Amendments | barryhugmanboxing

Amendments and Additions to the Books

Since the publication of the books in November 2016 I have continued with my research. With thousands of fights and boxers covered, dating back to the 1870s, it is perhaps inevitable that new information has come to light and will probably continue to do so.

I have now audited all title fight dates from 1920, which can be seen within their respective weight divisions marked in blue where applicable. Apart from a few typos, they were in the main a day out due to time frames and incorrect reporting.

Additional fights found/missed are shown in red within their respective weight divisions, as well as changes to recognition and general information.

There is also a PDF version here for you to download and print if you'd prefer.

Heavyweight

7 September 1892. James J. Corbett w co 21 (finish) John L. Sullivan.

(3rd para) Meantime the middleweight champion, Bob Fitzsimmons, was also making waves, having already beaten Peter Maher (w rtd 12 at the Olympic Club on 2 March), and was considered in some parts of America as a future champion.

27 January 1896. Dan Creedon w co 2 (20) Jem Smith.

(2nd para) Creedon never furthered his claim at heavyweight, taking on middleweights before moving into the new light heavyweight division.

2 December 1896. Tom Sharkey w disq 8 (10) Bob Fitzsimmons.

(3rd para) Regardless of that, Sharkey, who next took on Jim Williams in an eight-round contest at the Athletic Club, Salt Lake City, Utah on 5 April 1897 where no decision was rendered, still laid claim to the title even though there was little recognition forthcoming.

11 March 1898. Tom Sharkey drew 8 (20) Joe Choynski.

(2nd para) Undefeated in just 11 contests, the 23-year-old James J. Jeffries would be Sharkey’s next opponent. Having defeated Peter Jackson (w rsc 3 at Woodward’s Pavilion on 22 March) he had earned his opportunity, but for Jackson there would be just one more contest before he became a victim to the ravages of consumption, passing away on 13 July 1901.

6 May 1899. Klondike Haynes w co 5 (6) Jack Johnson.

(2nd para) Three risk fights for Haynes came in six-rounders in Chicago against George Grant (w pts 6 at Fort Dearborn AC on 12 May), Scaldy Bill Quinn (w rsc 2 at the Howard Theatre on 27 May) and Frank Childs (l pts 6 at Fort Dearborn AC on 11 August), but despite losing on points to the latter he continued with his claim.

16 March 1901. Frank Childs w co 17 (20) George Byers.

(2nd para) Fighting in Chicago, Illinois six-rounders in 1902, Childs risked all against Walter Johnson (w pts 6 at the Chicago & American AC on 18 January), Denver Ed Martin (l pts 6 at the Chicago & American AC on 24 February) and Joe Walcott (w rsc 3 at the Apollo Hall on 9 October). Following the Martin bout the latter was also claiming the ‘black’ title on being given the verdict, but as it was contested over a short distance it carried little weight.

3 September 1908. Tommy Burns w co 6 (20) Bill Lang.

26 December 1908. Jack Johnson w rsc 14 (20) Tommy Burns.

(4th para) Contesting the ‘black’ title, McVea knocked out Cyclone Billy Warren inside two rounds at The Tivoli, Paris on 9 April 1909 before being forced to retire in the 49th round of a return finish fight at the same venue against Jeannette on 17 April 1909. There were 38 knockdowns recorded in the latter contest, Jeannette going down on 27 occasions to McVea’s 11.

16 July 1914. Georges Carpentier w disq 6 (20) Gunboat Smith.

(2nd para) Following the outbreak of war in Europe, when Carpentier relinquished the ‘white’ title in favour of military service it was Jess Willard who would eventually challenge Johnson. Willard had not taken up boxing until nearing the age of 30, but at 6’6” and weighing in the region of 250 pounds he was an imposing figure. Having beaten George Rodel (w co 6 at the Orpheum Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, USA on 28 April) in what was seen to be a final eliminator for the ‘white’ title held by Smith, the latter had then gone to Europe to fight Carpentier instead of meeting Willard, who had been promised first crack at the Gunboat. Smith had already outpointed Willard over 20 rounds, albeit narrowly, at the Eighth Street Arena, San Francisco, California on 20 May 1913, but the latter had vastly improved since that meeting and was being seen as a future champion.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, Smith, who was now back in America and had reclaimed the ‘white’ title, met Cyclone Johnny Thompson (nd-w pts 6 at the Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 28 September) and Battling Levinsky (nd-l pts 10 at The Casino, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 9 October) before taking on the former ‘black’ champion, Sam Langford. Knocked out in the third round at the Atlas AA, Boston, Massachusetts on 20 October, having been floored several times, Smith’s title claim never took off, being seen as just another heavyweight thereafter.

5 April 1915. Jess Willard w co 26 (45) Jack Johnson.

(4th para) Having claimed the 'black’ title, Jeannette met Battling Brooks (nd-w co 4 at the Vanderbilt AC, Brooklyn, NYC, New York on 19 April), but could only draw over 12 rounds with Sam McVea at the Atlas AA on 27 April prior to meeting Battling Jim Johnson (nd-w pts 10 at Sohmer Park, Montreal, Canada on 10 May). Shown in some record books, Jeannette supposedly met Brooks again (nd-w co 5 in NYC on 14 May), but as yet I have been unable to trace it happening.

(5th para) Dissatisfied with the decision after the Jeannette fight McVea claimed the ‘black’ title, putting it up for grabs against Harry Wills (nd-w pts 10 at the St Nicholas Arena, Manhattan on 19 May) and Battling Jim Johnson (nd-w pts 10 at the Gaiety Theatre, Montreal on 9 June). Then, on 29 June, at the Atlas AA, following a 12-round points win over Langford, the Boston Post reported that the winner, McVea, should be seen as the ‘black’ champion. This comment was made regardless of the fact that Jeannette, who defended his claim against Bill Watkins (nd-w pts 10 at the St Nicholas Rink on 2 July), had recently beaten Langford and drawn with McVea in the same city.

(6th para) Further to McVea losing his claim when outpointed over 12 rounds by Wills at the Atlas AA on 7 September, the winner defended against Langford (nd-w pts 10 at the Harlem SC, Manhattan on 3 December). Wills again made a successful defence against Langford (w pts 20 at the Tulane AC, New Orleans, Louisiana on 3 January 1916) prior to the latter turning the tables with a 19th-round kayo win at the Tommy Burns Arena, New Orleans on 11 February 1916.

25 March 1916. Jess Willard nd-w pts 10 Frank Moran.

(2nd para) After this, which had been followed by a two-round exhibition for Willard against Soldier Kearns, Sam Langford continued to press for a title shot by taking on all comers in defence of the ‘black’ title, including Jeff Clark (nd-w rsc 5 at the Future AC, St Louis, Missouri on 31 March), Sam McVea (nd-drew 10 at The Arena, Syracuse, New York on 7 April), Harry Wills (nd-l pts 8 at the Future AC, St Louis on 25 April), McVea again (nd-drew 12 at the East Market Street Rink, Akron, Ohio on 2 May) and Joe Jeannette (nd-w co 7 at The Arena, Syracuse on 12 May). This win, in what was a risk for both fighters in a scheduled ten-round no-decision contest, brought Langford overall control of the ‘black’ heavyweight title. Next up for Langford was McVea (drew 20 at the Avellaneda Roma Theatre, Buenos Aires, Argentina on 12 August) yet again, followed by Bill Tate (nd-drew 10 at The Arena, Syracuse on 30 November) and Battling Jim Johnson (nd-w co 12 at the Future AC, St Louis on 12 December).

(3rd para) 1917 started well enough for Langford when outpointing Battling Jim Johnson over 12 rounds at the Academy AC, Kansas City, Missouri on 1 January, before Tate took a 12-round points decision and the ‘black’ title from him at the Grand Opera House, Kansas City, Missouri on 25 January. While the 37-year-old Willard remained inactive, Langford, no spring chicken himself, regained the ‘black’ title from Tate (nd-w co 5 at the Future AC, St Louis on 1 May) and then notched up defences over Wills (nd-l pts 6 at the Cambria AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 11 May), Jeannette (nd-w pts 12 at The Coliseum, Toledo, Ohio on 14 September), Andy Johnson (nd-w co 2 at the Maryland AC, Ardmore, Maryland on 17 September), Wills (nd-l pts 10 at the Clermont Rink, Brooklyn, NYC on 20 September), Wills again (nd-drew 12 at The Coliseum, Toledo on 12 November) and Kid Norfolk (nd-w co 2 at Stockyards Stadium, Denver, Colorado on 17 December). Langford’s ‘black’ title reign came to an end on 14 April 1918 at the Vista Alegre Bullring, Panama City, Panama, when he was knocked out by Wills inside six rounds.

(4th para) Wills then stopped Langford in seven rounds at the Vista Alegre Bullring on 19 May 1918 before defeating McVea (w pts 20 at the Vista Alegre Bullring, Panama City, Panama on 16 June 1918) and risking the title in short distance no-decision fights against Clark (nd-w rsc 5 at the Sporting Club Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey on 19 August 1918), Jack Thompson (nd-w pts 6 at the National AC, Philadelphia on 14 September 1918), Thompson again (nd-drew 8 at the Sporting Club Arena, Atlantic City on 15 November 1918), John Lester Johnson (nd-w pts 8 at the Armoury AA, Jersey City, New Jersey on 10 June 1919) and Langford (nd-w pts 8 at the Sportsman’s Park, St Louis on 4 July 1919).

14 December 1920. Jack Dempsey w co 12 (15) Bill Brennan.

(2nd para) A series of 'black’ title defences for Harry Wills in the first half of 1921 saw him successfully deal with Bill Tate (w co 2 at the Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York on 17 January), Jeff Clark (w rsc 2 at Bob Wright’s Coliseum, Baltimore, Maryland on 11 February), Jack Thompson (nd-w pts 8 at The Odeon, St Louis, Missouri on 8 April), Andy Johnson (w co 1 at the Broadway Arena, Brooklyn, NYC on 27 May), Battling Jim McCreary (w co 7 at The Arena, Syracuse, New York on 3 June), Ray Bennett (w co 1 at Queensboro Stadium, Long Island City, Queens, NYC, New York on 4 June) and Tate again (w rsc 6 at Queensboro Stadium on 2 July).

2 July 1921. Jack Dempsey nd-w co 4 (12) Georges Carpentier.

(6th para) Meantime, Wills went on to defend the ‘black’ title against Langford (w pts 10 at the Milwaukie Arena on 17 January 1922), Kid Norfolk (w co 2 at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 2 March 1922), Jeff Clark (nd-w rsc 2 at the Arena AA, Trenton, New Jersey on 30 June 1922), Clark again (w co 3 at the Amphitheatre Rink, Winnipeg, Canada on 17 July 1922), Buddy Jackson (nd-w co 2 at the Broad AC, Newark, New Jersey on 21 August 1922), Tut Jackson (w co 3 at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, NYC on 29 August 1922) and Clem Johnson (w rsc 12 at Madison Square Garden on 29 September 1922). The Chicago Tribune reported Wills’ contest against Norfolk as a battle of the champions of the ‘black’ heavyweight and light heavyweight titles, the winner to meet Jack Dempsey.

23 September 1926. Gene Tunney w pts 10 Jack Dempsey.

(4th para) With black fighting men still feeling that they were not getting a fair crack of the whip, George Godfrey won the unofficial vacant ‘black’ heavyweight title when forcing Larry Gains to retire at the end of the sixth round (at the Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York on 8 November), before successfully defending against Bearcat Wright (nc 10 at the Armoury, Portland, Oregon on 23 November), Cowboy Billy Owens (w rsc 8 at The Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois on 3 December), Leon Chevalier (w co 4 Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, California on 18 April 1927), Long Tom Hawkins (w co 7 at The Coliseum, San Diego, California on 13 May 1927), Young Jake Kilrain (w pts 10 at The Arena, Culver City, California on 23 June 1927) and Neal Clisby (w co 7 at the Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles on 5 July 1927) prior to the second Tunney v Dempsey fight.

26 July 1928. Gene Tunney w rsc 11 (15) Tom Heeney.

(9th para) A series of ‘black’ title fights in 1929 saw Harris beat Neal Clisby (w pts 10 at the Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California on 7 May). Harris then drew over ten rounds against Long Tom Hawkins (at The Coliseum, San Diego, California on 17 May) prior to losing his ‘black’ title claim when Hawkins stopped him in the seventh round at the same venue on 21 June. Hawkins then defended against Harris (w co 1 at the Dreamland Auditorium, San Francisco, California on 19 July) before taking on the former champion, Godfrey, and winning on a third-round disqualification at the Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles on 13 August. After putting his version of the 'black’ title on the line against Al Walker (w pts 10 at the Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles on 1 October), Hawkins lost it to Bearcat Wright, who stopped him in the ninth round at the Dreamland Auditorium, San Francisco on 25 October. Wright then made successful defences against Cowboy Billy Owens (w co 2 at The Coliseum, Des Moines, Iowa on 12 November) and Hawkins (w pts 10 at The Coliseum, San Diego on 10 January 1930).

12 June 1930. Max Schmeling w disq 4 (15) Jack Sharkey.

(4th para) Still seen as the ‘black’ heavyweight champion by the great majority in 1930, George Godfrey defended his claim against Elijah Lee (w co 2 at Tomlinson Hall, Indianapolis, Indiana on 20 August), Seal Harris (w co 4 at the Prudden Auditorium, Lansing, Michigan on 7 November), Harris again (w co 3 at The Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 8 December) and Wright (drew 10 at the City Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia on 19 December)

21 June 1932. Jack Sharkey w pts 15 Max Schmeling.

(4th para) As it had now become clear that the winner of a fight between Carnera and Schaaf would provide the opposition for Sharkey, the much derided Carnera beat Schaaf (w co 13 at Madison Square Garden on 10 February 1933) in what was a final eliminator scheduled for 15 rounds. Unfortunately, the contest had tragic consequences when Schaaf passed away in the aftermath. The Medical Examiner’s report following the autopsy stated that Schaaf had entered the ring with a brain ailment that could not possibly have been detected prior to the contest, and with the amount of clubbing blows delivered to his head by Carnera the damage was exacerbated. It was also mentioned that Schaaf had suffered a bad bout of flu a month earlier before spending six days in hospital from its effects.

22 March 1967. Muhammad Ali w co 7 (15) Zora Folley.

(2nd para) Ali forfeited his title in the eyes of the WBA and NYSAC, who suspended him on 9 May after he refused to serve in the US Army, fighting in Vietnam, due to his religious beliefs as a Muslim. While the WBC said they would continue to support Ali on the grounds that he had not violated any boxing rules, the WBA and the NYSAC both inferred that Ali’s refusal to enter the army was detrimental to the best interests of boxing.

(3rd para) While Ali faced a possible conviction which could bring a five-year prison sentence and a large fine or both, a series of eliminators got underway to determine a new champion. The WBA eventually announced that eight men - Thad Spencer, Jimmy Ellis, Oscar Bonavena, Jerry Quarry, Ernie Terrell, Leotis Martin, Karl Mildenberger and Floyd Patterson - would compete despite the WBC continuing to support Ali until 3 March 1969.

25 May 1972. Joe Frazier w rsc 4 (15) Ron Stander.

15 September 1978. Muhammad Ali w pts 15 Leon Spinks.

(2nd para) When Ali, having remained inactive, relinquished the WBA version of the title on announcing his retirement on 27 June 1979 an eliminating series was set up to find the next champion. In the first semi-final leg, John Tate stopped Kallie Knoetze inside eight rounds at the Independence Stadium, Mmabatho, South Africa on 2 June 1979, while the second leg, held at the Fontvieille Big Top, Monte Carlo on 24 June 1979, saw Gerrie Coetzee force the referee to come to the rescue of Spinks in the first.

22 April 1995. George Foreman w pts 12 Axel Schulz.

(2nd para) When Foreman relinquished his IBF version of the title on 29 June after refusing Schulz a rematch, the latter went forward to contest the vacancy with Frans Botha.

(3rd para) Foreman had just three more fights before retiring at the end of 1997 after being beaten by Shannon Briggs (l pts 12 at the Taj Majal Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA on 22 November 1997). By his win, Briggs picked up the so-called Lineal title at the same time and got himself a date with Lennox Lewis, the WBC champion.

16 March 1996. Mike Tyson w rsc 3 Frank Bruno.

(2nd para) Tyson forfeited the WBC version of the championship on 24 September for failing to defend against the leading challenger, Lennox Lewis, and taking a fight against Bruce Seldon for the WBA title. Following that, Lewis was matched against Oliver McCall to contest the vacancy.

8 June 2002. Lennox Lewis w co 8 Mike Tyson.

(2nd para) Lewis gave up the IBF title on 5 September rather than defend against Chris Byrd, who was then selected to meet Evander Holyfield to decide the vacancy. On 1 June, at the Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, Holyfield had won a WBA eliminating contest when beating Hasim Rahman, thanks to an eighth-round technical decision.

25 April 2015. Wladimir Klitschko w pts 12 Bryant Jennings.

(2nd para) Ruslan Chagaev knocked out Francesco Pianeta inside a round to retain his WBA 'second tier' title at the GETEC Arena, Magdeburg, Germany on 11 July.

Cruiserweight

27 November 1989. Robert Daniels w pts 12 Dwight Muhammad Qawi.

28 July 1990. Jeff Lampkin w co 8 Siza Makathini.

8 March 1991. Bobby Czyz w pts 12 Robert Daniels.

7 September 1991. James Warring w co 1 James Pritchard.

8 May 1992. Bobby Czyz w pts 12 Donny Lalonde.

(2nd para) Due to meet his number-one challenger, Orlin Norris, on 23 April 1993, after Czyz received a back injury when hit by a car in March 1993 the fight was postponed. Given time to recover, when the injury failed to respond to treatment Czyz relinquished the WBA title on 20 September 1993. Following that, Norris was matched against Arthur Williams to contest the vacancy on 1 October 1993, but with the latter being unavailable the former was booked to meet Marcelo Figueroa.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, Czyz came back 21 months later and would eventually be beaten by David Izegwire (l rtd 4 at the Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket, Connecticut on 4 August 1994) in a battle for the latter’s IBO title. Izegwire would then be stopped by Adolpho Washington (l rsc 8 at the Aladdin Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas on 5 November 1994), a result which enabled the winner to challenge for the WBA title.

20 November 1993. Nestor Giovannini w pts 12 Markus Bott.

(2nd para) On 2 October 1994, Giovannini (184) stopped Larry Carlisle (179) inside six rounds in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a fight that was billed for the title but not sanctioned by the WBO.

17 March 1995. Orlin Norris w pts 12 Adolpho Washington.

3 November 2001. Juan Carlos Gomez w rsc 6 Pietro Aurino.

(2nd para) Gomez relinquished his title on 19 February 2002 in order to campaign in the heavyweight division. To decide the vacancy, Wayne Braithwaite, who had beaten Louis Azille in an eliminator on 17 November, was matched against Vincenzo Cantatore, the WBC International champion.

26 April 2003. James Toney w pts 12 Vassiliy Jirov.

(2nd para) After Toney handed in the IBF belt on 14 December 2004 to concentrate on the heavyweight division, Kelvin Davis, who had outpointed Louis Azille over 12 rounds at the Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania in an eliminator on 24 October, was matched against Ezra Sellers to decide the vacancy.

7 January 2006. O’Neil Bell w rsc 10 Jean-Marc Mormeck.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, on 31 March, Bell forfeited the IBF title for not fulfilling his mandatory requirements, and to fill his shoes a match was made between Steve Cunningham, who had outpointed Kelvin Davis over 12 rounds at the Gund Arena, Cleveland, Ohio on 3 September 2005 in an eliminator, and Guillermo Jones. When the contest was called off at the last moment due to a contractual dispute, Cunningham was later matched against Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, a fighter who had lost just once in 36 contests.

(4th para) Valery Brudov won the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title on 2 December, at the Bercy Sports Palace, Paris, France, when stopping Luis Andres Pineda in the 11th round.

17 March 2007. Jean-Marc Mormeck w pts 12 O’Neil Bell.

(2nd para) At the SYMA Sport & Leisure Centre, Budapest, Hungary, on 16 June, Firat Arslan outpointed, the holder, Valery Brudov, over 12 rounds to win the WBA ‘interim’ title.

10 November 2007. David Haye w rsc 7 Jean-Marc Mormeck.

(2nd para) On 24 November, at the Freiberger Arena, Dresden, Germany, Firat Arslan won the WBA ‘second tier’ title when outpointing the champion, Virgil Hill, over 12 rounds. Having been outpointed at the weight by Henry Maske on 31 March at the Olympic Hall, Munich, Germany, it had been incorrectly reported by some that Hill had been stripped and Arslan had been handed the title on David Haye becoming a double world champion.

8 March 2008. David Haye w rsc 2 Enzo Maccarinelli.

(2nd para) Firat Arslan outpointed Darnell Wilson over 12 rounds at the Hanns Martin-Schleyer Hall, Stuttgart, Germany on 3 May to retain the WBA ‘second tier’ title.

2 October 2010. Guillermo Jones w rsc 11 Valery Brudov.

(3rd para) Denis Lebedev won the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title when outpointing an ageing James Toney over 12 rounds at the Khodynka Ice Palace, Moscow, Russia on 4 November.

19 March 2011. Vitali Klitschko w rsc 1 Odlanier Solis.

5 November 2011. Guillermo Jones w rsc 6 Michael Marrone.

(2nd para) Denis Lebedev defended the WBA ‘interim’ title against Shawn Cox, winning by a second-round kayo at the Crocus City Hall, Myakinino, Russia, on 4 April 2012.

10 November 2012. Wladimir Klitschko w pts 12 Mariusz Wach.

21 May 2016. Denis Lebedev w rsc 2 Victor Emilio Ramirez.

(2nd para) On the same day at the Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Beibut Shumenov won the vacant WBA 'second tier' title when stopping Junior Anthony Wright inside ten rounds. Shumenov was then forced to withdraw from a defence against the WBA ‘interim’ champion, Yunier Dorticos, on 29 April 2017, after receiving an eye injury in training ten days earlier. When the Kazakh handed back his ‘second tier’ belt on 19 June 2017, further to medical advice, Dorticos was upgraded to ‘second tier’ champion.

15 October 2016. Tony Bellew w rsc 3 BJ Flores.

(2nd para) Bellew was appointed ‘emeritus’ champion on 29 March 2017, having suffered a broken right hand when defeating David Haye in a heavyweight battle and being uncertain as to which weight division he would resume his career in when fit again. Meantime, Marco Huck and Mairis Breidis were matched to contest the vacant title.

