott
Defeated Ezzard Charles · KO 7
Walcott wins the championship in their third meeting.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Rocky Marciano
Defeated Jersey Joe Walcott · KO 13
Marciano comes from behind to knock out Walcott in Philadelphia.
Outside the ring
Championship vacancy
Rocky Marciano
No deciding bout
Marciano retires unbeaten at 49–0; the title is not lost in the ring.
Vacant title decided
Vacant world heavyweight championship
Floyd Patterson
Defeated Archie Moore · KO 5
Patterson wins the vacant crown in Chicago.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Ingemar Johansson
Defeated Floyd Patterson · TKO 3
Johansson knocks Patterson down seven times in the third round.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Floyd Patterson
Defeated Ingemar Johansson · KO 5
Patterson becomes the first man to regain the heavyweight championship.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Sonny Liston
Defeated Floyd Patterson · KO 1
Liston wins the title with a first-round knockout.
Title changes hands
World heavyweight championship
Muhammad Ali
Defeated Sonny Liston · RTD 6
Then fighting as Cassius Clay, Ali wins when Liston does not answer the bell for round seven.
Outside the ring
Sanctioning titles stripped; lineage disputed
Muhammad Ali
No deciding bout
Ali is stripped of recognition after refusing military induction. This administrative action does not itself represent an in-ring loss of the lineal claim.
Titles unified
WBA / WBC / NYSAC championship consolidation
Joe Frazier
Defeated Jimmy Ellis · RTD 4
Frazier defeats WBA champion Ellis, consolidating the sanctioned crown while Ali’s undefeated claim remains.
Titles unified
Undisputed and lineal recognition consolidated
Joe Frazier
Defeated Muhammad Ali · UD 15
The Fight of the Century resolves the rival claims. Frazier is already a reigning sanctioned champion.
Title changes hands
Undisputed heavyweight championship
George Foreman
Defeated Joe Frazier · TKO 2
Foreman floors Frazier six times in Kingston.
Title changes hands
Undisputed heavyweight championship
Muhammad Ali
Defeated George Foreman · KO 8
The Rumble in the Jungle restores Ali to the championship.
Title changes hands
WBA / WBC and lineal championship
Leon Spinks
Defeated Muhammad Ali · SD 15
Spinks wins a split decision in only his eighth professional bout.
Title changes hands
WBC heavyweight championship
Larry Holmes
Defeated Ken Norton · SD 15
Holmes wins the WBC branch. This is not a victory over the reigning lineal champion; later lineal recognition after Ali’s retirement varies by historian.
Title changes hands
WBA and lineal championship
Muhammad Ali
Defeated Leon Spinks · UD 15
Ali wins their rematch and becomes a three-time heavyweight champion; the WBC belt remains separate.
Outside the ring
Retirement; divided championship
Muhammad Ali
No deciding bout
Ali announces retirement. Holmes’s eventual recognition as successor is not a direct in-ring transfer from Ali.
Title changes hands
IBF and recognized lineal championship
Michael Spinks
Defeated Larry Holmes · UD 15
The former light-heavyweight champion ends Holmes’s undefeated run.
Titles unified
Undisputed WBA / WBC / IBF championship
Mike Tyson
Defeated Tony Tucker · UD 12
Tyson adds Tucker’s IBF belt to the WBA and WBC titles; Michael Spinks still holds the lineal claim.
Titles unified
Undisputed and lineal championship
Mike Tyson
Defeated Michael Spinks · KO 1
A 91-second knockout brings the sanctioned belts and the lineal claim together.
Title changes hands
Undisputed heavyweight championship
Buster Douglas
Defeated Mike Tyson · KO 10
Douglas produces the celebrated Tokyo upset.
Title changes hands
Undisputed heavyweight championship
Evander Holyfield
Defeated Buster Douglas · KO 3
Holyfield takes the crown in Las Vegas.
Title changes hands
Undisputed heavyweight championship
Riddick Bowe
Defeated Evander Holyfield · UD 12
Bowe wins the first meeting; his subsequent WBC relinquishment fractures the belts.
Title changes hands
WBA / IBF and lineal championship
Evander Holyfield
Defeated Riddick Bowe · MD 12
Holyfield regains the championship in the Fan Man rematch, without the separate WBC belt.
Title changes hands
WBA / IBF and lineal championship
Michael Moorer
Defeated Evander Holyfield · MD 12
Moorer wins a majority decision and becomes the first southpaw heavyweight champion.
Title changes hands
WBA / IBF and lineal championship
George Foreman
Defeated Michael Moorer · KO 10
At 45, Foreman becomes the oldest heavyweight world champion.
Title changes hands
Lineal claim; no major belt transferred
Shannon Briggs
Defeated George Foreman · MD 12
Briggs wins a controversial majority decision. Foreman no longer holds a major sanctioning-body belt.
Titles unified
WBC and lineal recognition consolidated
Lennox Lewis
Defeated Shannon Briggs · TKO 5
Already WBC champion, Lewis defeats Briggs to consolidate the lineal claim.
Titles unified
Undisputed WBA / WBC / IBF championship
Lennox Lewis
Defeated Evander Holyfield · UD 12
Their rematch unifies the three principal belts following the disputed draw in March.
Title changes hands
WBC / IBF and lineal championship
Hasim Rahman
Defeated Lennox Lewis · KO 5
Rahman shocks Lewis in South Africa; the WBA title is already separate.
Title changes hands
WBC / IBF and lineal championship
Lennox Lewis
Defeated Hasim Rahman · KO 4
Lewis regains his titles in the immediate rematch.
Outside the ring
Retirement; lineal vacancy
Lennox Lewis
No deciding bout
Lewis retires as champion. The subsequent belt holders are not all universally recognized lineal successors.
Vacant title decided
Vacant WBC and The Ring championships
Vitali Klitschko
Defeated Corrie Sanders · TKO 8
Vitali wins these vacant titles; broader lineal succession after Lewis remains disputed.
Vacant title decided
The Ring championship; lineal recognition
Wladimir Klitschko
Defeated Ruslan Chagaev · RTD 9
Already holding IBF and WBO belts, Wladimir wins The Ring title. Some historians place the restarted lineage here; not all agree.
Titles unified
WBA / IBF / WBO unification
Wladimir Klitschko
Defeated David Haye · UD 12
Wladimir adds Haye’s WBA title. Vitali holds the WBC belt, so this is not undisputed status.
Title changes hands
WBA / IBF / WBO / The Ring and lineal claim
Tyson Fury
Defeated Wladimir Klitschko · UD 12
Fury defeats Klitschko in Düsseldorf; the WBC title remains separate.
Title changes hands
WBC and vacant The Ring championship
Tyson Fury
Defeated Deontay Wilder · TKO 7
Fury wins the WBC belt in their second meeting. Whether his earlier lineal claim survived inactivity is disputed.
Title changes hands
WBA / IBF / WBO championship
Oleksandr Usyk
Defeated Anthony Joshua · UD 12
Usyk takes Joshua’s three belts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; Fury retains WBC recognition.
Titles unified
Undisputed four-belt and lineal championship
Oleksandr Usyk
Defeated Tyson Fury · SD 12
Usyk becomes the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
Titles unified
Undisputed four-belt championship restored
Oleksandr Usyk
Defeated Daniel Dubois · KO 5
Usyk regains the IBF belt from Dubois at Wembley, becoming undisputed again. This is the last event included, not a claim about today’s belt holders.