Light Heavyweight

24 May 1901. (170lbs) Marvin Hart w co 6 (25) Dan Creedon.

(3rd para) Having beaten Dan Creedon (w co 1 at the Convention Hall, Kansas City, Missouri on 4 October 1900) and George Byers (w co 9 at Woodward’s Pavilion, San Francisco on 18 January), the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Jack Root should be recognised as the American 165lbs light heavyweight champion. This statement came immediately prior to his contest against Kid Carter.

3 May 1902. (170lbs) Marvin Hart w co 9 (20) Kid Carter.

(2nd para) In his next 20 rounder, on 2 April 1903, an over-the-weight Hart beat Jack Bonner on a fourth-round disqualification at the Athletic Club, Louisville prior to meeting George Gardner. Bonner was thought to be inside 170lbs.

25 November 1903. (168lbs) Bob Fitzsimmons w pts 20 George Gardner.

(2nd para) Fitzsimmons retained his title claim after a six-round contest made at 165lbs against Philadelphia Jack O'Brien at the Baker Bowl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 23 July 1904. The fight was ended at 1.22 of the sixth when the referee was ordered by the policeman in charge to bring matters to a halt after O’Brien had been knocked down.

(3rd para) Five days after Mike Schreck stopped Gardner in the 20th round at The Theatre, Salt Lake City, Utah on 17 April 1905, Fitzsimmons signed up to defend the 168lbs title against him. Unfortunately, when the promoters failed to post the agreed forfeit Fitzsimmons called the fight off, and Dave Barry was drafted in at short notice to meet Schreck in a fight that would be billed to decide the world title. It was reported that there were those who felt that Fitzsimmons had been looking for a way out of what was going to be a hard fight for him.

3 July 1905. (168lbs) Mike Schreck w rtd 20 Dave Barry.

Venue: Salt Palace Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah. Referee: Willard Bean.

Fight Summary: Billed as a 168lbs world title fight, Schreck weighed in at 165lbs to Barry’s 162. For close on 20 rounds the Pacific Coast light heavyweight champion sustained tremendous blows to the head as Schreck attacked, many of which would have knocked lesser men out. Schreck, showing much skill, speed and use of the ring, was too much for Barry, his jabs setting the latter up time and again. Finally, with less than 30 seconds of the fight remaining, after Barry was dropped by a heavy overarm right to the back of the neck his corner pulled him out at the count of ‘three’.

Beaten by Jack Twin Sullivan (l pts 20 at the Pacific AC, Los Angeles, California on 28 November 1905) at 165lbs that was it for Schreck in the new weight class before he moved up to heavyweight. Already a title claimant at 158lbs, Sullivan had a reasonable claim at 165lbs but never pushed it.

15 June 1914. Jack Dillon w pts 12 Bob Moha.

(2nd para) During the rest of 1914, often weighing in way above the middleweight limit, Dillon also risked losing his light heavyweight claim when defending his right to be recognised as the 160lbs middleweight champion. This applied in contests against Sailor Ed Petroskey (w pts 10 at Ascot Park, Kansas City, Missouri on 3 July), George KO Brown (nd-w pts 10 at the Baseball Park, Terre Haute, Indiana on 21 July), Howard Morrow (nd-w pts 6 at the Fuller Theatre, Kalamazoo, Michigan on 12 August) and Sailor Einert (nd-w pts 10 at the Baseball Park, Terre Haute on 7 September). Dillon again took on Brown (nd-drew 10 at the Knox County Fairgrounds, Vincennes, Indiana on 15 September) before coming to the ring at 183½lbs for a match against the 172lbs Frank Mantell (nd-w pts 12 at Goodale Aerodrome, Columbus, Ohio on 28 September). Then, for the third time in two months Dillon met up with Brown (nd-nc 4 at The Coliseum, St Louis, Missouri on 14 October). A few weeks later, Dillon (174¼) stopped Charley Weinert (173¾) inside two rounds of a six-round no-decision contest at the Olympia AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 9 November, further to meeting Young Ahearn (156½) at the same venue on 1 January 1915 in a no-decision six-round draw, weighing 164lbs.

16 July 1915. Jack Dillon nd-w pts 10 Zulu Kid.

24 October 1916. Battling Levinsky w pts 12 Jack Dillon.

(6th para) In the build-up, Levinsky’s fight against Tommy Gibbons (nd-l pts 10 at The Auditorium, St Paul, Minnesota on 23 March 1917) was reported by the St Paul Pioneer Express to be a billed title contest with the champion hoping to make 175lbs. Regardless of billing the official weights reported in the press showed that while Levinsky came in at 176½lbs, Gibbons, at 161½lbs, was easily inside the championship weight. Another fight where an over-the-weight Levinsky (180) risked his title came at the Fairmont AC, Bronx, NYC on 9 May 1917 against Bob McAllister (164), the press giving the latter the spoils after ten rounds. Two more fights for Levinsky that carried a risk for the title claimant even though he was over the weight came against Leo Houck (nd-w pts 6 at the Opera House, York, Pennsylvania on 16 May 1917) and Bert Kenny (nd-w pts 10 at the Fairmont AC, Bronx, NYC, New York on 26 May 1917).

(9th para) On 16 October 1917, at The Arena, Boston, Massachusetts, Billy Miske was outpointed over 12 rounds by Kid Norfolk, but while the latter claimed the title there was no tangible support forthcoming. With the Boston Globe reporting them to weigh at least 175lbs, there was never any real proof that either man was inside the limit anyway.

17 February 1919. Battling Levinsky nd-l pts 10 Harry Greb.

(3rd para) Given another crack at Levinsky, Greb was again unable to apply a finisher despite winning the six-round press verdict in decisive fashion, according to the Pittsburgh Post, at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 14 July. Two more fights for Levinsky, contested in New Jersey over eight rounds, have to be seen as involving a risk to his title claim. Both went the distance, and on both occasions Levinsky was awarded the press decision. On 25 July, at the DeForest Gym, Long Branch, New Jersey, Kinley weighed 175lbs while there was no mention of Levinsky’s weight, and on 11 August at the Armoury AA, Jersey City, New Jersey, Levinsky scaled 173lbs to Clay Turner’s 170. A few weeks later, at the State Fairgrounds, Wheeling, West Virginia, on 3 September, an over-the-weight Levinsky yet again took on Greb in a no-decision fight, and one in which the press decided that he had lost the ten-round decision. The Wheeling Register reported that Greb, inside 175lbs, would have won the title had he possessed a kayo wallop. When Levinsky met Turner (nd-drew 10 at the Roller Palace Rink, Detroit, Michigan on 24 November), according to the Detroit News with both men down to weight the fight could justifiably be billed for the title. While Turner was well inside 175lbs, it is uncertain as to whether Levinsky was.

(4th para) Kicking off 1920 with an eighth-round stoppage win over Bert Kenny at the Arena Gardens, Toronto, Canada on 1 January, it is not clear whether Levinsky risked his title claim in this one. Another no-decision contest, albeit only of eight rounds duration, saw Levinsky (178lbs) gain a press verdict over the 163lbs Johnny Howard at the Lotus AC, Perth Amboy, New Jersey on 23 January. Three more no-decision bouts between Levinsky and Turner in 1920 saw the title claimant fighting in the heavyweight class, while it was unclear whether Turner was inside 175lbs or not. Fighting over ten rounds at the City Boxing Club, Detroit on 16 February, the press verdict was in favour of Levinsky, as was the ten rounder between the men at the Church Street Auditorium, Hartford, Connecticut on 26 March. On 3 May, at the Exposition Hall, Portland, Maine, the match was made up of two six-round contests with a slight break between to get around the regulations. Again Levinsky was seen by the press to have won. Continuing to scale above the weight class limit Levinsky then drew over 12 rounds with Chuck Wiggins, who was thought to be inside 175lbs, at Westwood Field, Dayton, Ohio on 21 May to set himself up for a meeting with Georges Carpentier.

11 December 1925. Paul Berlenbach w pts 15 Jack Delaney.

(2nd para) Despite losing to Berlenbach, following wins over Mike McTigue (w rsc 4 at Madison Square Garden on 15 March 1926) and Maxie Rosenbloom (w pts 10 at The Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 22 March 1926), Delaney quickly earned himself a return.

10 February 1930. Jimmy Slattery w pts 15 Lou Scozza.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, the NYSAC decided that Rosenbloom must beat the winner of Pete Latzo and Larry Johnson at Madison Square Garden, NYC, New York on 21 February if he wanted to progress. Latzo duly beat Johnson on points over ten rounds, but the decision was deemed so poor that it was Johnson who was matched against Rosenbloom in the Garden on 10 March. When that contest was settled by a sixth-round disqualification win for the latter the NYSAC were still not satisfied, asking Rosenbloom to meet Harry Fuller at the Broadway Auditorium on 7 April, the date that had originally been put aside for his crack at Slattery. After outpointing Fuller over ten rounds most observers thought that Rosenbloom would be in a position to agree terms for Slattery, but with the NYSAC still not satisfied they asked him to meet Johnson in a return as their earlier contest had been controversial. On 30 April, Rosenbloom outpointed Johnson over ten rounds at Madison Square Garden to finally convince the NYSAC that he was a worthy challenger, and with a date of 25 June finally agreed and supported by the NBA contracts were eventually signed. All of the above contests, which should be considered as eliminators, were contested over ten rounds at 175lbs.

5 August 1931. Maxie Rosenbloom w pts 15 Jimmy Slattery.

(3rd para) A few hours later at the NBA convention held on 14-16 September, the Association withdrew recognition from Rosenbloom and set up an eliminating series in Chicago, Illinois to find a new champion. The move, generally felt to have been a political one, saw the NBA suffer much ridicule at the hands of The Ring magazine and the press, especially as Rosenbloom had defended against Slattery just six weeks earlier. However, in defence of the NBA, Rosenbloom appeared to be ignoring the top-rated George Manley, who had twice outpointed him over ten rounds on 30 April and 22 July in ten-round non-title bouts at Stockyards Stadium and the City Auditorium, Denver, Colorado. Thus, it was strange that Manley’s name was not among the applications that were eventually received and accepted, namely Phelps, Bob Olin, George Nichols, Lou Scozza, Abie Bain, Dave Maier, Harry Ebbets, Willie Oster, Billy Jones, Baxter Calmes, Mario Campi, Tiger Roy Williams, Clyde Chastain, Humberto Curi, Larry Johnson, Rosy Rosales, Russ Rowsey, Harry Fuller, Tait Littman, Battling Bozo, Pret Ferrar, Roscoe Manning, Buddy McArthur, Willie Bush, Don Petrin and Charley Belanger.

(4th para) Nevertheless, with 26 men entered the first series started at The Stadium on 11 December with five contests scheduled for eight rounds apiece, resulting in Ebbets (w pts 8 Oster), Jones (w pts 8 Phelps), Calmes (w rsc 3 Campi), Maier (w pts 8 Williams) and Chastain (w pts 8 Curi), making it into the next round. Next came six further first-round contests on 18 December that saw Johnson (w rsc 2 Rosales), Olin (w co 4 Littman), Bain (w pts 8 Fuller), Scozza (w co 2 Rowsey), Bozo (w pts 8 Ferrar) and Manning (w co 1 McArthur) all winning through.

(5th para) It is difficult to know exactly how the NBA arrived at the last eight, but I have made certain assumptions based on the remaining contests. To finalise the first series, Nichols (w rsc 5 Petrin) and Belanger (w pts 8 Bush) won through on 30 December. Then, with Ebbets withdrawing injured, Jones (w pts 10 Johnson), Calmes (w pts 10 Manning) and Olin (w pts 10 Chastain) made it through the second series on the same date while Nichols (w pts 10 Belanger) joined them on 15 January 1932, along with Scozza, Bozo, Maier and Bain, who received byes. Having drawn a bye at this stage of the tournament, allowed Maier to take time out to record a ten-round non-title points win over Rosenbloom at The Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 1 January 1932, prior to coming back into the quarter-final action on 15 January 1932 and eliminating Bain (w rsc 1). On the same day Calmes beat Olin (w pts 10), before Jones (w rsc 9 Bozo) and Nichols (w pts 10 Scozza) came through unscathed on 28 January 1932 to join him and Maier in the last four.

24 March 1933. Maxie Rosenbloom w rsc 4 (15) Bob Godwin.

(5th para) In a fight that was billed for the ‘black’ title, Billy Jones (175) outpointed Harry English (173) over ten rounds at the Culver Park Arena, Ludington, Michigan on 24 August. The papers reported it as the first fight of its kind to be recognised by the State Boxing Commission, but Jones appears to have made no defences as such.

3 November 1933. Maxie Rosenbloom w pts 15 Mickey Walker.

Venue: Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York, USA. Recognition: NBA/NY. Referee: Eddie Forbes.

3 June 1937. John Henry Lewis w rsc 8 (15) Bob Olin.

(4th para) Although it was reported in December that Lewis would be making a defence against Lenhart in January 1938 it did not happen. Then, after being pressed by both the NYSAC and NBA to make a defence, it was announced on 29 January 1938 that Lewis would relinquish the title if he could get a crack at Joe Louis for the heavyweight crown. At the same time the NYSAC stated that they would look favourably at the winner of a contest at 175lbs between Fox and Lou Brouillard at The Garden, Boston, Massachusetts on 18 February 1938 being given an opportunity to meet Lewis for the title. Fox won by a stoppage in the seventh round.

22 May 1941. Gus Lesnevich w pts 15 Anton Christoforidis.

(2nd para) Tami Mauriello would be Lesnevich’s next challenger after Jimmy Webb, who had earlier qualified for the final leg of the NYSAC version of the title, got himself badly beaten when the unranked Mose Brown knocked him out inside two rounds at Hickey Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 28 July. Having defeated Tommy Tucker in the eliminators back in February, with Webb basically marking time the Brown defeat was a massive setback. Twice more he was given the chance to overturn the defeat, but twice more he was defeated in Pittsburgh by Brown (l rsc 5 at Hickey Park on 20 August and l rsc 6 at Forbes Field on 15 September) before dropping out of the title race altogether. Despite his three victories over Webb, which gained him a top-three ranking, after Brown was beaten in quick succession by former world middleweight champion Ken Overlin, Melio Bettina and Kid Tunero, he too quickly dropped out of the reckoning. Following the decision by Billy Conn to officially relinquish the title on 3 June 1941, Lesnevich versus Mauriello would carry NYSAC backing.

26 August 1941. Gus Lesnevich w pts 15 Tami Mauriello.

(2nd para) Having outscored Red Burman over ten rounds, a day later Booker Beckwith took over The Ring magazine’s number-one spot, and despite being beaten by two heavyweights in Bob Pastor and Melio Bettina he maintained it until knocked out inside nine rounds by Ezzard Charles. During that period Beckwith had beaten Joey Maxim, but would never attain such lofty heights again.

14 November 1941. Gus Lesnevich w pts 15 Tami Mauriello.

(2nd para) In an effort to keep boxing alive, with Lesnevich inactive between March 1942 and January 1946 due to military service, Ohio initiated a light heavyweight ‘duration’ title. It was won by Jimmy Bivins, who outscored Anton Christoforidis over 15 rounds at The Arena, Cleveland on 23 February 1943, but not before Ezzard Charles and Joey Maxim had been eliminated in the earlier stages. Bivins’ one and only defence came when he knocked out Lloyd Marshall inside 13 rounds at the Lakefront Stadium, Cleveland on 8 June 1943, and by September he had moved up a division, having been the number one light heavy according to The Ring magazine since July 1942. At the same time Bivins had topped the heavyweight rankings since January 1943.

(3rd para) After Bivins, The Ring magazine’s next top-rated man was Marshall (October 1943), followed by Nate Bolden (November 1943), Marshall again (December 1943 to May 1945), Archie Moore (June 1945 to August 1945), Fitzie Fitzpatrick (September 1945) and once again Moore right through and beyond Lesnevich’s return to the ring.

(4th para) Back in action at The Auditorium, Portland, Oregon on 11 January 1946, Lesnevich forced Joe Kahut to take the full count in the opening round, before suffering a bad cut and being stopped from continuing by the doctor at the end of the fourth of a heavyweight contest against Lee Oma. Having shaken off some of the ring rust, Lesnevich then signed up for a match against Freddie Mills.

28 February 1947. Gus Lesnevich w rsc 10 (15) Billy Fox.

(3rd para) Although Charles had earlier stalled when a match between him and Lesnevich was first mooted, when the latter signed in December to defend against Fox again he was stunned. Since being beaten by Lesnevich, Fox had run up seven more inside the distance wins. However, he had looked suspect on a number of occasions and had been floored several times. His last contest, which had been a four-round stoppage win over Jake LaMotta at Madison Square Garden on 14 November, had also ended in suspicious circumstances. Years later, LaMotta admitted that he had taken a dive in order to obtain himself a crack at the middleweight title.

11 August 1954. Archie Moore w rsc 14 (15) Harold Johnson.

(2nd para) Fast running out of opposition in his own division, Moore looked towards the heavyweights and a big-money fight against world heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano. After eliminating Nino Valdes he moved in that direction, while his next title defence would be against the middleweight champion, Carl Bobo Olson, who had outpointed Joey Maxim over ten rounds at the Cow Palace, Daly City, California on 13 April 1955 to gain his opportunity in a higher weight class. Alarmingly, prior to the Valdes fight Moore was temporarily suspended by the Californian Boxing Commission due to an alleged organic heart condition which ultimately proved negative.

17 November 1967. Dick Tiger w rsc 12 (15) Roger Rouse.

(2nd para) Tiger’s next defence would be against Bob Foster, who had taken part in 33 contests since turning pro in March 1961. A dangerous puncher, Foster had wins over Henry Hank (twice), Andres Antonio Selpa and Eddie Cotton (w co 3 at The Coliseum, Washington DC on 8 May), in what was effectively an eliminator with both men weighing in at 174lbs.

22 January 1969. Bob Foster w rsc 1 (15) Frankie DePaula.

30 October 1971. Bob Foster w rsc 8 (15) Tommy Hicks.

17 June 1974. Bob Foster drew 15 Jorge Ahumada.

(2nd para) Foster relinquished the title on announcing his retirement on 16 September, and while the WBC supported the claims of John Conteh (who beat Chris Finnegan by a sixth-round stoppage at the Wembley Pool, London, England on 21 May) and Ahumada (who beat Angel Oquendo on points over 12 rounds at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 29 July) who had both come through eliminating bouts, the WBA backed Victor Galindez and Len Hutchins in a straight fight for their version of the title.

6 June 1985. Michael Spinks w rsc 8 (12) Jim MacDonald.

(2nd para) After Spinks had won the IBF version of the heavyweight championship from Larry Holmes (w pts 15 at the Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas on 21 September), he was stripped by the WBC on 10 October under their ruling that no champion could hold titles in more than one division at the same time. That was followed by the WBA vacating the title on 3 November when he showed no interest in defending his 175lbs crown.

13 June 1997. Dariusz Michalczewski w pts 12 Virgil Hill.

(2nd para) Michalczewski relinquished the IBF title on 16 June after deciding that he was not prepared to defend against the mandatory challenger, William Guthrie, a little over a month after the bout with Hill. Guthrie was then matched against Darrin Allen to decide the vacancy. Then, after Michalczewski was stripped of the WBA Championship Belt on 1 July for displaying it along with that of the WBO, an organization it did not recognize, the former European champion, Eddy Smulders, was selected to meet Lou Del Valle to contest the vacant title.

7 September 2002. Roy Jones w rsc 6 Clinton Woods.

(2nd para) Jones forfeited the IBF title on 2 December, having decided to take on John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title on 1 March 2003.

8 November 2008. Joe Calzaghe w pts 12 Roy Jones.

10 November 2012. Nathan Cleverly w rsc 8 Shawn Hawk.

14 December 2013. Beibut Shumenov w rsc 3 Tamas Kovacs.

(2nd para) The same day, at the Jahn Sports Forum, Neubrandenburg, Germany, Juergen Braehmer won the vacant WBA ‘second tier’ title when outpointing Marcus Oliveira over 12 rounds. On 5 April 2014, Braehmer followed this up with a successful defence when forcing Enzo Maccarinelli to retire at the end of the fifth at the Stadium Hall, Rostock, Germany.

Super Middleweight

6 December 1987. Chong-Pal Park w rsc 2 (12) Jesus Gallardo.

(2nd para) According to the IBF Ratings, Park relinquished their version of the title at the end of January 1988. That was followed by Graciano Rocchigiani and Vincent Boulware being matched to decide the vacant IBF title.

11 March 1988. Graciano Rocchigiani w rsc 8 (15) Vincent Boulware.

7 December 1989. Sugar Ray Leonard w pts 12 Roberto Duran.

(2nd para) When Leonard relinquished the WBC version of the title on 27 August 1990, saying he was too light to defend, a short while later Mauro Galvano, the European champion, and Dario Matteoni, the South American champion, were matched to decide the vacancy.

15 December 1990. Lindell Holmes w pts 12 Thulani Malinga.

16 September 2000. Bruno Girard w pts 12 Manny Siaca.

(2nd para) Further to Girard forfeiting the WBA version of the title on 3 March 2001 after refusing a rematch against Siaca due to contractual problems, the latter was matched against Byron Mitchell to find a new champion.

27 March 2004. Sven Ottke w pts 12 Armand Krajnc.

(3rd para) Meantime, the IBF set up two eliminating bouts between Syd Vanderpool v Tito Mendoza and Jeff Lacy v Vitaliy Tsypko. While Vanderpool outpointed Mendoza over 12 rounds at the State Fairground Hall, Tampa, Florida on 17 April, the Lacy v Tsypko fight at the Leggett & Platt Centre, Joplin, Missouri on 5 June was stopped at the end of the second round and declared a technical draw after the latter received a badly cut forehead. To allow the IBF title fight to go ahead it was Lacy who was selected to take on Vanderpool.

21 November 2009. Andre Ward w tdec 11 Mikkel Kessler.

(2nd para) On the same night at the Sparkassen Arena, Kiel, Germany, Dimitri Sartison stopped Stjepan Bozic inside five rounds to win the vacant WBA ‘second tier’ title.

8 September 2012. Andre Ward w rsc 10 Chad Dawson.

(6th para) Kashtanov made a successful defence of his WBA ‘interim’ title when knocking out Jaime Barboza inside ten rounds at the Donbass Arena, Donetsk, Ukraine on 24 August 2013, prior to announcing his retirement on 2 September 2014 due to health problems.

(9th para) Following Kashtanov's temporary retirement, Fedor Chudinov won the vacant WBA 'interim' title when knocking out Ben McCulloch in the second round at the Dynamo Sports Palace, Moscow, Russia on 11 December 2014.

20 February 2016. Felix Sturm w pts 12 Fedor Chudinov.

(4th para) With no further news on the drugs testing front, Sturm, who had relocated from Germany to Bosnia in the interim, informed the WBA on 5 October that he was relinquishing his title as he was due to undergo elbow surgery and would be out of action for some time.

(5th para) Tyron Zeuge stopped De Carolis inside 12 rounds at the MBS Arena, Potsdam, Germany on 5 November to pick up the latter’s WBA ‘second tier’ title. In defence of the WBA ‘second tier’ title, Zeuge won a fifth-round technical decision over Isaac Ekpo at the same venue on 25 March 2017.

(6th para) Eventually, George Groves was matched against Chudinov to contest the WBA ‘super’ title in May 2017.

Middleweight

148lbs to 166lbs (146 to 148lbs was recognised as belonging to the welterweight division when Mysterious Billy Smith extended his claim on 24 January 1899)

30 August 1887. (156lbs) Bill Chesterfield Goode w rtd 15 (finish) Tom Lees.

24 September 1888. (148lbs) Alec Roberts drew 53 (finish) Arthur Bobbett.

24 April 1893. (154lbs) Ted White w pts 20 George Chrisp.

8 September 1897. (158lbs) Charles Kid McCoy drew 5 (20) Tommy Ryan.

(2nd para) Another fight made at 158lbs, and scheduled for six rounds, saw McCoy stop Australian Billy Smith inside two rounds at the 2nd Regiment Armoury, Chicago, Illinois on 15 November.

24 October 1898. (158lbs) Tommy Ryan w pts 20 Jack Bonner.

(2nd para) On the same date, at the Athletic Club, Louisville, Kentucky, Jimmy Watts put Jim Janey away inside seven rounds to claim the ‘black’ title. Watts lost his title claim when he was knocked out inside eight rounds by Joe Walcott at the same venue on 30 May 1899. With Walcott only interested in fighting for a more generally recognised title there were no defences as such for him.

18 September 1899. (158lbs) Tommy Ryan w rsc 10 (25) Frank Craig.

(4th para) Following this one, Ryan (150) won the six-round points decision over Young Mahoney (146) at the Fort Dearborn AC, Chicago on 29 June 1900, before another short-distance fight saw him outpoint Kid Carter (158) over six rounds at Tattersall’s Arena, Chicago on 27 November 1900.

14 April 1902. (156lbs) Jack Palmer w co 11 (20) Joe White.

22 December 1903. (158lbs) Philadelphia Jack O'Brien w pts 15 Jack Twin Sullivan.

(2nd para) Finally, on 27 January 1904, O’Brien was matched against his arch-rival, Tommy Ryan, at the National AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although only a six-round no-decision fight, as it had been made at 158lbs the Chicago Tribune reported that Ryan’s right to the title was clearly at stake. After receiving only part of the press decision, Ryan was challenged to a fight at the weight by Bob Fitzsimmons, who claimed to never have resigned the middleweight title and that Ryan had been ducking him for years.

7 April 1904. (158lbs) Jack Twin Sullivan w pts 20 Hugo Kelly.

Venue: Missouri AC, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Referee: Dave Porteous.

Fight Summary: Hard and fast from the start, with both men happy to mix it up, it was Sullivan who took first blood when smashing his left into Kelly’s nose from the off. For round after round he repeated the process, and in the 16th a left to the jaw and a right to the body saw Kelly saved by the bell when in real trouble. Although Kelly made it to the end it was Sullivan who had his arm raised.

Making Philadelphia Jack O’Brien his prime target, Kelly was adjudged by the press to have lost their six-round no-decision contest at the National AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on on 13 September. Not deterred, he then took on Mike Schreck (drew 10 at The Auditorium, Indianapolis on 26 October) and Tommy Wallace (w rsc 3 at the Empire Theatre, Indianapolis on 10 April 1905) at 158lbs prior to having another crack at O’Brien.

14 April 1904. (158lbs) Philadelphia Jack O'Brien w co 3 (15) Jack Twin Sullivan.

(2nd para) Continuing to meet the best men at 158lbs, Sullivan took on Hugo Kelly (drew 10 at The Auditorium, Indianapolis, Indiana on 11 May), Mike Schreck (w pts 10 at the Empire Theatre, Indianapolis on 1 June), Andy Walsh (w pts 15 at the West End Club, St Louis on 9 June) and Dave Barry (w pts 20 at Hazard’s Pavilion, Los Angeles, California on 23 August) before losing to Kid McCoy in a close contest over 20 rounds at Hazard’s Pavilion on 27 September. Although McCoy stated that he would be down to 158lbs on the day of the fight it is almost certain that he came in at a higher weight.

(3rd para) Another man coming through at this time was Tommy Burns. Following a 15-round draw at 158lbs against Billy Woods at the Seattle Theatre, Seattle, Washington on 16 September, a fight that many thought he won, and a six-round no-decision press defeat at the hands of O’Brien at the Panorama Building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 7 October, Burns stated that he now saw himself as one of the best men at the weight and would like to fight O’Brien or Tommy Ryan over 20 rounds to prove it. Burns claimed that in a match made at 158lbs O’Brien had come to the ring weighing 165lbs, but despite that he had almost knocked the latter out in the fourth.

7 March 1905. (158lbs) Jack Twin Sullivan drew 20 Tommy Burns.

Venue: Athletic Club Rooms, Tacoma, Washington, USA. Referee: Jimmy Carroll.

Fight Summary: Looking to get his old title claim back on track, Sullivan met Burns in a contest billed for the 158lbs world title. While Burns employed a straight left to good effect, Sullivan looked to work the body in an effort to take the wind out of his opponent’s sails. In the 16th Sullivan was cut over the left eye, but came back strongly on even terms. With Sullivan scoring heavily with uppercuts at every call for ‘break’, Burns would have been well within his rights to ask for a disqualification but declined. Sullivan was thought by the majority of those in attendance to have had the better of this one.

28 July 1905. (158lbs) Hugo Kelly drew 20 Tommy Burns.

Venue: Pacific AC, Los Angeles, California, USA. Referee: Charles Eyton.

Fight Summary: A return match saw Burns, who did the cleaner work, fail to be given the verdict due to the fact that he had agreed to a draw if both men were still standing at the end of 20 rounds. There was little in it for the opening ten rounds, but from that point through to the 14th it was give and take before Burns began to get on top in that session. Hurt by a non-stop attack, Kelly made it through to the bell, only to be under the cosh from thereon in as Burns continued his assaults. Kelly, who came in slightly overweight at the 3pm weigh-in, finished the contest with his left eye closed and puffed-up features.

12 November 1907. (158lbs) Sam Langford w pts 20 Young Peter Jackson.

Delete 4th para.

31 July 1908. (158lbs) Stanley Ketchel w co 3 (20) Hugo Kelly.

(2nd para) In his next fight, on 18 August, Ketchel stopped Joe Thomas inside two rounds at the Mission Street Arena, Colma, San Francisco. Initially thought to be a world title bout, with Ketchel weighing 168lbs to Thomas’ 172 it should not be accepted as one.

19 March 1910. (158lbs) Billy Papke w co 3 (20) Willie Lewis.

(2nd para) Back in America, on hearing news of the result Ketchel decided to stay in the middleweight division, allowing Frank Klaus to weigh 157lbs for their six-round no-decision clash at Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 23 March. The contest, seen as a draw by the press, was followed by the promoter, Tex Rickard, promising to deliver a title bout between Sam Langford and Ketchel.

26 October 1910. (158lbs) Billy Papke w co 6 (20) Ed Williams.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, Papke, continuing to style himself as champion, avenged an earlier defeat by Dave Smith when stopping the New Zealander inside seven rounds at The Stadium on 11 March 1911, in a match made at 165lbs.

17 August 1911. (158lbs) Cyclone Johnny Thompson nd-l pts 10 Frank Klaus.

(5th para) On 16 September 1912, at Hippodrome Park, Cincinnati, Ohio, an over-the-weight Thompson was adjudged by the press to have lost on points over ten rounds against Eddie McGoorty in a match made at 160lbs. Interestingly, the fight took in an extra round before anyone realised that a mistake had been made. The New York Times reported that Thompson’s title aspirations appeared over, a statement that was backed up when the latter fought just four more times at weights well in excess of 158lbs.

7 October 1912. (158lbs) Eddie McGoorty nd-w rsc 5 (10) Jack Denning.

(2nd para) Two days later, on 9 October, McGoorty met Leo Houck (nd-l pts 6 at the National AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) at 158lbs over a short distance, staying put despite losing the press decision.

4 December 1912. (158lbs) Eddie McGoorty nd-w pts 10 Mike Gibbons.

(4th para) Following on from his meeting with McGoorty, having received a ten-round press draw at the same venue against Cyclone Johnny Thompson on 7 April 1913, according to the Duluth Herald Mahoney laid claim to the title. However, following a defeat at the hands of Al Worgin (l pts 10 at the Athletic Club, Benoit, Wisconsin on 10 December 1913) at 160lbs there was no further talk of titles.

20 January 1914. (158lbs) Jack Dillon w pts 12 Vic Hansen.

(3rd para) Another fight at 158lbs for Dillon came against Freddie Hicks (nd-w pts 8 at the Athletic Club, Windsor, Ontario, Canada on 4 February), before he allowed George KO Brown (w pts 8 at the Phoenix AC, Memphis, Tennessee on 23 March) to weigh 159lbs to his 170. Sandwiched somewhere between these two was an eight-round contest against Tommy Danforth (nd-w rsc 2 at the Phoenix AC, Memphis, Tennessee on 9 February). The fight report stated that Dillon was much the heavier, but knowing that Danforth was a big welter at this time I guess there was some risk attached.

7 September 1914. (158/160lbs) Jack Dillon nd-w pts 10 Sailor Einert.

(3rd para) A few weeks later Dillon again took on Brown (nd-nc 4 at The Coliseum, St Louis, Missouri on 14 October) and was held by the local police for a couple of days when it appeared the fight may have been a fake.

13 February 1915. (160lbs) Young Ahearn w co 2 (20) Willie Lewis.

Delete 2nd para.

23 October 1915. (160lbs) Les Darcy w pts 20 Jimmy Clabby.

(2nd para) At the West Melbourne Stadium, Melbourne on 1 November, Darcy (162) forced Billy Murray (160) to retire inside six rounds. Whether Murray would have had a claim on the 160lbs title had he won is not known, although it is almost certain that the fight was contracted above that weight.

19 September 1919. (158lbs) Mike O'Dowd nd-w pts 10 Soldier Bartfield.

(3rd para) Before meeting Mike Gibbons for the world title, O'Dowd scored a two-round knockout win over Billy Kramer at the Lyceum Theatre, Paterson, New Jersey on 6 November in a no-decision fight where it is unclear whether the latter made 158lbs or not. O'Dowd (158½) next put Jimmy O'Hagan (159½) away inside two rounds at the Roller Palace Rink, Detroit, Michigan on 10 November, after knocking his rival down three times. Initially thought to have involved the 158lbs title, it is now believed to have been articled at 160lbs.

20 January 1920. (160lbs) Mike O'Dowd w rsc 3 (12) Stockyards Tommy Murphy.

(2nd para) O’Dowd next took on Young Fisher (nd-w co 3 at the Grand Opera House, Syracuse, New York on 26 January) and Jack McCarron (nd-w rsc 2 at the Olympia AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 1 March) in catchweight contests where the opposition was thought to weigh in less than the championship weight.

(4th para) Another opponent for O’Dowd, thought to be inside 158lbs, was Tommy Madden who was knocked out inside four rounds at the Stockyards Stadium, Denver, Colorado on 12 March. This contest was a billed 12-round championship battle according to the San Antonio Evening News, despite no weights being reported.

17 March 1921. Johnny Wilson w pts 15 Mike O'Dowd.

(4th para) On the ‘black’ title front, Panama Joe Gans put his claim up for grabs against George Kid Alberts (nd-w rsc 10 in Detroit, Michigan on 6 June), Tiger Flowers (w co 6 at The Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia on 8 August) in a billed championship contest, Carl Hertz (nd-w co 6 at The Armoury, Jersey City, New Jersey on 15 August) and Alex Gibbons (w pts 12 at the Commonwealth SC, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 27 August).

18 September 1922. Jock Malone w pts 12 Bryan Downey.

(3rd para) There is no doubt that a lot of people still continued to see Malone as a champion, and he went on to beat a whole posse of good men at 160lbs or less in 1922, such as Navy Rostan (w co 4 at the George Oswego Arena, East Chicago, Indiana on 27 October), Johnny Shea (w co 5 at the Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York on 6 November) and Augie Ratner (nd-w pts 10 at the Danceland Arena, Detroit, Michigan on 10 November), before taking a 12-round press decision at 158lbs off Bryan Downey at the Jefferson County Armoury, Louisville, Kentucky on 5 December.

(4th para) In 1923 Malone went on to fight Johnny Klesch (w rsc 6 at the George Oswego Arena on 26 February) at 158lbs, prior to knocking out Mike O'Dowd in the first round at The Auditorium, St Paul, Minnesota on 16 March. Despite the Chicago Tribune reporting him to be the holder of the Ohio version of the title, the fight was not billed for the championship, and even when Malone, who had lost two ten-round press decisions (on 16 April and 4 May at The Auditorium, St Paul) to Bermondsey Billy Wells, came back to The Coliseum, Columbus, Ohio on 24 July to meet Anthony Downey, Bryan’s younger brother, the fight was not given title billing. Nevertheless, the Columbus Ohio State Journal reported that Malone was putting up the belt in a fight where both men weighed well inside 158lbs. After Malone won on points over 12 rounds he then went on to outscore Frank Carbone over 12 rounds (as far as the press were concerned) at the Riverside Arena, Covington, Kentucky on 6 August before beating Tilly Herman by a third-round disqualification at Mullen-Sager Arena, Aurora, Illinois on 17 August. All of these matches were made at 158lbs or less, but following Harry Greb’s win over Johnny Wilson on 31 August Malone was seen as a challenger rather than a claimant.

29 October 1929. Mickey Walker w pts 10 Ace Hudkins.

(8th para) Making progress at The Auditorium, the second round saw O’Brien (w pts McVey on 3 September 1931), Firpo (w pts Williams on 3 September), Clivilles (w co 5 Littman on 17 September), Jones (w rsc 6 Chastain on 17 September), Nichols (w pts Wright on 25 September) and Leach (w pts Burns on 25 September 1931) winning through. Prior to the quarter-finals beginning, the Italian, Oddone Piazza, who had been back home when the tournament started, was allowed in and would meet another newcomer in Cuba’s Raul Marinero Rojas.

(9th para) The quarter-finals were concluded after O’Brien (w rsc 9 Clivilles on 12 October 1931), Firpo (w co 2 Leach on 12 October), Jones (w pts Nichols on 3 November) and Piazza (w pts Rojas on 3 November), while the semis, held on 19 November 1931, saw Firpo and Piazza draw and Jones outpoint O’Brien. With three men still left at the final stage, it was decided on a draw which would see the first two men out of the hat meeting in a box-off, while the third man out of the hat would go straight into the final. Subsequently, Jones, who outpointed Firpo on 11 December 1931, would meet Piazza in the final leg on 25 January 1932. All of the above were contested at The Auditorium.

4 July 1932. Marcel Thil w pts 15 Len Harvey.

(3rd para) Regardless, the two semi-final legs went ahead at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 13 October, Jeby stopping Pirrone inside six rounds and Battaglia and Devlin drawing over ten rounds. Battaglia, who was reckoned by most good judges to have won handily, withdrew from the competition over terms for a return match with Devlin. Meantime, a contest was set up at the St Nicholas Arena, Manhattan between Jeby and Devlin, which was reported by many papers as carrying NYSAC championship recognition. The fight went ahead on 21 November, Jeby outpointing Devlin over 15 rounds, but following that it was announced that Battaglia would be meeting Devlin for the right to meet Jeby to decide the vacant NYSAC version of the title. It now appears certain that the Jeby v Devlin contest went ahead without full NYSAC recognition being granted, despite the advertisements, and after Battaglia outpointed Devlin over ten rounds on 9 December at Madison Square Garden he was booked to meet Jeby to decide the title.

15 February 1937. Marcel Thil w disq 6 (15) Lou Brouillard.

Delete 5th and 6th paras.

11 September 1937. Freddie Steele w co 4 (15) Ken Overlin.

(3rd para) Next time out, at the behest of the NYSAC, Steele (161½) was stopped inside nine rounds by Fred Apostoli (158¾) in a 12-round overweight contest at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 7 January 1938. Having clearly beaten the champion, Apostoli lodged a challenge with the NYSAC and was eventually accepted as the number-one challenger. However, Steele continued to avoid his number one challenger, signing to meet Carmen Barth instead.

(4th para) After outpointing Glen Lee (154½) over 12 rounds at Madison Square Garden on 4 February 1938, Apostoli (158¾) cemented his right to challenge Steele as far as the NYSAC was concerned. In the build-up to the fight, the New York Post strangely referred to Apostoli as being the co-middleweight champion of the world. Not sitting on his laurels, Apostoli (159½) was outscored by Young Corbett 111 (160¼) at the Seals Stadium, San Francisco, California on 22 February 1938. Despite being over the weight, this win gave Corbett 111 Californian world title recognition on 5 March 1938.

19 February 1938. Freddie Steele w rsc 7 (15) Carmen Barth.

Delete 2nd para.

(3rd para) Although he had beaten Solly Krieger in a catchweight contest, Steele's next defence would be against the hard-hitting Al Hostak. Rated at number three by The Ring magazine, Hostak had drawn eight and lost one of 54 since turning pro in 1932. And his last 14 fights, which had all ended inside the distance, included victories over Tony Fisher, Young Terry, Babe Risko, Allen Matthews and Swede Berglund.

26 July 1938. Al Hostak w co 1 (15) Freddie Steele.

(2nd para) Following the contest, Hostak was dismayed to learn that the NYSAC portion of the title had not been up for grabs due to the fact that Steele had failed to make a match with Fred Apostoli, his number-one challenger in their eyes. While Steele went into virtual retirement, Apostoli was matched against Young Corbett 111 to decide the NYSAC version of the title.

18 May 1956. Sugar Ray Robinson w co 4 (15) Carl Bobo Olson.

(2nd para) It took three months of hard negotiation before Robinson could be induced to meet Gene Fullmer, who had recently eliminated Rocky Castellani (w pts 10 at The Arena, Cleveland, Ohio on 4 January), Ralph Tiger Jones (w pts 10 at the Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio on 20 April) and Charles Humez (w pts 10 at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 25 May) to head The Ring magazine ratings. Fullmer also had wins over Garth Panter, Jackie LaBua, Peter Mueller, Paul Pender, Gil Turner (twice), Del Flanagan, Al Andrews and Moses Ward to his credit. In 40 contests he had won 37, losing to Turner, Bobby Boyd and Eduardo Lausse.

14 December 1964. Joey Giardello w pts 15 Rubin Carter.

(3rd para) Meantime, the WBA set up a final eliminator between Griffith and Don Fullmer, won by the latter on points over 12 rounds at the Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah on 19 August 1965, which was also billed for the American title. But the winner failed to get the support his victory warranted, especially after losing to Nino Benvenuti and Jose Gonzalez.

30 July 1977. Carlos Monzon w pts 15 Rodrigo Valdez.

(3rd para) This action did not go down well in Massachusetts, who felt that there should have been an elimination series which included their fighter, Marvin Hagler, ranked number five in The Ring magazine. With Briscoe and Valdez already signed up, Massachusetts set up a fight between Hagler and Mike Colbert, The Ring’s number one rated fighter, supported by Oregon, New Jersey, Virginia and a few New England States, to contest the vacant title. Colbert was on 22 straight wins, with victories over Rocky Mosley Jnr and Tony Licata, while Hagler had won 36 of 39 fights and had beaten Sugar Ray Seales, Matt Donovan and Willie Monroe (twice). The only man to hold a victory over him that had not been reversed was Bobby Watts, but that would come later.

19 October 1984. Marvin Hagler w rsc 3 (15) Mustafa Hamsho.

(2nd para) Although the WBC supported Hagler as champion they refused to sanction the fight as he had refused to defend his title over 12 rounds, and in the immediate aftermath they decided to vacate the title. When a deal was eventually brokered in December after Hagler agreed to abide by their ruling he was reinstated as champion forthwith.

8 November 1988. Sumbu Kalambay w rsc 7 Doug DeWitt.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, Kalambay forfeited WBA recognition on 3 March 1989 when failing to sign for defence against Herol Graham, the British champion, and deciding to meet Michael Nunn for the IBF title instead. Following that, the WBA selected Graham and Mike McCallum to contest the vacancy. Since losing to Kalambay back in March, McCallum had won three out of three, while Graham looked forward to his first shot at a world title, having lost just once in 42 fights. That defeat also came against Kalambay. A former undefeated British, Commonwealth and European junior middleweight champion, Graham had victories over Kenny Bristol, Lindell Holmes, Irving Hines and Ayub Kalule, and at his best was a switch-hitter of the highest order with a brilliant defence to match.

28 June 1997. Lonnie Bradley w rsc 8 John Williams.

(2nd para) In training for a contest against Julio Cesar Green on 23 August, Bradley sustained a torn retina in a sparring session and was forced to pull out to have an immediate operation. With Bradley still indisposed Otis Grant outpointed Ryan Rhodes over 12 rounds at the Ponds Forge Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England on 13 December for the WBO ‘interim’ title. Initially, the contest had been billed for the vacant title before it became clear that the WBO still recognised Bradley as their champion.

(3rd para) When Grant was matched to meet Ernesto Sena on 12 May 1998 it was still unclear whether it was for the WBO ‘interim’ title or not, and it was only then that Bradley, who was still suspended in most States due to complications from the operation, was stripped to allow the fight to carry full championship status.

6 April 2002. Harry Simon w pts 12 Armand Krajnc.

(3rd para) Velazco was appointed champion on 29 June 2003 after Simon was stripped when it was recognised that he had not fully recovered and still had legal issues to be sorted out.

16 July 2005. Jermain Taylor w pts 12 Bernard Hopkins.

(2nd para) When Taylor relinquished the IBF title on 11 October due to contractual problems, Arthur Abraham and Kingsley Ikeke were matched to decide a new champion.

27 June 2009. Arthur Abraham w rsc 10 Mahir Oral.

(2nd para) When Abraham relinquished the IBF title on 11 July in order to compete in the ‘Showtime’ super middleweight tournament, Sebastian Sylvester and Giovanni Lorenzo were signed up to find a new champion. Sylvester was the IBF international champion, having beaten Lajuan Simon (w pts 12 at the Max Schmeling Hall on 27 June) on the undercard of Abraham versus Oral, while Lorenzo had beaten Dionisio Miranda (w co 2 Prudential Centre, Newark, New Jersey, USA on 27 February) in an eliminating contest.

19 December 2009. Kelly Pavlik w rsc 5 Miguel Angel Espino.

(2nd para) On the same day, Sebastian Zbik successfully defended the WBC ‘interim’ title against Emanuele Della Rosa when winning on points over 12 rounds at the Sport & Congress Centre, Schwerin, Germany.

17 April 2010. Sergio Martinez w pts 12 Kelly Pavlik.

(3rd para) On 1 June, Martinez was stripped of his WBO title when failing to decide within a reasonable time frame whether or not he would continue to campaign in the 160lbs weight class or remain in the junior middleweight division. Following that, Dmitry Pirog and Daniel Jacobs were signed up to contest the vacant WBO title.

4 September 2010. Felix Sturm w pts 12 Giovanni Lorenzo.

(2nd para) Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam outpointed Avtandil Khurtsidze over 12 rounds at the Port of Versailles Sports Palace, Paris, France on 30 October to win the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title.

7 May 2016. Saul Alvarez w rsc 6 Amir Khan.

(2nd para) When Alvarez relinquished the WBC title on 18 May, as he did not wish to be pushed around by the WBC, Gennady Golovkin, the 'interim' title holder, was appointed champion. However, Alvarez remained The Ring lineal champion.

10 September 2016. Gennady Golovkin w rsc 5 Kell Brook.

(2nd para) Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam took over Alfonso Blanco’s WBA ‘interim’ title when knocking the latter out inside a round at the Jean-Ivoula Stadium, Saint-Denis, Reunion on 17 December.

Junior Middleweight

2 December 1963. Sandro Mazzinghi w rsc 13 (15) Ralph Dupas.

(2nd para) At the WBC convention on 17 September 1964, it was stated that they would continue to recognise Mazzinghi as champion for a year, but would expect him to then fight either as a welter or middle as the 154lbs division was defunct as far as they were concerned. However, it appeared that they continued to recognise champions from thereon in even if they were not involved in promotions, which was probably due to the fact that some of their members recognised the weight class.

(3rd para – was 2nd) On 3 October 1964, at the Sports Palace, Genoa, Italy, Mazzinghi stopped America’s Tony Montano inside 12 rounds of a fight that had been advertised for the WBA championship. Unfortunately, when Montano weighed in two and a half pounds over the weight although the contest went ahead the title was not involved.

11 December 1964. Sandro Mazzinghi w pts 15 Fortunato Manca.

Venue: Sports Palace, Rome, Italy. Recognition: WBA/WBC. Referee: Giorgio Tinelli.

18 June 1965. Nino Benvenuti w co 6 (15) Sandro Mazzinghi.

Venue: San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy. Recognition: WBA/WBC. Referee: Salvatore Brambilla.

Delete 2nd para.

26 May 1968. Sandro Mazzinghi w pts 15 Ki-Soo Kim.

4 June 1974. Oscar Albarado w co 15 (15) Koichi Wajima.

24 April 1976. Elisha Obed w pts 15 Sea Robinson.

14 May 1978. Rocky Mattioli w rsc 5 (15) Jose Manuel Duran.

(2nd para) On 2 November, the Tuscaloosa News reported that Edgar Ross, the fifth-ranked junior middle according to The Ring magazine, had been given the go-ahead by the WBC to make a match against Mattioli. Unfortunately for Ross his management team were unable to come to terms with Mattioli’s people and nothing was agreed. A crunching body puncher with the nickname of ‘Mad Dog’, Ross had just three more fights before retiring after being stopped inside ten rounds by Tony Chiaverini at the Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri on 16 March 1979. With 58 wins, two defeats and two draws from 62 contests, his record was outstanding.

14 March 1979. Masashi Kudo w pts 15 Manuel Ricardo Gonzalez.

23 May 1981. Wilfred Benitez w co 12 (15) Maurice Hope.

25 June 1981. Sugar Ray Leonard w rsc 9 (15) Ayub Kalule.

(2nd para) After Leonard relinquished the WBA version of the title on 22 September to concentrate on unifying the welterweight division, Tadashi Mihara and Rocky Fratto were matched to find a new champion.

15 September 1984. Thomas Hearns w rsc 3 (12) Fred Hutchings.

(3rd para) Back in action, Hearns beat James Shuler (w co 1 at Caesar’s Palace on 10 March 1986) for the NABF title before declaring that he was ready to defend against Mark Medal, a man who had fought just once since March 1984. Sadly, Shuler was killed a week after fighting Hearns when he crashed his motorcycle.

5 December 1986. Duane Thomas w rsc 3 (12) John Mugabi.

(2nd para) Matched to challenge Thomas at Caesar’s Palace on 6 April 1987, Lupe Aquino stopped the late substitute, Davey Moore, inside five rounds after the champion had pulled out injured a week earlier. With 30 wins (22 inside the distance) from 33 contests, despite one of his two defeats coming at the hands of Marlon Starling, Aquino had earlier beaten Steve Hearon and had made rapid strides to earn a title shot.

4 May 1991. Gilbert Dele w pts 12 Jun-Suk Hwang.

21 July 1991. John David Jackson w pts 12 Tyrone Trice.

17 August 1991. Terry Norris w rsc 1 Brett Lally.

1 October 1991. Vinny Pazienza w rsc 12 Gilbert Dele.

14 May 1999. Javier Castillejo w rsc 4 Humberto Aranda.

20 November 2004. Ronald Wright w pts 12 Shane Mosley.

(7th para) Castillejo was then stripped on 1 June, having signed up for a fight against Fernando Vargas instead of making required defence against Ricardo Mayorga. Following that, Mayorga was matched against Michele Piccirillo to find a new WBC champion.

5 May 2007. Floyd Mayweather Jnr w pts 12 Oscar De La Hoya.

(2nd para) Mayweather vacated the title on 4 July, preferring to hold on to the WBC welterweight crown, and following his decision he was given ‘emeritus’ status. Originally an eliminator, a match between Carlos Baldomir and Vernon Forrest, rated number two and three respectively by the WBC, was eventually given full title status after De La Hoya, the top-rated man, was undecided on his future.

27 March 2008. Verno Phillips w pts 12 Cory Spinks.

(2nd para) Phillips relinquished the IBF title on 19 November having already signed to meet Paul Williams for the vacant WBO ‘interim’ crown on 29 November. Following that, Spinks was eventually matched against Deandre Latimore with the vacant title at stake. Latimore had earned his right to a title shot after beating the IBF’s top-ranked Sechew Powell (w rsc 7 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 11 June).

1 November 2008. Serhiy Dzinziruk w pts 12 Joel Julio.

(2nd para) Paul Williams stopped Verno Phillips on the ringside doctor’s advice at the end of the eighth round of their fight for the vacant WBO ‘interim’ title at the Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, California, USA on 29 November. After Williams relinquished the ‘interim’ title, he was succeeded by Alfredo Angulo who knocked out Harry Joe Yorgey inside three rounds at the XL Centre, Hartford, Connecticut, USA on 7 November 2009, and then went on to make a successful defence when stopping Julio in the 11th at the Citizens Business Bank Arena on 24 April 2010. Angulo forfeited the WBO ‘interim’ title on 17 July 2010 after beating Joachim Alcine in a final eliminator for the WBC crown and failing to agree a match against Dzinziruk.

21 May 2016. Erislandy Lara w pts 12 Vanes Martirosyan.

(2nd para) Brian Carlos Castano won the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title on 26 November 2016 when stopping Emmanuel De Jesus inside six rounds at the President Peron Sports Arena, Buenos Aires, Argentine.

17 September 2016. Saul Alvarez w co 9 Liam Smith.

(2nd para) Contesting the vacant WBO ‘interim’ title at the former MEN Arena, Manchester, England, on 8 April 2017, Smith forced Liam Williams to retire at the end of the ninth. However, as he had failed to make the weight nothing was decided on the night.

(3rd para) Alvarez relinquished his hold on the WBO title on 19 May 2017 to concentrate on making a match with Gennady Golovkin at middleweight.

Welterweight

17 February 1891. (142lbs) Tommy Ryan w rtd 76 (finish) Danny Needham.

8 August 1891. (144lbs) Tommy Ryan w co 3 (finish) Billy McMillan.

18 December 1901. (142lbs) Joe Walcott w rsc 5 (20) Rube Ferns.

(2nd para) On 2 April 1903, Walcott drew over 20 rounds against Billy Woods at Hazard’s Pavilion, Los Angeles, California. Listed as a title fight in the Ring Record Book, I have yet to ascertain the weights. Although advertised on the day of the fight as being for the welterweight championship of the world, a few days later Woods’ manager was telling local reporters that his man would fight anyone who could make 158lbs at a 3pm weigh-in.

23 June 1902. (144lbs) George Penny w pts 10 Peter Brown.

(2nd para) Cut from 15 to ten rounds in view of Penny being a substitute for Jem Maloney, the result carried no weight at all for the winner.

25 August 1903. (145lbs) Martin Duffy w pts 10 Matty Matthews.

(2nd para) At the same venue on 31 August, Duffy risked his ‘white’ title at catchweights when drawing over ten rounds with Gus Gardner, well inside 142lbs, while outweighing his rival by at least 15lbs.

20 September 1905. (142lbs) Sam Langford drew 10 Jack Blackburn.

19 January 1906. (142lbs) Joe Gans w co 15 (25) Mike Twin Sullivan.

(3rd para) On 17 March, Gans again met Sullivan, this time at Chutes Park, Los Angeles, California, the referee rescuing the latter in the tenth of a scheduled 20-round contest on instructions from the police. Although billed as a 142lbs title fight, Sullivan came in six pounds over the limit.

4 August 1906. (150lbs) Pat Daly w co 9 (15) Charlie Knock.

(2nd para) Following this, Daly was challenged by both Crawley and Charlie Allum to settle the title, while Jack Kingsland (October) was still claiming to be the champion. However, for Daly it was almost the end of the road as he failed to win any of his final four contests, including a defeat at the hands of Jack Goldswain on 11 February 1907 (see under the Lightweight Division).

3 September 1906. (145lbs) Joe Thomas w rtd 11 (15) Honey Mellody.

(2nd para) Regardless of his defeat, Mellody went on to meet Joe Walcott on 16 October. Thomas was billing himself as the 145lbs champion, his position being strengthened further when Joe Gans stated that he should be recognised as the top man now that he (Gans) was remaining among the lightweights.

24 October 1906. (145lbs) Joe Thomas w rtd 16 (30) Dick Fitzpatrick.

Venue: Mission Street Arena, Colma, San Francisco, California. Referee: Billy Roche.

Fight Summary: Showing off his boxing skills, blocking and parrying, Fitzpatrick gave the skilful championship claimant plenty to think about early on until tiring. He even hurt Thomas with swings to the head in the 11th and 12th, but the latter quickly hit back with solid blows of his own. In the 16th Fitzpatrick was battered to the canvas by a crashing right after being stunned by a straight left, and on getting up at ‘nine’ he was sent down again by another big right before his seconds threw the towel in.

26 November 1908. (142lbs) Jimmy Gardner drew 20 Jimmy Clabby.

(3rd para) Meantime, Clabby could have claimed the title on the basis of his draw with Gardner but refrained from doing so until December 1909 when it was clear that the latter would not be making 142lbs again. It had also been difficult to tie Gardner down to a return match at that weight. Having Beaten Guy Buckles (w pts 10 at the Royal AC, New Orleans, Louisiana on 18 December 1909), Clabby (144) then drew over eight rounds with Jimmy Howard at the Phoenix AC, Memphis, Tennessee on 17 January 1910. While Howard claimed the title on the basis of this result it went nowhere as Clabby had won all the way and the latter had come to the ring in excess of 154lbs according to local reports. Delete 4th para

25 June 1909. (147/148lbs) Kyle Whitney drew 20 Howard Baker.

Venue: Central AC, Old Pavilion, Sacramento, California, USA. Referee: Billy Johnson

Fight Summary: Reported to be a championship bout in the Sacramento Union following Whitney’s draw against Mike Twin Sullivan, it was made at 148lbs to suit the former although Baker could make that weight with ease. It was Baker’s cleverness and toughness that kept him in the fight for long periods as Whitney carried the fight to him, but it was the latter who finished in a groggy state and grateful to hear the final bell..

Even though Whitney continued to be seen as a claimant by some, including the Californian promoter, Jim Coffroth, he appears to fight at middleweight for most of the time and failed to stamp his mark on the lighter division.

15 September 1909. (142lbs) Jimmy Gardner nd-w pts 10 Clarence English.

(3rd para) Shown as a title claimant in the 1910 TS Andrews’ Annual (covering 1909), Gardner was also seen in that category by Jim Coffroth, the Californian promoter, in an article reported in the Sporting Life 28 December. However, from thereon in Gardner fought in the middleweight class. That was certainly true of his next four contests, against Young Loughrey (nd-w pts 6 at the National AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 2 October), Bill McKinnon (w rtd 4 at the Armoury AA, Boston, Massachusetts on 26 October), Sullivan (nd-drew 12 at the Grand Opera House, New Haven, Connecticut on 29 November) and Jimmy Clabby (nd-l pts 10 at the Badger AC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 11 March 1910). Despite the last-named bout being advertised as one in which the title issue would be sorted out on the result, with Gardner coming to the ring weighing 155lbs it was a fallacy. Subsequently, Gardner was recognised as a middleweight.

6 October 1910. (145lbs) Mike Twin Sullivan nd-w pts 10 Paddy Lavin.

(2nd para) Recognised by the TS Andrews’ Annual as being one of three title claimants at the end of 1910, the author can find no more fights at the weight for Sullivan. After being given the press win in a ten-round no-decision contest against the Dixie Kid at the Harmonia Hall, Buffalo on 17 January 1911, Sullivan fights in the middleweight division from thereon in. Prior to that meeting the Buffalo papers were claiming that the fight would settle the championship once and for all, but no weights were mentioned and the fight report claimed that Sullivan had good advantages both in height and weight.

29 January 1913. (142lbs) Ray Bronson nd-w pts 10 Jimmy Perry.

Delete 2nd para

7 February 1913. (145lbs) Spike Kelly drew 10 Tommy Howell.

(2nd para) It is almost certain that Howell risked his title claim in five six-round no-decision contests in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania against Young Erne (nd-drew 6 at the Olympia AC on 17 February), Johnny Marto (nd-w pts 6 at the Olympia AC on 3 March), Ray Bronson (nd-w pts 6 at the National AC on 8 March), Kid Graves (nd-drew 6 at the National AC on 22 March) and Erne again (nd-drew 6 at the National AC on 5 April).

22 July 1913. (142lbs) Mike Glover w rsc 4 (10) Marcel Thomas.

(2nd para) In his next contest, on 5 August, Glover took on Paddy Sullivan at the Atlantic AA, Rockaway Beach, Queens, NYC, New York, knocking him out in the seventh of a no-decision contest scheduled for ten rounds. It is not known what the weights were, but Sullivan was fighting just above the lightweight limit at that time.

13 October 1913. (142lbs) Mike Glover nd-l pts 10 Kid Graves.

(2nd para) Graves had been claiming the title with limited recognition since March, stating that as he had bested Lee Barrett (nd-w pts 10 at the Irving AC, Brooklyn on 1 February) and Young Ahearn (nd-w pts 10 at the Beach AC, Brooklyn on 18 February) in no-decision contests he deserved to be ranked among the front runners, and challenged any of the top men to make 142lbs at 3pm or 145lbs ringside. Before meeting Glover he had met Tommy Howell (nd-drew 6 at the National AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 22 March), Young Erne (nd-w pts 6 at the National AC on 19 April), Jack Britton (nd-l pts 6 at the National AC on 17 May) and Tommy Maloney (nd-drew 10 at the Irving AC, Brooklyn on 26 July) in no-decision affairs.

19 January 1914. (142lbs) Mike Glover nd-l pts 10 Jack Britton.

(2nd para) According to the press, Glover outpointed KO Sweeney over ten rounds at the North-End AC Auditorium, Waterbury, Connecticut on 29 October, in a fight that was described by the Naugatuck Daily News as being practically a battle for the welterweight title. However, with no weights available and Sweeney described in one fight report as being 16 pounds heavier than Glover we should discard any claims of it having title involvement until better information surfaces.

22 June 1915. (142lbs) Jack Britton w pts 12 Mike Glover.

Venue: Atlas AA, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Referee: Patsy Haley.

(6th para) On 28 September, Lewis again outscored Britton over 12 rounds at the same venue. This time it was Lewis who refused to get on the scales, while Britton weighed in at 136½lbs.

(7th para) Following a six-rounder against Willie Moore (nd-w pts 6 at the Olympia AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 18 October), Lewis took on four 12-round contests at the Atlas AA, Boston against top-class Americans in Joe Mandot, Milburn Saylor, Lockport Jimmy Duffy and Mike Glover, the first two being at the lightweight limit and the last two at catchweights. Following the results against Mandot (w pts 12 on 26 October), Saylor (w pts 12 on 2 November), Duffy (w rsc 1 on 23 November) and Glover (l pts 12 on 30 November), and taking his wins over Britton into account, Lewis claimed the welterweight title in early December after being unable to get a crack at Freddie Welsh for the 135lbs championship.

10 December 1915. (145lbs) Willie Moore nd-l pts 10 Steve Latzo.

(2nd para) Moore was not given any credence as a claimant thereafter, and any aspirations he may have had at welterweight were ended when KO Willie Loughlin (nd-l co 4 at the Lincoln AC, Philadelphia on 17 November 1916) and then Ted Kid Lewis (nd-l co 1 at the Palace AC, Bronx, NYC, New York on 19 March 1917) exacted crushing knockout defeats on him in consecutive contests.

3 September 1917. (145lbs) Ted Kid Lewis nd-drew 10 Soldier Bartfield.

(3rd para) A 12-round no-decision press win for Lewis against Bryan Downey at the Memorial Hall, Columbus, Ohio on 17 December was reported to involve the world title by the Newark Advocate, but with the latter scaling 145½lbs he was above the recognised limit of the day.

4 July 1918. (145lbs) Ted Kid Lewis nd-w pts 20 Johnny Griffiths.

(2nd para) Three eight-round no-decision fights, against Walter Mohr (nd-w pts 8 at Westside Ballpark, Jersey City, New Jersey on 17 August), Benny Leonard (nd-drew 8 at Weidenmayor’s Park, Newark, New Jersey on 23 September) and Griffiths (nd-drew 8 at the Lyric Theatre, Memphis, Tennessee on 10 March 1919), saw both Lewis and his opponents scaling below 145lbs, thus putting his title claim at risk.

19 May 1919. (142lbs) Jack Britton nd-w pts 10 Joe Welling.

(2nd para) Two fights later, Britton outpointed Walter Mohr over ten rounds at the French Theatre, Montreal, Canada on 13 June, according to the majority of the press. Although no weights were reported it was clear that had the latter, who scaled around 140lbs at this time, won inside the distance the title may well have changed hands.

26 June 1919. (142/145lbs) Jack Britton nd-l pts 12 Jack Perry.

(2nd para) Another two fights which had championship status attached despite being made at 148lbs, saw Britton take on Johnny Griffiths (nd-w pts 15 at the League Park Auditorium, Canton, Ohio on 4 July) and Al Doty (nd-w rsc 3 at Fayette Field, Connellsville, Pennsylvania on 9 July), while the press verdict in an eight-round no-decision contest against Ted Kid Lewis (at the Armoury AA, Jersey City, New Jersey on 28 July), with both men inside 145lbs at the 3pm weigh-in, went Britton’s way.

6 September 1920. (145lbs) Jack Britton nd-w pts 10 Ray Bronson.

(2nd para) Catchweight contests where Britton allowed his opponents to make 145lbs or less while he did not, came against Jack Perry (nd-drew 12 at The Coliseum, Toledo, Ohio on 8 October), Morris Lux (nd-w pts 10 at the Convention Hall, Kansas City, Missouri on 18 November), Bud Logan (nd-l pts 10 at Beethoven Hall, San Antonio, Texas on 23 November) and Pinky Mitchell (nd-w pts 10 at The Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 6 December). Sandwiched between the last two contests for Britton was one against the local fighter, Jake Abel (w pts 10 at The Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia on 29 November), that was contracted at 150lbs.

17 May 1921. Jack Britton nd-w pts 10 Johnny Tillman.

(2nd para) To protect his titles, apart from a four-round exhibition affair, Britton’s next three contests were made at 150lbs, against Dave Shade (drew 10 at the Milwaukee Arena, Portland, Oregon on 3 June), Frank Barrieau (drew 10 at the Milwaukee Arena on 8 June) and Mickey Walker (nd-drew 12 at The Armoury, Newark, New Jersey on 18 July).

17 February 1922. Jack Britton drew 15 Dave Shade.

(2nd para) Despite being billed as title bouts, Britton’s next three contests, against Cowboy Padgett (w pts 10 at The Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska on 5 May), Morris Lux (l rsc 5 at McNulty Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma on 16 May) and Ray Long (drew 12 at The Coliseum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on 26 May) were made at 150, 148 and 148lbs respectively.

22 March 1923. Mickey Walker nd-w pts 12 Pete Latzo.

(3rd para) On 3 May, a sixth-round stoppage win for Walker at the Dexter Park Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, against Morrie Schlaifer, was reported by the Chicago Tribune as being for the 147lbs title, with Walker’s welter crown being the prize for Schlaifer if he could score an inside-the-distance win. In fact, the fight was also made at 150lbs with the title protected whatever the result.

27 July 1923. Jimmy Jones w pts 10 Dave Shade.

(3rd para) Outside the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and New York, Jones tangled twice with Johnny Tillman (nd-w pts 12 Idora Park, Youngstown, Ohio on 28 August and nd-w pts 12 at the Broad AC, Newark, New Jersey on 30 August) and Bermondsey Billy Wells (nd-nc 6 at The Auditorium, St Paul, Minnesota on 10 September). All three fights were of the no-decision variety at 147lbs, and in the latter both men fell out of the ring at which stage the action was called off.

20 September 1923. Mickey Walker nd-w rsc 8 (10) Bobby Green.

(2nd para) Later, on 8 October, at Dreamland Park, Newark, New Jersey, Walker (148lbs) and Jimmy Jones (145¼lbs) were thrown out before the start of the tenth round of a scheduled no-decision 12-rounder for not trying. And, just to add insult to injury, it was New Jersey’s Chief Inspector, Platt Adams, who ordered the referee to halt the contest. It did not stop there, however. On 10 October, after Walker was suspended for a year by the New Jersey Commission the NYSAC rescinded Jones’ title claim the following day. Earlier, Jones had been warned by the NYSAC that he risked indefinite suspension if he went ahead with the fight against a man already serving one, a decision which would have undoubtedly been upheld by Massachusetts who had a close working relationship with the New York authority.

20 May 1926. Pete Latzo w pts 10 Mickey Walker.

(2nd para) Reported in some places as involving the title, when Latzo (153½) knocked out Willie Harmon, who scaled 144¾, inside five rounds at Dreamland Park, Newark, New Jersey on 29 June, it was merely a 12-round no-decision non-title contest with the latter being inside the championship weight.

28 May 1935. Barney Ross w pts 15 Jimmy McLarnin.

(4th para) With the black welters of the day not getting much of a shout, the Cocoa Kid (144½) stopped Young Peter Jackson 11 (142½) in the second of what was a billed ‘black’ ten-round title fight held at Heinemann Park, New Orleans, Louisiana on 26 July 1936. He later defended that claim with a ten-round points decision over Jackie Elverillo at the same venue on 22 September 1936.

23 September 1937. Barney Ross w pts 15 Ceferino Garcia.

(2nd para) On 15 November, the Cocoa Kid (143½) successfully defended his ‘black’ title claim when stopping Sonny Jones (142½) in the sixth of a 15-rounder at the Valley Arena, Holyoke, Massachusetts.

17 January 1941. Fritzie Zivic w rsc 12 (15) Henry Armstrong.

(3rd para) However, things did not go to plan. After beating Marteliano in a real humdinger, when Zivic was forced to have an operation on his right forearm things got put back. When fit again, Zivic stopped Davis in the tenth round at the Polo Grounds, Manhattan, NYC on 2 July, and then outpointed Johnny Barbara over 12 rounds at The Garden, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 14 July prior to meeting Cochrane, who was not even rated in the top ten. The red-headed Cochrane had lost no fewer than 25 times in his nine years as a pro, but was on a run of nine consecutive victories coming into the fight since losing to Kaplan. For Kaplan, however, there were just seven more fights prior to him retiring in 1942 and enlisting in the Army.

14 April 1941. Izzy Jannazzo w pts 15 Jimmy Leto.

(2nd para) Meanwhile, after Jannazzo failed to further his world title ambitions when unable to force a bout against Freddie Cochrane he was eventually reduced to mixing with middleweights, suffering losses against Coley Welch, Fritzie Zivic, Saverio Turiello, Johnny Jackson and Eddie Booker along the way. However, when Jannazzo (147) took on Sugar Ray Robinson (143½) at The Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 19 October 1942, losing on points over ten rounds, he was reported as still holding the Maryland version of the world title despite the State showing scant interest at the time. What is clear, following that fight and his next one, also against Robinson (l rsc 8 at The Arena, Cleveland, Ohio on 1 December 1942), who weighed 145lbs, is that he was no longer recognised in Maryland afterwards.

21 January 1958. Virgil Akins w rsc 12 (15) Tony DeMarco.

(2nd para) Having rejoined the elimination tournament at the semi-final stage, Akins stopped Isaac Logart inside six rounds at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 21 March 1958, while Vince Martinez drew a bye into the final.

6 June 1958. Virgil Akins w rsc 4 (15) Vince Martinez.

8 December 1962. Emile Griffith w rsc 9 (15) Jorge Fernandez.

(2nd para) Before taking on the top-rated Luis Rodriguez, Griffith fitted in another defence of his junior middleweight title, beating Chris Christensen on a ninth-round stoppage at the KB Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark on 3 February 1963. Wishing to stay among the welters, Griffith relinquished the junior title immediately after the fight.

14 February 1970. Jose Napoles w rsc 15 (15) Ernie Lopez.

29 March 1975. Jose Napoles w tdec 12 (15) Armando Muniz.

4 February 1989. Mark Breland w rsc 1 Seung-Soon Lee.

4 February 1989. Marlon Starling w rsc 9 Lloyd Honeyghan.

12 July 2003. Ricardo Mayorga w pts 12 Vernon Forrest.

Venue: Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Recognition: WBA/WBC/The Ring. Referee: Jay Nady.

Scorecards: 116-112, 115-114, 114-114. Proving that his earlier victory over the challenger was no fluke, Mayorga (146) got down to business right from the opening bell, swinging in punches from both hands. Slipping down on unsteady legs on occasion, although Forrest’s left eye was swelling by the sixth he came on strong as the fight progressed and had closed the gap before Mayorga hit back hard. When the action was over Forrest (147) thought that he had done enough to warrant the verdict, especially as Mayorga missed with more than he landed, but it was not to be.

8 April 2006. Floyd Mayweather Jnr w pts 12 Zab Judah.

(2nd para) On 15 August it was announced that Mayweather had relinquished the IBF title in order to challenge Baldomir for the WBA crown, rather than defend against the little known Mark Suarez, who had beaten James Webb (w rsc 1 at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 7 January) in an eliminating bout. Following this action, Suarez was booked to meet Kermit Cintron to contest the vacant title. Cintron had also won an eliminator against David Estrada (w rsc 10 the Convention Centre, Palm Beach, Florida) on 19 April.

12 April 2008. Antonio Margarito w co 6 Kermit Cintron.

(2nd para) Further to the win over Cintron, the IBF ordered Margarito to take in a mandatory defense against the organization's number-one contender, Joshua Clottey, whom Margarito had previously defeated in 2006. Rather than agreeing to the match with Clottey, Margarito vacated the IBF title in May and agreed to meet the undefeated WBA champion Miguel Cotto for the latter’s crown. Following that, Clottey, who had beaten Shamone Alvarez (w pts 12 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada on 20 December 2007) in an eliminator, and Zab Judah were signed up to battle for the vacant crown.

24 January 2009. Shane Mosley w rsc 9 Antonio Margarito.

(2nd para) When Mosley was promoted to ‘super’ champion status by the WBA, Yuriy Nuzhnenko, the ‘interim’ title holder, was outpointed over 12 rounds by Vyacheslav Senchenko at the Sports Palace, Donetsk, Ukraine on 10 April. In a battle between Ukrainians, Senchenko would be seen as the new ‘second tier’ champion.

17 September 2011. Floyd Mayweather Jnr w co 4 Victor Ortiz.

(2nd para) Now fighting at two different weights simultaneously, Mayweather won the WBA junior middleweight title when outscoring the champion, Miguel Cotto, over 12 rounds at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas on on 5 May 2012.

The original 2nd para becomes the 3rd para.

4 May 2013. Floyd Mayweather Jnr w pts 12 Robert Guerrero.

(2nd para) Mayweather defended his WBA junior middleweight title when outpointing Saul Alvarez at the MGM Grand on 14 September 2013. At the same time he picked up Alvarez’s WBC and Ring Championship Belt.

7 November 2015. Timothy Bradley w rsc 9 Brandon Rios.

(2nd para) Bradley was forced to hand back his WBO title on 11 February 2016 when signing for a third fight against Manny Pacquiao instead of making a mandatory defence against Sadam Ali. However, the WBO announced that because of the importance of the fight the winner would be given special recognition.

25 June 2016. Keith Thurman w pts 12 Shawn Porter.

(2nd para) Lamont Peterson won the vacant WBA ‘second tier’ title when outpointing the ‘interim’ champion, David Avanesyan, over 12 rounds at the Cintas Centre, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA on 18 February 2017.

Junior Welterweight

18 May 1923. Pinky Mitchell nd-w co 5 (12) Tim Droney.

(7th para) Even though Herring carried on claiming the title, being named as the holder in the October 1925 edition of The Ring magazine, no official support was forthcoming. Despite that, when Herring met Young Ketchell (w rsc 3 at the Page Building Arena, Nashville, Tennessee on 31 March 1925) over eight rounds he was billed as the junior welterweight champion of America. The newspapers reported that he was risking his title at catchweights, but after being outpointed over ten rounds by Mushy Callahan at the Vernon Arena, Los Angeles, California on 18 August 1925 he was not even considered.

24 April 1931. Tony Canzoneri w co 3 (10) Jack Kid Berg.

(3rd para) Regardless of the fact that he was not recognised by any of the official bodies, Berg, who had continued support from The Ring magazine, styled himself as champion in contests against Tony Herrera, Ray Kiser and Tony Lambert. All three men were beaten - Herrera 138½ (w pts 10 at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York on 8 May), Kiser 138½ (w pts 10 at the Meyers Bowl, North Braddock, Pennsylvania on 18 May) and Lambert 139 (w rsc 8 at Dreamland Park, Newark, New Jersey on 22 June).

9 April 1935. Barney Ross w pts 12 Henry Woods.

(2nd para) When Ross relinquished the Illinois version of the title, after regaining the world welterweight crown on 28 May, the weight class went into hibernation until Maxie Berger resurrected it in Montreal, Canada some four years later.

13 September 1946. Tippy Larkin w pts 12 Willie Joyce.

(4th para) There was a brief glimmer of it being resurrected in 1954 when the Australian Boxing Club initially billed a fight between George Barnes and Freddie Dawson as being for the junior welterweight championship. Dawson said he had claimed the title after beating Irvin Steen on points over 12 rounds at the Pelican Stadium, New Orleans Louisiana on 22 September 1950 when weighing in at 140lbs to his opponent’s 145. Unable to make a case for the title being involved, with the match eventually going ahead at 142lbs, no more was heard of the weight class until the NBA, supported by the NYSAC, decided to reintroduce it in May 1959 when a match was made between Kenny Lane and Carlos Ortiz, the number one and two rated lightweights, who were both waiting for a crack at the 135lbs champion, Joe Brown.

18 April 1964. Eddie Perkins w pts 15 Bunny Grant.

(3rd para) Meantime, having beaten Mauro Vazquez (w rsc 8 at the New Leon State Coliseum, Monterrey, Mexico on 5 September) and Mario Rossito (w pts 10 at the Santamaria Circus, Bogota, Colombia on 18 September) in non-title bouts, and looking to defend the championship against Carlos Morocho Hernandez in Venezuela in October, the fight had to be held on ice until the latter had served a suspension. To appease the NBA there was talk of the fight coming to Miami on 21 December, but after much wrangling it was eventually contracted to take place in January 1965.

29 April 1966. Sandro Lopopolo w pts 15 Carlos Morocho Hernandez.

31 January 1970. Bruno Arcari w pts 15 Pedro Adigue.

9 October 1971. Bruno Arcari w co 10 (15) Domingo Barrera.

15 February 1973. Antonio Cervantes w pts 15 Josue Marquez.

5 December 1973. Antonio Cervantes w pts 15 Lion Furuyama.

2 March 1974. Antonio Cervantes w co 6 (15) Chang-Kil Lee.

16 October 1976. Wilfred Benitez w rsc 3 (15) Tony Petronelli.

(2nd para) After Benitez forfeited WBA recognition on 28 November for failing to defend against Antonio Cervantes, due to not having enough time to prepare following a car accident, the latter would end up meeting Carlos Gimenez for the vacant title. Meanwhile, Benitez continued to be recognised as the champion in New York by the NYSAC.

19 December 1981. Saoul Mamby w pts 15 Obisia Nwankpa.

5 May 1986. Rene Arredondo w co 5 (12) Lonnie Smith. (Not 5 June 1986).

29 June 1992. Carlos Gonzalez w rsc 2 Jimmy Paul.

12 January 1993. Juan Martin Coggi w rsc 8 Morris East.

24 July 1993. Charles Murray w pts 12 Juan Laporte.

7 June 1996. Oscar De La Hoya w rsc 4 Julio Cesar Chavez.

19 January 2003. Kostya Tszyu w rtd 6 Jesse James Leija.

(2nd para) Tszyu was now being asked by the WBC to defend their title against Gianluca Branco, the mandatory challenger, but having already lined up a return against Sharmba Mitchell and having it put back when suffering an Achilles injury, he felt he was in no position to meet the Italian. Further to that, on 10 October the WBC announced that Tszyu had been given ‘Emeritus’ status and that his title had been vacated. They went on to say that Branco would meet Arturo Gatti on 24 January 2004 to bring about a new champion.

(3rd para) With Tszyu’s match against the IBF’s number-one challenger, Sharmba Mitchell, now set for February 2004, the former was again unavailable after suffering a ruptured tendon in in mid-January, and once more he was forced to remain on the sidelines in order to fully recover.

(4th para) Meantime, Mitchell outscored Lovemore Ndou over 12 rounds at Bally’s Park Place Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA on 7 February 2004 to win the vacant IBF ‘interim’ title, prior to successfully defending it against Michael Stewart (w pts 12 at the MEN Arena, Manchester, England on 3 April 2004). Those two wins made sure that Mitchell was ready for Tszyu when the latter was eventually up and running.

(5th para) Increasingly difficult to satisfy all three bodies, when Tszyu forfeited the WBA title on 15 June 2004, Vivian Harris, who had successfully defended the WBA ‘second tier’ crown when beating Souleymane M'baye (w pts 12 at Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 12 July 2003) and Oktay Urkal (w pts 12 at the Max Schmeling Hall, Berlin, Germany on 17 April 2004), was given full title status by the WBA.

25 June 2005. Floyd Mayweather Jnr w rtd 6 Arturo Gatti.

(2nd para) When Mayweather relinquished the WBC title on 1 April 2006 on moving up a division to meet Zab Judah for the IBF title, Junior Witter, who had beaten Lovemore Ndou (w pts 12 at the Staples Centre, Los Angeles, California on 19 February 2005) in an eliminator and DeMarcus Corley were matched to find a new champion.

26 November 2005. Ricky Hatton w co 9 Carlos Maussa.

(2nd para) Having given up the IBF Belt on 29 March 2006 when moving up a division to meet Luis Collazo for the WBA welter crown, Hatton then relinquished the WBA junior welter title on 4 May 2006 when it became clear that he could only boss one division at a time. After the IBF decided on a vacant title fight between Juan Urango and Naoufel Ben Rabah, who had beaten Arturo Morua (w pts 12 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada on 17 September 2005), Souleymane M'baye and Raul Horacio Balbi were matched to find a new WBA champion.

20 January 2007. Ricky Hatton w pts 12 Juan Urango.

(2nd para) Hatton relinquished the IBF title on 9 February when being told that he had to sign for a defence against the mandatory challenger, Lovemore Ndou, who had won a final eliminator at the States Sports Centre, Sydney, Australia on 4 February when forcing Naoufel Ben Rabah to retire at the end of the 11th. As Hatton had already signed to meet Jose Luis Castillo on 23 June his decision was an easy one, and following that Ndou was handed the IBF title on a plate.

24 May 2008. Paul Malignaggi w pts 12 Lovemore Ndou.

(2nd para) Malignaggi was stripped of the IBF title on 19 September after signing to meet Hatton for The Ring Championship Belt rather than agreeing to make a defence against the number one challenger, Herman Ngoudjo, and the latter was matched against Juan Urango to find a new champion. Both men had won eliminating bouts to qualify for a title shot, Urango defeating Carlos Wilfredo Vilches (w co 4 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida on 23 April) and Ngoudjo beating Souleymane M'baye (w pts 12 at the Uniprix Stadium, Montreal, Canada on 6 June).

5 December 2009. Amir Khan w rsc 1 Dmitriy Salita.

23 July 2011. Amir Khan w co 5 Zab Judah.

(3rd para) On 22 October, the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title fight between Brunet Zamora and Alberto Mosquera at the Roberto Duran Arena, Panama City, Panama, failed to produce a champion following a 12-round draw.

12 November 2011. Timothy Bradley w rsc 8 Joel Casamayor.

(3rd para) When Bradley vacated the title on 27 June 2012 after winning the WBO welterweight crown, Marquez, the ‘interim’ champion, was handed full championship status. This decision saw Marquez join a small band of men who had held world titles at four different weights, having been the undefeated IBF/WBA/WBO featherweight champion, WBC junior lightweight champion and undefeated WBA/WBO lightweight champion.

(4th para) The vacant WBO ‘interim’ title was then won by Mike Alvarado, who outpointed Brandon Rios over 12 rounds at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada on 30 March 2013.

10 December 2011. Lamont Peterson w pts 12 Amir Khan.

(2nd para) On 10 December, at the Fair Stockade, Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico, Johan Perez won the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title after scoring three knockdowns prior to stopping Fernando Castaneda in the fourth round. Perez would lose his title on 21 July 2012, at the Oasis Hotel Complex, Cancun, Mexico, when beaten by Pablo Cesar Cano on a seventh-round technical decision.

15 March 2014. Danny Garcia w pts 12 Mauricio Herrera.

(3rd para) Johan Perez made a successful defence of his WBA 'interim' title when forcing Fernando Monte De Oca to retire at the end of the tenth round at the Jose Maria Vargas Sports Complex, La Guaira, Venezuela on 10 May. Next time out, on 12 July, Perez lost the WBA 'interim' title when outpointed by Herrera over 12 rounds at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

(7th para) Looking to take in another non-title bout, Garcia was forced to relinquish the WBC Championship Belt on 11 June 2015 before handing in The Ring and WBA Belts on 11 September 2015.

Lightweight

26 April 1887. (128lbs) Jack Hopper w co 25 (finish) Mike Cushing.

11 February 1900. (130lbs) Art Simms drew 20 Tommy White

9 August 1900. (138lbs) George Elbows McFadden w rtd 16 (25) Kid McPartland.

(2nd para) McFadden went on to meet Patsy Sweeney (drew 15 at the La Fayette Rooms, Boston, Massachusetts on 19 December) at 135lbs, and Dal Hawkins (w disq 8 at the Mechanics’ Pavilion, San Francisco, California on 28 February 1901) and Martin Flaherty (w rsc 3 at the National AC, Jacques Auditorium, Waterbury, Connecticut on 9 May 1901) at 133lbs.

3 September 1900. (140lbs) Jack Everhardt w disq 10 (20) Tom Ireland.

(3rd para) Everhardt went to South Africa for a series of fights after this, having just ten more contests at varying weights before retiring.

28 June 1901. (138lbs) George Elbows McFadden w co 9 (15) Wilmington Jack Daly.

(2nd para) On 7 April 1902, at the National AC, New Britain, Connecticut, McFadden had been booked to meet Art Simms at 135lbs, but after Simms pulled out the day before with a badly damaged hand Curley Supples was substituted. Supples, who was thought to be inside 138lbs, was knocked out in the fifth round after the referee had earlier ignored the towel being thrown in at the end of the fourth.

21 October 1901. (134lbs) Bob Russell w pts 10 Bill Wood.

(2nd para) From then on Russell’s claim to the English title at the weight was a good one, even though Jabez White and Bill Chester’s claims appeared to be stronger. Despite continuous challenges to all the top men, Russell was unable to further his claim.

21 June 1902. (134lbs) Jabez White w pts 15 Spike Sullivan.

(2nd para) Looking for bigger fish to fry at 133lbs, White appears not to have defended his title claim at 134lbs.

24 June 1902. (138lbs) Frank Erne w co 7 (15) Jem Maloney.

(2nd para) Three fights away from retirement, Erne had no interest in the English version of the 138lbs title.

17 September 1902. (138lbs) Joe Gans w co 5 (20) Gus Gardner.

(2nd para) Although no weights were given in the Providence Journal regarding Gans’ 20-round contest against the little known Howard Wilson (w rsc 3 at the Athletic Club, Scituate, Rhode Island on 19 December) there is every chance that it was made at 138lbs.

(3rd para) Another fight for Gans thought to have been made at 138lbs, which cannot be verified, came against Charley Sieger (drew 10 at the Criterion AC, Boston, Massachusetts on 31 December).

23 March 1903. (138lbs) Joe Gans w co 5 (10) Jack Bennett.

Venue: Masonic Hall, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA. Referee: Jimmy Mason.

Fight Summary: Taking on Gans in an articled 138lbs contest, Bennett was allowed to do all the forcing until Gans opened up in the fifth and dropped him three times, the last count being ‘ten’ and out.

Gans next beat Tom Tracey (w rsc 9 at the Pastime AC, Portland, Oregon on 13 May) in a fight scheduled for 20 rounds and billed for the 140lbs title. I can find nothing that says Gans claimed the 140lbs title at this stage of his career.

4 July 1903. (135/138lbs) Joe Gans w co 5 (20) Buddy King.

(2nd para) Fights thought to have been made at 138lbs came against Dave Holly (nd-drew 6 at the State AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 23 October 1903), Jack Blackburn (nd-l pts 6 at the Washington AC, Philadelphia on 2 November 1903) and Holly (nd-w pts 6 at the Washington AC on 7 December 1903).

(3rd para) After beating the 135¼lbs Gans (w pts 15 at the Criterion AC, Boston, Massachusetts on 8 December) in a match made at 138lbs, Sam Langford, who came in at 140lbs, set about challenging the great man for the world title before increasing weight saw him up among the welters.

(4th para) Jack Blackburn was another black fighter who was making waves at the upper end of the lightweight class. He would soon be matched against the promising Jimmy Gardner after having the better of Langford over 15 rounds at the Central AC, Boston on 23 December. With a drawn verdict to be given if the contest went the distance, according to the Boston Globe Blackburn trounced Langford.

2 February 1904. (140lbs) Joe Gans w rsc 10 (10) Mike Ward.

Venue: Light Guard Armoury, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Referee: Tim Hurst.

Fight Summary: Up against the so-called Canadian champion, Gans gave Ward such a beating after knocking him down in the first that the latter was lucky to last as long as he did. In the ninth, after a terrific right swing to the jaw had Ward over, he was saved by the bell. When he came out for the tenth he was so groggy that he became so much of a punch-bag that the police were forced to tell the referee to call it off. So badly beaten was Ward that it took over an hour to bring him back to his senses. This appears to be beginning of Gans’ 140lbs title claim.

28 March 1904. (140lbs) Joe Gans w pts 10 Gus Gardner.

(2nd para) On 21 April, Gans outpointed Sam Bolen over 15 rounds at the Eureka AC, Baltimore, Maryland. Although it was later thought to be a defence of his 140lbs title, with the latter coming in much heavier it could not have been. A short-distance fight for Gans felt to have been made at 140lbs came against Dave Holly (nd-drew 6 at the National AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 27 June).

(3rd para) While still claiming the 140lbs title, prior to Gans’ meeting with Joe Walcott (140) at Woodward’s Pavilion, San Francisco, California on 30 September it was announced that no title was involved as the articles called for 141lbs to protect both men. The contest ended in a 20-round draw and can be found on the welterweight pages.

31 October 1904. (133lbs) Joe Gans w disq 5 (20) Jimmy Britt.

(2nd para) Gans next took on Rufe Turner (nd-w pts 6 at the Washington SC, Philadelphia on 27 March 1905) in a match thought to have been made at 140lbs. There would be no further defences above 135lbs for Gans in the lightweight division.

(3rd para) Although Gans would not make 133lbs ringside again for close on two years, and despite The Ring Record Book stating that he gave up his title in November, there is no evidence to suggest that he ever did. Why would he want to do that in an era where fighters never gave up their hard-earned gains due to the lack of controlling bodies.

(4th para) Having been inactive for a considerable period while recuperating from illness, Gans eventually came back to draw over 15 rounds against Mike Twin Sullivan at the Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland on 15 September 1905. Sullivan had been after a 133lbs championship match for some time, and although it was reported that Gans scaled 132½lbs to his rival’s 135 it should not be taken as read due to the fact that it was quite clear that neither man could make those weights at that time. While it may or may not have involved Gans’ 140lbs title claim, once Sullivan had beaten Jimmy Gardner for the welterweight crown that November the way was clear for a rematch with the 142lbs championship as the prize.

(5th para) Meanwhile, it was widely reported on 11 February 1906 that Jack Blackburn was claiming the American lightweight title, having repeatedly challenged Gans to meet him at 133lbs to no avail. The problem for Blackburn was that although he could probably have made 133lbs it would have been a struggle, so he continued to fight among the bigger men.

3 December 1904. (140lbs) Jack Nelson w pts 20 Harry Greenfield.

(1st para) Apart from a 13th-round kayo win over Jim Harper at Ginnett’s Circus on 6 March 1905, where it is not certain whether both men were inside 140lbs, there appear to be no further fights at the weight for Nelson.

27 September 1907. (135lbs) Joe Gans w pts 20 George Memsic.

(1st para) On 1 April 1908, in a six-round no-decision contest thought to have been made at 135lbs, Gans (138) stopped England’s Spike Robson (128) inside three rounds at the National AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following that, Gans stepped back down to 133lbs.

23 November 1908. (132lbs) Dick Lee w pts 20 Seaman Hayes.

13 July 1909. (133lbs) Battling Nelson nd-l pts 10 Ad Wolgast.

(2nd para) A Memphis, Tennessee eight-rounder at the Athletic Club, saw Nelson knock Eddie Lang out in the last round on 21 January 1910. The Memphis Daily Mail reported that with both men inside 133lbs, Nelson risked his title.

10 June 1910. (133lbs) Ad Wolgast nd-l pts 10 Jack Redmond.

(2nd para) On 9 August, at the Magic City AC, Muncie, Indiana, Wolgast met Freddie Cole in a six-round no-decision fight that the press saw him win convincingly on points. While I can find nothing in print to suggest that his title was at risk it is clear that all his opponents around this time were being asked to make 133lbs ringside, something that Cole would have been more than happy to concur with. The Muncie Morning Star, while not mentioning weights, reported that the men boxed as lightweights.

4 July 1912. (133lbs) Ad Wolgast w co 13 (20) Mexican Joe Rivers.

(2nd para) Wolgast next risked his title when allowing Teddy Maloney to make 133lbs for their six-round no-decision fight at the Olympia AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 16 October, which was seen as a draw according to the Philadelphia Item. Another man Wolgast was happy to meet in a short distance fight at 133lbs was Freddie Daniels (nd-drew 6 at the Highlands Pavilion, Quincy, Illinois on 25 October).

16 December 1912. (135lbs) Freddie Welsh w pts 20 Hughie Mehegan.

2 November 1914. Freddie Welsh nd-w rtd 8 (10) Ad Wolgast.

(2nd para) On 9 November, at The Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Welsh allowed Charley White (133) to enter the ring inside 135lbs in what was advertised as a title fight despite it being held at catchweights. For the record, Welsh, who weighed in at 141lbs, won the ten-rounder on points as far as the press was concerned.

9 April 1915. Freddie Welsh nd-w pts 10 Billy Wagner.

(3rd para) Not wasting too much time, Welsh (138) was handed the ten-round press decision over Frankie Fleming (124) at Sohmer Park, Montreal, Canada on 24 May in what was advertised as involving the world title after Welsh had been articled to make 133lbs at the 3pm weigh-in.

4 September 1916. Freddie Welsh w pts 20 Charley White.

(2nd para) On 24 November, Welsh again technically risked his title by allowing Eddie Wallace (nd-l pts 10 at Sohmer Park, Montreal, Canada) to make the championship weight while he weighed in above the limit. This is what was reported in the Montreal Herald, but in truth neither man was close to making 135lbs.

28 May 1917. Benny Leonard nd-w rsc 9 (10) Freddie Welsh.

(2nd para) At Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 25 July, Leonard (133) dropped the featherweight champion, Johnny Kilbane (127), heavily in the third round to before the latter’s corner threw the towel in during their six-round no-decision contest. He then went on to meet Young Rector in a six-round no-decision contest at the Island Stadium, Toronto, Canada on 3 September, stopping his man inside five rounds. The match was made at 133lbs.

5 December 1917. Benny Leonard nd-w co 8 (10) Gene Delmont.

(9th para) Further contests at catchweight for Leonard in which he allowed his opponent to make 135lbs while he came in above the weight, saw him meet Johnny Dundee (nd-w pts 8 at the 1st Regiment Armoury AA, Newark on 17 September 1919), Phil Bloom (nd-w pts 10 at Billy McIntosh’s Club, Detroit, Michigan on 15 October 1919), Mel Coogan (nd-w rsc 2 at the 4th Regiment Armoury, Jersey City, New Jersey on 10 December 1919), Red Herring (nd-w rsc 6 at the Southern AC, Memphis, Tennessee on 19 December 1919), Dundee (nd-w pts 8 at the 4th Regiment Armoury, Jersey City on 9 February 1920) and Charley White (nd-w co 9 at Floyd Fitzsimmons’ Arena, Benton Harbor, Michigan on 5 July 1920). The latter fight certainly made the news after White put the champion out of the ring for ‘nine’ with his famed left hook in the seventh before succumbing himself in the ninth.

(10th para) Earlier, on 17 November 1919, Leonard stopped Lockport Jimmy Duffy inside two rounds of a scheduled 15 at the Convention Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Advertised as being a world title fight at 140lbs ringside, most of those in attendance saw it as a hoax.

23 July 1923. Benny Leonard w pts 15 Lew Tendler.

(6th para) Taking the honours in the first-round were Goodrich (w pts 12 Wagner at Madison Square Garden on 23 February 1925), O’Brien (w co 6 Chaney at Madison Square Garden on 23 February), Benjamin (w pts 10 Silver at the Recreation Park, San Francisco, California on 23 February), Jeakle (w pts 12 Lee at the Pioneer AC, Manhattan on 24 February), O’Connell (w pts 10 Dundee at The Casino, Manhattan on 25 February), Valgar (w pts 10 Hart at the Rink SC, Brooklyn on 27 February), Seeman (w pts 10 LaFay at the Rink SC on 27 February) and Galiano (w pts 10 DeMarco at the Commonwealth SC, Manhattan on 28 February). All the contests took place in New York apart from Benjamin v Silvers, which was given special dispensation to be contested in California. Some of the committee members wanted the NYSAC to reconsider Wagner, who appeared to be the victim of a poor decision, but were eventually overruled.

(7th para) The second-round results were Goodrich (w pts 12 Jeakle), Seeman (w pts 15 O’Connell) and Valgar (w pts 12 Galiano), all taking place at Madison Square Garden on 9 March 1925, while both O’Brien (who injured his hands when beating Chaney) and Benjamin (who was outpointed over ten rounds by Ace Hudkins at the Vernon Arena, Los Angeles, California on 7 April) were forced to withdraw. After beating Benjamin, Hudkins, who was not in the competition, put in a title claim, but while the Californian Boxing Commission were still in the process of making a decision on whether to support him or not he was beaten by O’ Brien (l disq 5 at Ascot Park, Los Angeles on 6 June) next time out.

(9th para) Held on 18 May 1925, the quarter-finals (at Queensboro Stadium, Queens, NYC) saw Goodrich (w disq 6 Mandell), Loayza (w rsc 7 White), Olano (w rsc 5 Tait) and Valgar (w pts 10 Seeman) qualify. The favourite to win the tournament had been Mandell, but he was unfortunate to be disqualified for landing a blow that strayed low after being way ahead on points. On 15 June, at the same venue, the semi-finals saw Goodrich (w pts 12 Valgar) and Loayza (w co 3 Olano) make the final.

(10th para) Even though there had been entrants from far and wide, highly-ranked fighters such as Terris, Mike Ballerino, Sid Barbarian, Johnny Dundee, Kansas, Vicentini and Walker were absent for whatever reason. Also, Europe had not been involved, and Mason (after forcing Izzard to retire in the ninth round of a British title fight at the Ice Rink, Holland Park, London on 22 June 1925) put in a claim for the world title on 1 July but failed to gain the necessary support required in Britain to force the issue.

3 July 1926. Sammy Mandell w pts 10 Rocky Kansas.

(3rd para) Although Mandell’s next go, a ten-round press decision win over Joe Jawson at Harlem Park Auditorium, Rockford, Illinois on 8 October, was reported in the Rockford Republican as being at 135lbs, in the lead up to the fight there was nothing to suggest that the title was involved, merely being a comeback for the champion after injury.

(6th para) A 12-round no-decision fight against the 136¾lbs Jackie Fields at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, California on 4 April 1927, which resulted in a press defeat on points, was earlier reported as involving the title. However, it was seen as having no credibility when the latter came in above the championship weight.

21 May 1928. Sammy Mandell w pts 15 Jimmy McLarnin.

(3rd para) Getting back into action quickly, having beaten Johnny O’Donnell, Mandell met with disaster at the hands of the former champion, Jimmy Goodrich, at the Athletic Park, Flint, Michigan on 25 September, suffering a broken collarbone in a non-title contest from a freak punch that saw him unable to get off his stool for the start of the second round.

(4th para) Back in the ring towards the end of January 1929, in April it was announced that Mandell would be defending his title in Chicago during the summer, possibly against Jack Kid Berg. Earlier, it had been thought that the next challenger would be Ray Miller, who had beaten Jimmy McLarnin (w rtd 7 at the Olympia, Detroit, Michigan on 30 November), but McLarnin had exacted revenge at Madison Square Garden on 22 March 1929 with a ten-round points win.

10 May 1935. Tony Canzoneri w pts 15 Lou Ambers.

(2nd para) Holman Williams, the leading black fighter at the time but apparently being frozen out, beat Baby Tiger Flowers (w rsc 8 at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois on 2 July) in a fight advertised and billed as involving the ‘black’ lightweight championship. The result, however, failed to get Williams a crack at the world title and he was soon plying his wares among the welters.

4 October 1935. Tony Canzoneri w pts 15 Al Roth.

(4th para) Earlier, on 20 April 1936, Frankie Klick outpointed Rafael Hurtado over ten rounds at the St Nicholas Arena, a result that also saw the latter lose his third-place ranking. Since arriving in America in August 1935 the Panamanian had recorded wins over Lew Feldman, Leo Rodak, Roth, Del Genio and Eddie Brink, and was well on his way to a title shot before meeting up with Klick. Although doing reasonably well he never again reached such a high standing.

3 September 1936. Lou Ambers w pts 15 Tony Canzoneri.

(2nd para) Beaten in a non-title contest by Eddie Cool (l pts 10 at The Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 28 October) in his first outing since winning the title was not a great start for Ambers, but it gave his victor the top spot in The Ring magazine rankings. Although Cool remained unbeaten for some time it was the former European champion, Enrico Venturi, who took over the number one ranking after drawing with Ambers over ten rounds at Madison Square Garden on 8 January 1937 to earn himself an eliminating contest against Pedro Montanez. Taking place at Madison Square Garden on 26 February 1937, Montanez won the 15 round points decision but would have to wait until September 1937 before he got his opportunity.

4 January 1943. Slugger White w pts 15 Willie Joyce.

(2nd para) Earlier, in January, Angott announced that he was returning to the ring, and supported by the NBA was looking to regain his old crown. With the NYSAC title already under challenge from Bob Montgomery, who had won eliminating bouts against Maxie Shapiro (w pts 10 at The Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 1 December 1942) and Chester Rico (w rsc 7 at Madison Square Garden, NYC, New York on 8 January), the NBA eventually matched the former champion against White for their vacant title.

(4th para) Since returning to the ring Angott had broken Willie Pep’s unbeaten run of 63 straight wins when landing the ten-round points decision over the NYSAC featherweight champion on 19 March, lost to Henry Armstrong on points over ten rounds on 11 June, and beaten Joey Peralta on points over ten rounds on 1 October to justify the NBA’s faith in him.

4 August 1947. Ike Williams w co 6 (15) Bob Montgomery.

(3rd para) Having lifted the European title from Roberto Proietti after winning on points over 15 rounds at The Arena, Harringay, London on 17 February 1948, Billy Thompson was rated at number five by The Ring magazine and looking towards a crack at Williams. The euphoria did not last long for the British and European champion, and after losing a non-title bout against Andre Famechon just over a month later he was dropped from the top-ten rankings.

24 August 1956. Joe Brown w pts 15 Wallace Bud Smith.

Venue: Municipal Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Recognition: World. Referee: Ronald Brown.

Scorecards: 9-3-3, 12-3, 6-7-2.

Fight Summary: Although many thought that the 31-year-old Brown, or ‘Old Bones’ as he was known, was past his best even though he had previously defeated the champion on points in a non-title bout, he could not be ignored any more. It was all Brown (133) in the early rounds, despite breaking his right hand in the second, as he jabbed his way into a clear lead, and it was not until the 12th that Smith (134½) showed when a belated rally pushed the challenger back for a couple of sessions. Unfortunately for Smith it was this new-found aggression that ultimately let him down as he walked on to Brown’s two-fisted counters, taking counts of ‘seven’ and ‘nine’ in the 14th. Saved by the bell after the second knockdown the unsteady Smith somehow managed to make it to the end of the fight, hanging on desperately at every opportunity if only to preserve some pride. The fight was expertly summed up by Nat Fleischer of The Ring magazine, who said: “Although Smith never let up in his efforts to catch Brown, he was baffled by the latter’s backward movements, his bobbing and weaving and straight lefts to the face and failed to land effectively.” Fleischer, reacting to those who thought that Smith should have retained his title on aggression alone, was correct in his assertion that scoring punches win fights not anything else.

6 June 1970. Ismael Laguna w rsc 13 (15) Guts Ishimatsu.

2 March 1975. Roberto Duran w co 14 (15) Ray Lampkin.

(2nd para) Duran next took on a couple of contests against nondescripts before it was announced that he would be defending against Antonio Gomez in Caracas, Venezuela on 30 August. Unfortunately, that was scrapped a few days later when Gomez was beaten by Luis Aisa (l pts 10 in Caracas on 28 July). Next up, Monroe Brooks was shortlisted before he too was beaten in a contest for the vacant North American junior welter title by Adolfo Viruet (l pts 12 at Dunes Hotel & Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 29 August). Having won a couple of non-title bouts a championship fight against Leoncio Ortiz was made for 7 November in Mexico City, but when that date was cancelled the fight was moved back to San Juan, Puerto Rico on 14 December.

20 December 1975. Roberto Duran w co 15 (15) Leoncio Ortiz.

23 May 1976. Roberto Duran w co 14 (15) Lou Bizzarro.

22 May 1982. Alexis Arguello w co 5 (15) Andy Ganigan.

(3rd para) Having already challenged for the WBA junior welterweight title, after Arguello relinquished the WBC version of the lightweight title on 15 February 1983 Edwin Rosario and Jose Luis Ramirez were matched in order to find a successor.

20 January 1989. Mauricio Aceves drew 12 Amancio Castro.

18 February 1989. Pernell Whitaker w pts 12 Greg Haugen.

Venue: The Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia, USA. Recognition: IBF. Referee: Al Rothenberg.

Scorecards: 120-107, 120-107, 118-109.

Fight Summary: Piling up points with the southpaw jab from the opening bell, while banging in body shots and combinations for good measure, Whitaker (134½) made sure of taking the title this time around after failing previously against Jose Luis Ramirez. Round after round saw Haugen’s head being knocked back by the jab before he was forced to take the mandatory ‘eight’ count in the sixth after a right-hand counter momentarily dropped him. Although Haugen (134) was game he just did not know how to handle Whitaker, who finished like a train when unloading two-handed blows to head and body to confirm his new status.

5 October 1991. Pernell Whitaker w pts 12 Jorge Paez.

(2nd para) It was thought that Whitaker had relinquished his three titles in January, but he was still recognised as champion by the IBF until 7 February, the WBC until 14 April and the WBA until 22 May 1992. It was clear that after his second contest at 140lbs and the announcement that he would be challenging for the IBF junior welterweight crown in July his days at 135lbs were over. This was followed by vacant championship fights being made between Freddie Pendleton and Tracy Spann (IBF), Joey Gamache and Chil-Sung Chun (WBA) and Miguel Angel Gonzalez and Wilfrido Rocha (WBC).

13 June 1992. Joey Gamache w rsc 8 Chil-Sung Chun.

15 November 1995. Orzubek Nazarov w pts 12 Dindo Canoy.

15 December 1995. Oscar De La Hoya w rtd 2 Jesse James Leija.

(2nd para) With the prospect of De La Hoya moving up to fight Julio Cesar Chavez for the WBC junior welter crown, Artur Grigorian knocked out Antonio Rivera in the 12th round on 13 April 1996 at the Wandsbek Sports Hall, Hamburg, Germany, the WBO ‘interim’ title being his reward. Following De La Hoya becoming the WBC junior welter champion on 7 June 1996 and immediately abdicating, Grigorian was promoted to full championship status.

13 May 2004. Julio Diaz w pts 12 Javier Jauregui.

(2nd para) Diaz handed in his belt on 1 March 2005 to challenge Jose Luis Castillo for the WBC crown, in favour of making a defence against Leavander Johnson for less money. Following that, Johnson was matched against the European champion, Stefano Zoff, in an effort to find a new champion.

28 February 2009. Juan Manuel Marquez w rsc 9 Juan Diaz.

(2nd para) On 25 July, at the Tepic Fair Stockade, Nueva Vallarta, Mexico, Miguel Acosta stopped Urbano Antillon in the ninth round to pick up the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title.

(4th para) Moses lost his WBA ‘second tier’ title when knocked out by Acosta, the WBA ‘interim’ champion, in the sixth round of their contest at the Kalahari Sands Hotel & Casino, Windhoek, Namibia on 29 May 2010.

6 February 2010. Edwin Valero w rtd 9 Antonio DeMarco.

(2nd para) Due to the damage on his scalp requiring time to properly heal, on 9 February Valero was given the title of WBC ‘champion in recess’ for him to be allowed the necessary time to recover from the injury and to make a decision regarding which division he would continue his career in. Further to that, a contest between Humberto Soto and David Diaz was given the go-ahead for the title. It soon became clear that not all was well with Valero when he had to spend some time in a psychiatric hospital, but it was still shocking to hear that he had taken his own life on 19 April, having murdered his wife a day earlier.

16 February 2013. Adrien Broner w rsc 5 Gavin Rees.

(3rd para) After Broner stepped up to win the WBA welterweight title from Paul Malignaggi (w pts 12 at the Barclays Centre, Brooklyn, NYC, New York) on 22 June 1913 before losing it to Marcos Maidana (l pts 12 at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas) on 14 December 2013 he made no further defences of his lightweight title before being stripped by the WBC on 27 January 2014 for failing to make a defence within the requisite time frame.

(4th para) Further to that edict, Figueroa was given full championship status.

29 November 2014. Terence Crawford w pts 12 Raymundo Beltran.

(2nd para) While still retaining Ring championship status at 135lbs, Crawford handed in his WBO Championship Belt on 24 March 2015 in order to move up to 140lbs and challenge for the vacant WBO title at that weight on 18 April 2015. He eventually handed in the Ring Championship Belt on 24 March 2015.

(3rd para) Beltran contested the vacant WBO title with Takahiro Ao, winning by a second-round stoppage at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, USA on 1 May 2015, but because he failed to make the weight the championship remained open. The stoppage win for Beltran was later overturned due to doping.

Junior Lightweight

4 April 1929. Tod Morgan w pts 10 Santiago Zorrilla.

1 October 1931. Kid Chocolate w rsc 1 (10) Joey Scalfaro.

(3rd para) On 6 March 1932, Chocolate outpointed Dominick Petrone over ten rounds at the Fronton Arena, Havana, Cuba in a fight that had supposedly been billed for the NBA title. Although the Havana Post reported Chocolate (126½) and Petrone as contesting the championship, it has come to light that Petrone came in at 130½lbs according to research uncovered in the Diario de la Marina by Mike DeLisa, thus nullifying it as a title fight. The match was made to help swell the benefit fund being put together for the dependents of the recent Santiago earthquake.

6 December 1949. Sandy Saddler w pts 10 Orlando Zulueta.

(2nd para) A few weeks later, Saddler (129) beat Chuck Burton (126½) by a first-round kayo at the Valley Arena, Holyoke, Massachusetts on 6 February 1950. Although there was some risk to Saddler’s credibility at the weight, this contest was seen as a featherweight non-title ten rounder and not an authorised 130lbs defence.

28 February 1951. Sandy Saddler w co 2 (12) Diego Sosa.

(3rd para) On 6 January 1953 it was reported that the NBA were meeting to discuss whether to reintroduce the weight class after they were approached to sanction a fight between Tommy Collins and Lauro Salas for the vacant title. With no positive response forthcoming that is the last we hear of the junior lightweights until the NBA, following their decision to reintroduce the junior welterweight class, reinstated it in May 1959.

(4th para) They eventually chose Harold Gomes to meet Paul Jorgensen for the vacant title, in what was a return match. Earlier in the year, on 27 March, at The Auditorium, Miami, Florida, Gomes had outpointed Jorgensen over ten rounds before going on to win the inaugural New England 130lbs title when knocking out Jimmy Irish Greek Kelly inside three rounds at the Pierce Memorial Field, Providence, Rhode Island on 29 June.

22 October 1966. Flash Elorde w pts 15 Vicente Derado.

(2nd para) Further to Elorde’s 14th-round kayo defeat at the hands of Carlos Ortiz in a world lightweight title challenge on 28 November, the NYSAC stated that they did not recognise him as the junior title holder and had ‘retired’ him as far as New York was concerned. This action was followed in February 1967 when the Californian Boxing Commission also stripped him on the grounds that he had failed to give Derado a return after the ‘hometown’ decision had undoubtedly benefited him. The commission then matched Derado against Raul Rojas for their version of the title, despite the former having recently been beaten by Hiroshi Kobayashi. Rojas had come back strongly after losing to Vicente Saldivar in an assault on the featherweight title, with Alton Colter and Ricardo Moreno (twice) being among his seven victims.

5 October 1968. Hiroshi Kobayashi w pts 15 Jaime Valladares.

4 March 1971. Hiroshi Kobayashi w pts 15 Ricardo Arredondo.

6 November 1971. Alfredo Marcano w rsc 4 (15) Kenji Iwata.

29 January 1972. Ricardo Arredondo w pts 15 Jose Isaac Marin.

(2nd para) Arredondo’s next challenger would be The Ring magazine’s top-rated William Martinez, whose known record showed just 13 fights. Regardless of that, the Nicaraguan, who had beaten Raul Montoya and Antonio Amaya in two of his last three contests, was clearly more experienced than his record suggested.

3 October 1974. Kuniaki Shibata w rsc 15 Ramiro Bolanos. (Not 3 August 1974)

23 July 1988. Tony Lopez w pts 12 Rocky Lockridge.

11 February 1989. Brian Mitchell w rsc 8 Salvatore Bottiglieri.

2 July 1989. Brian Mitchell w tdec 9 Jackie Beard.

13 September 1991. Brian Mitchell w pts 12 Tony Lopez.

(1st para) Fight Summary: Six months after their thrilling draw the return saw the lineal champion, Mitchell (129), having relinquished the WBA title, using different tactics this time round as he looked to unseat the IBF champion. Starting much quicker, Mitchell outboxed Lopez (130) in the opening two rounds before first one man and then the other had good spells. Although carrying a cut over the right eye from the early rounds Mitchell was just about ahead by the eighth, but from thereon in he moved up a gear behind the jab and the right cross to come home on the cards despite a spirited rally from Lopez in the last session.

16 September 1995. Regilio Tuur w rtd 10 Luis Mendoza.

9 August 2003. Acelino Freitas w rsc 12 Jorge Barrios.

(2nd para) Eventually, Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai, the ‘second tier’ champion, was given full championship status by the WBA when Freitas moved up a division on 15 January 2004 after winning the WBO lightweight crown. At the same time, Freitas automatically vacated the WBO junior lightweight title, an action that was followed by Diego Corrales and Joel Casamayor being matched for the vacancy.

15 March 2008. Manny Pacquiao w pts 12 Juan Manuel Marquez.

(2nd para) Pacquiao relinquished The Ring Championship Belt and WBC title on 16 July having beaten David Diaz for the WBC lightweight crown at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on 28 June. On that same bill Francisco Lorenzo beat Humberto Soto by a fourth-round disqualification in a fight for the vacant WBC ‘interim’ title, but instead of creating a champion it went down as a ‘fake’ in the eyes of many of those who saw it. Prior to the finish Soto was well on top, but after putting Lorenzo down twice in the fourth round he made the mistake of throwing a punch at the latter that clipped the back of his head at most. The referee then gave Lorenzo five minutes to recover and when the latter said he was unable to continue he was handed the win. Following the contest the WBC failed to credit Lorenzo as champion due to the way he had been given the decision, and looked to make a return for the full title. However, the Dominican was so busted up that it had to be put on hold until later in the year.

(3rd para) Meantime, the WBC set up a vacant ‘interim’ title match between Soto and Gamaliel Diaz at The Bullring, Coahuila, Mexico on 11 October, the latter being stopped ten seconds into the 11th after not getting off his stool.

31 December 2013. Takashi Uchiyama w pts 12 Daiki Kaneko.

(2nd para) Bryan Vasquez made a successful defence of his WBA 'interim' title when outpointing Jose Felix Jnr (w pts 12 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 12 April 2014), before being forced to hand in his belt after coming in at 133lbs for a contest against Sergio Thompson (w rtd 9 at the Quequi Riviera Maya Arena, Playa del Carmen, Mexico on 20 December 2014).

6 May 2015. Takashi Uchiyama w rsc 2 Jomthong Chuwatana.

(3rd para) Emanuel Lopez successfully defended his WBA 'interim' crown when stopping Rolando Giono inside ten rounds at the Cock-fighting Arena, Comitan, Mexico on 20 June. Lopez was stripped on 23 October after pulling out of a defence against Miguel Roman. The vacant WBA 'interim' title was next won by Jezreel Corrales when he forced Juan Antonio Rodriguez to retire at the end of the 11th round at the Roberto Duran Arena, Panama City, Panama on 17 December.

11 June 2016. Vasyl Lomachenko w co 5 Roman Martinez.

(2nd para) Miguel Berchelt successfully defended his WBO 'interim' title when knocking out Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo inside four rounds at the Soraya Jimenez Sports Centre, Los Reyes La Paz, Mexico on 16 July 2016. The WBO ‘interim’ title became vacant after Berchelt stepped up to win the WBC title on 28 January 2017.

Featherweight

30 September 1886. (120lbs) Tommy Warren drew 10 Tommy Danforth.

Venue: Washington Rink, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Referee: Patsy Cardiff.

Fight Summary: In a fight that was billed for the world 120lbs featherweight title and a Richard K. Fox Championship Belt, Warren (116) took on Danforth with the latter considered by the Police Gazette to be the heavier man by eight pounds. There was never that much in it as Danforth rushed in with uppercuts while Warren was content to counter, even running at times to get better leverage for his punches. Down in the fourth for what was called a slip, Warren came back hard despite his left eye being closed by the eighth, the pair going hammer and tongs for the last few sessions. When the referee could not part them and asked for another round he was told by the police that it was scheduled for ten rounds and that was that.

10 March 1887. (124lbs) Ike Weir w co 36 (finish) Jack Williams.

30 May 1887. (120lbs) Tommy Warren w co 13 (15) Tommy Danforth.

Venue: Washington Rink, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Referee: Hank Seeley.

Fight Summary: Made for 120lbs, to weigh in 16 hours before fight, it was fairly even for the opening five rounds before Warren (118¼) took over. Never allowed to get his favoured uppercuts into play as Warren crowded him out, the latter took over as the fight wore on. Eventually, in the 12th Warren got right on top, and a terrific left to the ear blasted Danforth (117½) to the canvas. Saved by the bell at the count of ‘seven’, Danforth was allowed out for the 13th, but almost immediately was downed by the same punch and counted out. Both men received eye damage.

9 November 1896. (118lbs) Solly Smith w rsc 8 (20) Willie Smith.

20 February 1899. (124lbs) Jack Gibson w co 6 (20) Bill Brierley.

11 February 1900. (130lbs) Tommy White drew 20 Art Simms. Delete, see under Lightweights

19 March 1900. (124lbs) Jack Gibson w co 4 (20) Bob Russe

28 April 1902. (124lbs) Austin Rice w pts 20 Hugh McPadden.

Venue: Opera House, New London, Connecticut, USA. Referee: Harry Pollock.

Fight Summary: Taking the place of Billy Ryan at short notice, McPadden kept out of trouble during a slow first half before Rice began to cut loose with body punches. The papers claimed that McPadden was almost out a couple times and had to hold on for dear life in the 20th, but following the fight McPadden’s manager said that his man was robbed 3 to 1. This statement was backed up by many in the crowd, and even Rice was quoted as saying that he felt McPadden deserved better.

3 June 1902. (124lbs) Austin Rice w pts 20 Billy Ryan.

Venue: National AC, New London, Connecticut, USA. Referee: Dick Howell.

Fight Summary: Starting in aggressive fashion, Ryan had Rice over for the first time in his career at the end of the opening session. Continuing to jab well with the left as well as banging in stiff body shots with the right, Ryan looked a likely winner until Rice came back strongly with concentrated kidney punches in the latter stages. In what was seen as a close fight, it was generally felt that had Ryan packed real power he would have won.

19 September 1902. (124lbs) Hugh McPadden w pts 20 Austin Rice.

Venue: Enterprise AC, Scituate, Rhode Island, USA. Referee: Joe Murphy.

Fight Summary: Right from the start McPadden made it his fight, his left jabs regularly finding their mark as he sidestepped Rice’s rushes with ease. Even when Rice moved in wth body blows they were more often than not blocked as McPadden stuck to his game plan. Banging away with both hands at Rice in the 13th, McPadden controlled the bout from thereon in.

On 10 October McPadden challenged all at 124lbs, 3pm weigh-in, stating that his recent wins over Kid Broad and Rice entitled him to general recognition at the weight.

22 January 1903. (124lbs) Hugh McPadden w rtd 8 (20) Tommy Sullivan.

Venue: West End Coliseum, St Louis, Missouri, USA. Referee: Harry Sharpe.

Fight Summary: With Sullivan fractionally ahead at the end of the third by dint of clever boxing, the fight was turned on its head in the fourth when a cracking left from McPadden smashed his nose. From thereon in it was all McPadden as Sullivan slowed appreciably due to breathing problems, and with his face covered in blood the latter’s seconds threw up the sponge in the eighth.

McPadden’s 124lbs claim goes nowhere after a ten-round points defeat at the hands of Benny Yanger at the Light Guard Armoury, Detroit, Michigan on 27 March. Made at 130lbs ringside, McPadden continues to fight at higher weights from thereon.

24 March 1903. (118lbs) Harry Forbes w co 9 (10) Johnny Kelly. Delete. See under Bantamweights.

14 October 1903. (118lbs) Harry Forbes drew 10 Tommy Feltz. Delete. See under Bantamweights.

19 November 1904. (120/122lbs) Abe Attell w pts 20 Young Erne.

Venue: West End Club, St Louis, Missouri, USA. Referee: Dave Nelson.

Fight Summary: Attell started strongly, doing most of the leading as Erne took his time to get into the fight. After doing very little except cover up, Erne surprised Attell in the 11th when he knocked the champion down for a ‘six’ count. However, he let Attell off the hook when failing to follow up. Again, in the 18th Erne shook Attell up with a big right before the latter came back to waltz to the decision. A disappointing fight for its lack of action, Erne would ultimately rue his missed opportunities.

15 August 1906. (124lbs) Abe Attell w pts 15 Frank Carsey.

Venue: Reed’s Lake AC, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Referee: George Siler.

Fight Summary: Depending on which paper you read there appeared to be two different versions of the fight, one stating that Carsey was unlucky not to get a draw, the other reporting that Attell was totally in control. Summing up, it appeared that Carsey went well for eight rounds, jabbing, moving and blocking well, while Attell picked it up from thereon in. Carsey was almost downed in the 14th by a heavy left to the jaw, but held on well to make it to the final bell. Made at 124lbs, it was reported to involve the American title at that weight.

3 September 1906. (124lbs) Abe Attell w rtd 3 (15) Frank Carsey.

Venue: Tri-City AC, Davenport, Iowa, USA. Referee: Abe Pollock.

Fight Summary: Advertised as being for the world 124lbs title, 3pm weigh-in, Carsey, throwing wild blows from distance, failed to put up much of a show in this one. Attell always appeared to be well in control as Carsey was repeatedly ordered to fight and resorted to going low when on the inside. With Attell picking his punches in the third, after Carsey was ordered to fight in a correct manner he turned his back on the referee and walked to his corner, effectively retiring himself.

10 March 1909. (122lbs) Abe Attell nd-w co 6 (15) Young Pierce.

(2nd para) Attell next met Patsy Kline (nd-w pts 10 at the Whirlwind AC, Brooklyn, NYC on 18 March) in a match made at catchweights. It is unclear whether Kline was inside 122lbs, and even if he was he would have needed a kayo win in order to claim the title.

23 March 1909. (122lbs) Abe Attell nd-w pts 10 Frankie Neil.

Venue: Bedford AC, Brooklyn, NYC, New York, USA. Referee: Charlie White.

Fight Summary: Articled for 122lbs ringside, Attell tried his best to put Neil away quickly but found the latter resolute. Although Neil was never off his feet and was outclassed in all rounds other than second and eighth, he was always trying despite being on the end of countless lefts and rights.

4 September 1912. (122lbs) Johnny Kilbane nd-w pts 10 Johnny Dundee.

(3rd para) Another man who made 122lbs for Kilbane (122½) was Memphis Tommy Dixon, who was stopped inside eight rounds at the Future City AC, St Louis, Missouri on 12 December. This trait continued when Kilbane defeated Oliver Kirk (nd-w co 2 at the Future City AC on 1 January 1913). Although Kirk was inside 122lbs the champion’s weight was not recorded.

27 January 1913. (126lbs) Jim Driscoll drew 20 Owen Moran.

(2nd para) After Driscoll retired in July Moran was claiming to be his successor, but four fights later, on 31 May 1915, he was beaten by Llew Edwards on a tenth-round disqualification at the NSC for the vacant British 126lbs title. Following that, there would be just three more contests for him before he finally called it a day.

(3rd para) By this time, Britain, the British Empire and Europe all recognised 126lbs as being the featherweight limit, despite Kilbane, fighting at 122lbs, seen in Europe by the newly formed International Boxing Union (IBU) as the world champion. However, due to the Great War raging across Europe there were obviously things more pressing than trying to claim world titles and it would not be until things settled down that 126lbs became the norm.

29 April 1913. (122lbs) Johnny Kilbane drew 20 Johnny Dundee. (Delete 3rd para)

4 September 1916. (122/124/126lbs) Johnny Kilbane w co 3 (15) George KO Chaney.

(7th para) However, time was gradually running out for Kilbane, and regardless of public utterances that he could only lose his title at 122lbs he was asked to make 125lbs for three eight-round no-decision fights in New Jersey, a State who recognised that weight as being the featherweight limit. First came Frankie Burns (nd-w rsc 5 at The Ballpark, Jersey City on 16 September 1919), followed by Andy Chaney (nd-l pts 8 at The 4th Regiment Armoury, Jersey City on 29 December 1919), and then Benny Valgar (nd-l pts 8 at the National AC, Newark on 25 February 1920), interspersed with six-round contests in Philadelphia against natural 122 pounders in Eddie Morgan (nd-w pts 6 at the National AC on 20 September 1919), Al Shubert (nd-w pts 6 at the Olympia AC on 1 January 1920) and Johnny Murray (nd-w pts 6 at the National AC on 24 January 1920).

(11th para) On 8 October 1920, the promoter, Tex Rickard, who was rapidly losing patience due to Kilbane’s refusal to defend the title on a ‘proper’ basis, lined up Britain’s Tommy Noble to meet Johnny Murray at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York for the world title at 126lbs. Although Noble won on points over 15 rounds, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) failed to give the fight their support. Having won a diamond-studded belt, with Noble’s so-called title never taken seriously he returned to England without being asked to make a defence.

29 October 1937. Henry Armstrong w co 6 (15) Petey Sarron.

(3rd para) Having been awarded full world championship honours following the IBU convention on 20 April 1938 (see below), Armstrong relinquished the title on 13 September 1938 on becoming world champion at lightweight and welterweight in his two previous fights. Earlier, however, with Armstrong inactive at the weight, the Maryland Boxing Commission set up a fight between Leo Rodak and Jackie Wilson to decide their version of the title. This would be their fourth meeting, the previous three having ended as draws, and both men were rated in The Ring magazine’s top four along with Freddie Miller and Dave Castilloux.

18 March 1943. Jackie Callura w pts 15 Jackie Wilson.

(2nd para) Callura’s next opponent would be Phil Terranova. Prior to taking place, Terranova had suffered a fifth-round kayo defeat at the hands of Chalky Wright at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC on 4 June before stopping the NBA champion, Callura, inside three rounds at The Arena, Hartford, Connecticut on 30 June. Terranova’s reward for beating Callura was a return over 15 rounds with the title involved.

26 September 1951. Sandy Saddler w rtd 9 (15) Willie Pep.

(3rd para) Prior to Saddler being called up for the Army in May 1952, the NBA and EBU agreed on an eliminator between Ghana’s Roy Ankrah and Ray Famechon to find his next championship opponent. Ankrah had forced his way into the reckoning after successfully defending his British Empire title against the British champion, Ronnie Clayton (w rtd 13 at the Ice Rink, Nottingham, England on 25 February 1952). Having beaten Ankrah on points over 15 rounds at the same venue on 9 June 1952, due to the champion’s enforced absence Famechon was then contracted to meet the winner of a selection of fights that were deemed by the NBA and the NYSAC to be a tournament after it was decided to appoint an ‘interim’ champion. The men selected were Tommy Collins, Glen Flanagan, Gene Smith, Percy Bassett, Federico Plummer and Pep.

(5th para) Finally, it was Bassett who went forward as the American representative. This came about after Plummer, who had sustained a broken jaw in their contest was unavailable, while Collins declined to meet him on the grounds that it was no longer sensible for him to fight at 126lbs. Bassett was duly crowned as the ‘interim’ champion on 9 February 1953 at the Sports Palace, Paris, France when Famechon was unable to answer the bell at the start of the fourth. At that point, Bassett had lost just four times in 57 contests, beating men such as Charley Cabey Lewis, Bobby Bell, Lew Jenkins, Danny Webb, Eddie Giosa, Orlando Zulueta, Terry Young, Miguel Acevedo, Sonny Boy West, Teddy Davis, Harold Dade, Jimmy Carter and Charley Riley, but after forcing Lulu Perez to retire at the end of the 11th on 25 June 1954 he lost the ‘interim’ title to Davis on 26 November 1954, when going down on points over 12 rounds. The last two fights, which took place at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, confirmed that Davis was first in line for Saddler.

(6th para) With the contest against Davis yet to be made the NBA stripped Saddler on 14 December 1954 on the grounds that a champion should defend his title every six months, but when the match was confirmed a few weeks later they stated that they would recognise the winner as the champion.

(7th para) Having a record of 63 wins in 118 fights was hardly mind-blowing, but Davis had fought the best, often at short notice, and had defeated the likes of Harry LaSane, Spider Armstrong, Jimmy McAllister, Elis Ask, Julie Kogon, George Dunn, Paddy DeMarco, Corky Gonzales, Plummer (twice), Riley (twice), Bassett, Fabela Chavez, George Araujo (twice) and Armand Savoie, and deserved his day in the sun.

18 January 1956. Sandy Saddler w rsc 13 (15) Flash Elorde.

(2nd para) Saddler’s last appearance in the ring came on 14 April when he was outpointed by Larry Boardman in a non-title fight over ten rounds at The Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, which was followed by a bad car accident on 23 July that put him out of action for several months. When Saddler eventually got back into training towards the end of the year it was clear that all was not well, and with the weight division once again stagnating he was stripped by the NBA on 16 January 1957. Shortly after the NBA announcement the NYSAC called Saddler in for a physical examination and days later, on 21 January 1957, he relinquished his title when retiring as the undefeated champion. The reason given for his retirement was that he had suffered serious eye damage, but it was unclear at the time whether it was due to his ring career or the accident.

24 June 1957. Hogan Kid Bassey w rsc 10 (15) Cherif Hamia.

(2nd para) Given until the New Year to fix up a title defence, Bassey, Nigeria’s first ever world champion, vacated his British Empire title in early November and fulfilled a contractual obligation for a Liverpool promoter on 23 January 1958, having already signed up to meet Ricardo Moreno in California. Moreno, who was coming off a sixth-round stoppage over the top-rated Ike Chestnut, had 29 victories, all inside the distance, to his credit.

19 August 1959. Davey Moore w rtd 10 (15) Hogan Kid Bassey.

(2nd para) To find Moore’s next opponent, the British Empire champion, Percy Lewis, outpointed the European champion, Gracieux Lamperti, in a final eliminator over ten rounds at Olympia, Kensington, London, England on 26 January 1960. This was followed by Moore suffering a broken jaw when forced to retire at the end of the seventh of a non-title fight by the local fighter, Carlos Morocho Hernandez, at the New Circus Bullring, Caracas, Venezuela on 14 March 1960 and being put out of action for four months. Lewis then blew his chance of a title shot when he lost a return match on points over ten rounds against Lamperti at the Prado Arena, Marseilles, France on 30 April 1960, which was followed by an announcement the following month that Moore had signed to meet Kazuo Takayama, the Japanese champion, in August following a couple of warm-up fights. Ranked at number nine by The Ring magazine, Takayama had lost six of his first 11 contests after turning pro in 1954, but had recently beaten Yukio Katsumata and Leo Espinosa.

1 March 1964. Sugar Ramos w rsc 6 (15) Mitsunori Seki.

26 September 1964. Vicente Saldivar w rtd 11 (15) Sugar Ramos.

(2nd para) One of Saldivar’s fights that occasionally crops up in record books as involving the championship came on 6 December at the Cross Bullring, Leon, Guanajuanato, Mexico when he stopped Delfino Rosales in the 11th of a Mexican title defence over 15 rounds. With both men obviously inside the weight, Saldivar, who would have been stripped of his world title had he lost, relinquished his Mexican crown in March 1965.

24 July 1968. Jose Legra w rsc 5 (15) Howard Winstone.

(2nd para) Prior to this fight, fans in Australia had been clamouring for Johnny Famechon (the son of Andre and nephew of Ray and Emile, the legendary French boxing family) to be given a world title opportunity, having won the British Empire title on stopping John O’Brien inside 11 rounds at the Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia on 24 November 1967. In 1968 he went on to defeat Antonio Herrera (w pts 10 at the Festival Hall on 5 April). With this in mind, the promoters had billed his 15-round fight against Bobby Valdez, which he won on a 13th-round disqualification at The Stadium, Sydney on 20 May, for the world title. Although their intentions were good they were not supported by the Australian Boxing Federation.

2 December 1972. Ernesto Marcel w rsc 6 (15) Enrique Garcia.

7 April 1979. Eusebio Pedroza w rsc 11 (15) Hector Carrasquilla.

8 June 1985. Barry McGuigan w pts 15 Eusebio Pedroza.

26 March 1989. Antonio Esparragoza w co 10 Mitsuru Sugiya.

15 August 1991. Marcos Villasana w pts 12 Ricardo Cepeda.

3 May 1997. Naseem Hamed w rsc 1 Billy Hardy.

Delete 2nd para and place under 19/7/1997)

19 July 1997. Naseem Hamed w rsc 2 Juan Cabrera.

Venue: The Arena, Wembley, London, England. Recognition: IBF/WBO. Referee: Lou Moret.

(2nd para) Rather than accept the challenge of Hector Lizarraga, feeling that he was an inferior opponent, Hamed relinquished the IBF version of the title on 28 August. Following that, Lizarraga was matched against Welcome Ncita for the vacant title.

11 December 2004. Manny Pacquiao w rsc 4 Fahsan 3K Battery.

(2nd para) Pacquiao continued to be recognised by The Ring as the world champion until the end of May 2005, but to all intents and purposes he had moved up to junior lightweight after winning the WBC Iternational title at 130lbs on 19 March 2005.

7 May 2005. Juan Manuel Marquez w pts 12 Victor Polo.

(2nd para) In a battle for the WBA 'second tier' title, Chris John made a successful defence when stopping Tommy Browne right at the start of the tenth round at the Panthers World of Entertainment Complex, Penrith, NSW, Australia on 7 August. According to the referee, Browne had taken far too much punishment up to that point.

(3rd para) John was fully recognised as the WBA champion on 22 August after Marquez forfeited the WBA ‘super’ title on that day for rejecting a rematch against Manny Pacquiao.

(4th para) A week earlier, on 15 August, Marquez had been stripped of the IBF Championship Belt after he had failed to negotiate a match against the body’s mandatory challenger, Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym. Following that, Rakkiatgym was matched against Valdemir Pereira in a fight for the vacant title.

15 December 2007. Jorge Linares w rsc 8 Gamaliel Diaz.

(2nd para) On 31 May 2008, Oscar Larios stopped Feider Viloria in the fifth round at the Convention Centre, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico to win the vacant WBC ‘interim’ title before successfully defending his honours on 2 August 2008 when knocking out Marlon Aguilar inside seven rounds at the Benito Juarez Auditorium, Zapapan, Jalisco, Mexico.

20 February 2010. Elio Rojas w pts 12 Guty Espadas Jnr.

(2nd para) Having already pulled out of a unification fight of sorts against Yuriorkis Gamboa on 27 July due to hand and shoulder problems, after Rojas was forced to have surgery in August it was recognised that he would be out of action until at least early 2011. With this in mind, on 28 August the WBC announced that Rojas had been appointed ‘champion in recess’ and that Hozumi Hasegawa and Juan Carlos Burgos would meet for the vacant title. They also stated that Rojas would get first crack at the title once fully fit. While Burgos had beaten Ricardo Castillo (w rtd 11 at the Tecate Arena, Guadalajara, Mexico on 29 May) in an eliminator, Hasegawa’s last contest saw him shorn of his WBC Bantamweight Championship Belt.

15 May 2010. Orlando Salido w pts 12 Cristobal Cruz.

(2nd para) Salido, having weighed in at 126lbs the day before, forfeited the IBF title on the morning of the contest when coming in ten pounds over the weight for a defence against Yuriorkis Gamboa at the Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 11 September. The fight went ahead, and after winning on points over 12 rounds Gamboa was handed the IBF title to go with his WBA ‘unified’ crown.

(3rd para) Following that, due to defend the title against Jorge Solis at the Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, Jersey on 26 March 2011, Gamboa was stripped on the morning of the fight for failing to make the mandatory second trip to the scales. The fight, won by Gamboa inside four rounds, also involved the so-called WBA ‘unified’ title which then became non-existant. Shortly afterwards, Billy Dib and Jorge Lacierva were booked to contest the IBF vacancy. Lacierva had beaten Fernando Beltran Jnr (w pts 12 at The Auditorium, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico on 2 April 2011) in an eliminator, while Dib had lost just once in 32 contests.

5 December 2010. Chris John w pts 12 Fernando David Saucedo. Delete 3rd para.

17 April 2011. Chris John w pts 12 Daud Cino Yordan. Delete 3rd para.

9 November 2012. Chris John w pts 12 Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo.

18 October 2014. Nicholas Walters w rsc 6 Nonito Donaire.

(3rd para) Carlos Zambrano picked up the WBA 'interim' title vacated by Cuellar when outpointing Daniel Ramirez over 12 rounds at the Mega Plaza, Lima, Peru on 28 March 2015.

(5th para) Zambrano held onto his WBA 'interim' title when outpointing Jose Sanmartin over 12 rounds at the Mauro Mina Coliseum, Chinch, Peru on 1 August 2015.

30 July 2016. Carl Frampton w pts 12 Leo Santa Cruz.

(2nd para) Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar lost his WBA ‘second tier’ title when he was outpointed over 12 rounds by Abner Mares at the USC Gallen Centre, Los Angeles, California, USA on 10 December.

Junior Featherweight

9 October 1976. Royal Kobayashi w rsc 8 (15) Rigoberto Riasco.

11 July 1977. Wilfredo Gomez w co 5 (15) Raul Tirado.

(2nd para) Following this, in what would be their inaugural championship fight at the weight, the WBA set up a contest between Soo-Hwan Hong and Hector Carrasquilla. This came about after Hong beat Futaro Tanaka (w pts 12 in Seoul, South Korea on 10 October) and Carrasquilla defeated Jesus Esparragoza (w rsc 3 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico on 27 August) in official eliminators.

7 May 1978. Ricardo Cardona w rsc 12 (15) Soo-Hwan Hong.

16 October 1987. Jeff Fenech w tdec 4 (12) Carlos Zarate.

(2nd para) When Fenech relinquished the WBC version of the championship on 15 December 1988 to challenge for the WBC featherweight crown, Zarate and Daniel Zaragoza were matched to find a new champion.

16 October 1988. Juan Jose Estrada w rsc 11 Takuya Muguruma.

26 November 1988. Daniel Zaragoza w co 5 Valerio Nati.

10 June 1989. Fabrice Benichou w co 5 Fransie Badenhorst.

31 August 1989. Daniel Zaragoza w rsc 10 Frankie Duarte.

18 August 1990. Paul Banke w rsc 12 Ki-Joon Lee.

20 January 1991. Luis Mendoza w rsc 8 Noree Jockygym.

20 April 1991. Luis Mendoza w pts 12 Carlos Uribe.

30 August 1991. Jesse Benavides w rsc 5 Fernando Ramos.

3 April 1998. Erik Morales w rsc 6 Remigio Molina.

8 May 1999. Nestor Garza w rsc 8 Carlos Barreto.

(2nd para) Due to defend his title against Carlos Navarro on 18 September, Garza was forced to pull out after injuring his back. A knee-jerk reaction then saw Antonio Cermeno outpoint his fellow Venezuelan, Yober Ortega, over 12 rounds to win the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title at the United Nations Park, Caracas, Venezuela on 10 October.

5 February 2002. Willie Jorrin drew 12 Osamu Sato.

(2nd para) With Jorrin indisposed, Oscar Larios stopped Israel Vazquez in the 12th round of a contest to decide the WBC ‘interim’ title at the Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California, USA on 17 May. Just over three months later, Larios successfully defended the ‘interim’ title when stopping Manabu Fukushima in the eighth round of their contest at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena, Tokyo on 24 August. Following that, Larios was lined up to be Jorrin’s next challenger.

25 June 2005. Mahyar Monshipour w rtd 9 Julio Zarate.

(2nd para) On 15 October, Celestino Caballero outpointed Yober Ortega over 12 rounds at the Figali Convention Centre, Panama City, Panama, to win the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title. Making his first defence, Caballero retained his ‘interim’ honours when Roberto Bonilla was stopped in the seventh round at the Figali Convention Centre on 4 February 2006, prior to getting a crack at the main title in October 2006.

3 March 2007. Rafael Marquez w rtd 7 Israel Vazquez.

(2nd para) Coming to the ring as the IBF bantamweight champion, Marquez relinquished that title on 16 March in order to remain in the 122lbs division.

29 August 2009. Celestino Caballero w rtd 7 Francisco Leal.

(2nd para) At the O2 Arena, Dublin, Ireland, on 26 September, Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, the WBA ‘interim’ champion, knocked out Bernard Dunne inside three rounds to pick up the latter’s ‘second tier’ crown. Kratingdaenggym successfully defended the WBA ‘second tier’ title when outpointing Satoshi Hosono at the Big Site, Tokyo, Japan on 11 January 2010.

10 November 2012. Abner Mares w pts 12 Anselmo Moreno.

13 April 2013. Guillermo Rigondeaux w pts 12 Nonito Donaire.

(3rd para) Making the first defence of his WBA ‘second tier’ title, Scott Quigg drew over 12 rounds with Yoandris Salinas at the O2 Arena, Greenwich, London, England on 5 October. Quigg followed this up with a more successful defence when stopping Diego Oscar Silva inside two rounds at the Phones 4u Arena, Manchester, England on 23 November.

16 July 2016. Guillermo Rigondeaux w rtd 2 James Dickens.

(2nd para) Nehomar Cermeno made a successful defence of his WBA 'second tier' title when knocking out Anurak Thisa inside three rounds at The Gym, Wenzhou, China on 30 September. He then held on to his honours when outscoring Jun Qiu Xiao over 12 rounds at the Zhe Jiang University Stadium, Hangzhou, China on 17 December before being deprived of them when forced to retire at the end of the 11th by Shun Kubo at the EDION Arena, Osaka, Japan on 8 April 2017.

16 September 2016. Hozumi Hasegawa w rtd 9 Hugo Ruiz.

(2nd para) Hasegawa announced on 9 December that he was retiring forthwith.

Bantamweight

29 July 1878. (110lbs) Tommy Hawkins drew 31 (finish) Joe Fowler.

23 June 1891. (90lbs) Harry Munro w co 10 (finish) Jim Collins.

28 January 1892. (114lbs) Tom Gardner w disq 11 (20) Nunc Wallace.

15 December 1892. (106lbs) Fred Locke w pts 20 Hiram Cutler.

19 January 1893. (104lbs) Alf Buckingham w disq 19 (20) Bill Bolton.

8 February 1897. (104lbs) Bob Bailey w pts 20 Ike Cohen.

21 January 1898. (92lbs) Billy Ray w co 8 (12) Curly Wood.

29 September 1900. (98lbs) George Capstick w co 10 (20) Dummy Forrest.

12 November 1902. (115lbs) Tommy Feltz w rtd 7 (20) Jimmy Devine.

Delete 2nd para

22 December 1902. (110lbs) Jack Walker w pts 15 Ernie Moody.

Venue: National AC, Marylebone, London, England. Referee: Professor Murray.

Fight Summary: In a catchweight bout made at short notice, it was Walker virtually all the way as the former two-time ABA finalist, Moody, made a spirited but unsuccessful bid to get to grips with him. Thought to have been made at 110lbs, Moody was on the receiving end of left jabs and solid counters to the body as he tried to make his way into the fight, and it was only in the final third that he began to wear Walker down. However, he was unable to make it pay before the latter came back strongly. By the 13th, with his left eye closed shut, it was clear that the decision was not going to go his way as Walker came on strong.

27 February 1903. (115lbs) Harry Forbes w pts 10 Andrew Tokell.

24 March 1903. (116lbs) Harry Forbes w co 9 (10) Johnny Kelly.

Venue: Missouri AC, Vineyard’s Hall, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

Fight Summary: Made at 116lbs (3pm weigh-in), it was billed for the title at that weight. In what was a bruising contest Kelly was down twice in the third round and saved by the bell at the end of the eighth before being knocked out by a right hook in the next session. Some reports gave the weight the boys fought at as 118lbs.

5 October 1903. (118lbs) Joe Bowker w pts 15 Bill King.

14 October 1903. (116lbs) Harry Forbes drew 10 Tommy Feltz.

Venue: Metropolitan AC, Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Fight Summary: Despite making the running in the opening six rounds, Forbes failed to build up much of a lead as Feltz countered well at all times while proving as strong as an ox. The next three sessions saw Feltz using the left jab to advantage, and in the tenth both men looked for a finishing blow without success. The general feeling was that Feltz, whose relatively weak claim at the weight was at stake, could consider himself unlucky not to get a win.

Leaving the 116lbs weight class behind him, Feltz moved on while Forbes stepped up to meet Abe Attell for the 122lbs title in his next contest.

20 April 1905. (118lbs) Monte Attell w rsc 8 Kid Taylor.

Venue: Manhattan, NYC, New York, USA. Referee: William McPartland.

Fight Summary: Made at 118lbs, 3pm weigh-in, both men went hard at it in small gloves from the opening gong in a fight that was held in private on the top floor of an uptown hotel. Even up until the fourth, from thereon Attell took over with blows to head and body that weakened Taylor considerably. Badly hurt by a body shot at the end of the seventh, Taylor collapsed on to his stool and unable to continue at the start of the eighth the referee called it off. On the result, Attell added a 118lbs title claim to go with the one he already held at 116lbs.

15 May 1905. (118lbs) Owen Moran w pts 20 Monte Attell.

Venue: Orangetown, New York, USA. Referee: William McPartland.

Fight Summary: Contested in private, both men scaled 117lbs at the 6pm weigh-in. Starting impressively, Moran soon got to grips with his rival, and although it was fairly even up until the sixth Attell began to to take hammering from thereon in. In the eighth Attell’s left eye was almost swollen shut and he was sent through the ropes, while Moran looked as fresh as a daisy. Showing great resilience Attell gamely fought on to the final bell, but there was only one winner for the referee who saw Moran as having romped home. One report gave the bout as being held at Tom O’Rourke’s Gym on East 24th Street.

Having earlier been seen by the press to have beaten Danny Dougherty (nd-w pts 6 at the Knickerbocker AC, Philadelphia on 12 May) at 118lbs, Moran arrived back in England claiming to be the world champion at the weight. He was still advertising himself as such in the Sporting Life on 25 February 1907 despite boxing in a higher weight division.

8 December 1906. (100lbs) Frank Morcombe w rtd 3 (15) James Freeman.

Venue: The Circus, West Hartlepool, England.

Fight Summary: It was Morcombe (99) who made the better start when taking the opening two rounds as he pushed Freeman (99) back. Then, with Freeman looking to get himself into the fight in the third an accidental clash of heads left him with such a badly cut face that he was retired forthwith.

12 January 1907. (100lbs) Joe Percival w pts 10 Joe Donnelly.

Venue: Ginnett’s Circus, Newcastle, England. Referee: Tom Murphy.

Fight Summary: Made at 100lbs, and the second meeting between the pair, it was a clever exhibition of boxing in which neither man came to trouble. Although Donnelly had looked a good winner, after the judges had disagreed on the verdict the casting vote of the referee was in favour of Percival, who claimed the English title at the weight.

14 February 1910. (118lbs) Digger Stanley drew 20 Young Pierce.

3 December 1910. (115lbs) Johnny Coulon w pts 10 Charley Harvey.

(2nd para) Coulon next contested two scheduled eight-rounders at 115lbs at the National AC, Memphis, Tennessee, against Earl Denning (w co 5 on 19 December) and Terry Moran (w co 2 on 18 January 1911).

10 November 1916. (116lbs) Johnny Ertle nd-w rsc 9 (10) Mickey Byrne.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, Ertle, fighting less and less at 116lbs, failed to get much support at 118lbs when taking on Pekin Kid Herman, Tony Barone, Jack Douglas, Sammy Sandow and Roy Moore. Regardless of that, Ertle was still on his feet after meeting Herman (nd-w pts 10 at The Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 16 February 1917), Barone (nd-drew 6 at the Power Auditorium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 14 May 1917), Douglas (nd-w rsc 9 at the Riverside Arena, East Dubuque, Illinois on 13 June 1917), Sandow (nd-w pts 15 at Redland Field, Cincinnati, Ohio on 3 July 1917) and Moore (nd-w pts 10 at the Capitol City AC, St Paul, Minnesota on 31 July 1917).

23 May 1919. (118lbs) Pete Herman nd-w rtd 5 (10) Johnny Ertle.

(2nd para) According to the Allentown Morning Call, on 9 June Herman met Terry McHugh (nd-l pts 10 at Mealey’s Auditorium, Allentown, Pennsylvania) in defence of the 118lbs world title. Regardless of the statement, while McHugh (117½) came to the ring inside the allotted weight, Herman (122) did not.

15 August 1919. Pete Herman nd-l pts 10 Little Jackie Sharkey.

(3rd para) Despite several of Herman’s next 18 contests ending up as catchweight affairs or being contracted as such, by allowing some of his opponents to come to the ring inside 118lbs he was taking a bit of a risk, especially if he had been knocked out or stopped. Fights that fell into this category came against Sharkey (nd-l pts 10 at the Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan on 15 September), Lynch (nd-w pts 6 at the Olympia AC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 12 November), Johnny Buff (nd-drew 8 at the City AC, Trenton, New Jersey on 24 November), Mickey Russell (nd-w pts 8 at the City AC, Jersey City on 27 November), Patsy Johnson (nd-w pts 6 at the Olympia AC, Philadelphia on 1 December), Kid Regan (w co 3 at The Coliseum, St Louis, Missouri on 4 December 1919), Johnny Ritchie (w rsc 8 at the Tulane Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana on 7 January 1920), Young Solberg (nd-w pts 8 at The Coliseum, St Louis, Missouri on 10 February 1920), Earl Puryear (nd-drew 8 at the Grand Theatre, Trenton on 1 March 1920), Lew Angelo (nd-w rsc 8 at The Armoury, Paterson, New Jersey on 19 March 1920), Joe O’Donnell (nd-w pts 8 at The Armoury, Camden, New Jersey on 31 March 1920), Paul Demers (w pts 10 at The Arena AA, New Bedford, Massachusetts on 19 April 1920) and Jabez Red Head White (nd-w pts 8 at the Olympia AC, Philadelphia on 10 May 1920). I have recently discovered that Herman’s contests against Lynch and Buff were made at 118lbs and adhered to by both parties.

19 August 1920. Pete Herman nd-w pts 10 Roy Moore.

(2nd para) Three more fights for Herman which were made above 118lbs to protect his title but where his opponents publicly stated that they were inside the championship weight came against Georgie Lee (nd-w pts 10 at the Tulane Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana on 4 September), Joe Burman (nd-l pts 8 at The Coliseum, St Louis, Missouri on 6 September) and Little Jackie Sharkey (nd-l pts 10 at the Oswego Arena, East Chicago, Indiana on 11 September).

19 March 1933. Panama Al Brown w pts 12 Domenico Bernasconi.

10 June 1944. Rush Dalma w pts 12 David Kui Kong Young.

14 November 1944. Manuel Ortiz w rsc 9 (15) Luis Castillo.

(2nd para) When Ortiz was inducted into the US Army, in order to keep the division active Castillo was matched against Benny Goldberg for the ‘duration’ title, losing on points over ten rounds at the Legion Stadium, Hollywood on 18 May 1945. Despite that, Castillo was matched against Tony Olivera on 15 June 1945 at The Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota for the self-same title. After outpointing the Mexican over 15 rounds, Olivera twice retained his newly-won spoils against the same opponent – twice drawing over the same distance at the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco on 9 July and 27 August 1945, before Ortiz picked up his career in November of that year. However, it was Castillo, not Olivera, who was selected for the champion’s next defence despite being outscored over ten rounds at the Civic Auditorium on 10 December 1945.

25 May 1946. Manuel Ortiz w co 5 (15) Kenny Lindsay.

9 March 1955. Raton Macias w rsc 11 (15) Chamroen Songkitrat.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, Peacock eliminated Songkitrat (w co 9 at the Rajadamnern Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand on 17 October) prior to getting himself put out of the title picture by Alphonse Halimi (l pts 10 at the Sports Palace, Paris, France on 16 March 1956).

18 May 1965. Fighting Harada w pts 15 Eder Jofre.

31 May 1966. Fighting Harada w pts 15 Eder Jofre.

27 February 1968. Lionel Rose w pts 15 Fighting Harada.

8 March 1969. Lionel Rose w pts 15 Alan Rudkin.

(2nd para) The next challenger for Rose would be the hard-hitting Ruben Olivares, who was unbeaten in 53 starts with only two going the distance. The match was made after Olivares stopped Takao Sakurai in the sixth round of a scheduled 12-round eliminator that was recognised by the Californian Boxing Commission at the Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles, California on 23 May. Other men who had been dispatched by Olivares included Salvatore Burruni, Octavio Gomez, Antoine Porcel, Joe Medel, Jose Bisbal and Carlos Zayas.

29 July 1972. Enrique Pinder w pts 15 Rafael Herrera.

14 April 1973. Rafael Herrera w rsc 12 (15) Rodolfo Martinez.

15 April 1984. Satoshi Shingaki w rsc 8 (15) Elmer Magallano.

19 September 1991. Joichiro Tatsuyoshi w rtd 10 Greg Richardson.

(2nd para) Sometime after the fight when it was discovered that Tatsuyoshi had suffered a ruptured retina it was widely reported that he would be forced to retire. On that basis, the WBC set up a match between Victor Rabanales and Yong-Hoon Lee to decide the vacant title. However, when it was heard that the doctors were hopeful of Tatsuyoshi returning to action in the not too distant future, Rabanales v Lee was retrospectively recognised as having being for the ‘interim’ title. Contested on 30 March 1992, at the Great Western Forum, Los Angeles, California, USA, Rabanales won on a ninth-round technical decision after he had been accidentally cut following a head clash. Rabanales then went on to defend the ‘interim’ title twice more before Tatsuyoshi was fit to box again, defeating Luis Alberto Ocampo (w rsc 4 at the Bullring, Tuxtla, Mexico on 16 May 1992) and Chang-Kyun Oh (w pts 12 at the Great Western Forum on 27 July 1992).

21 September 1991. Orlando Canizales w pts 12 Fernie Morales.

16 July 1994. Daorung Chuwatana w rsc 1 John Michael Johnson.

28 January 1996. Nana Yaw Konadu w rsc 2 Veeraphol Sahaprom.

22 November 1997. Joichiro Tatsuyoshi w rsc 7 Sirimongkol Singwancha.

29 December 1998. Veeraphol Sahaprom w rsc 6 Joichiro Tatsuyoshi.

6 May 2000. Johnny Tapia w pts 12 Pedro Javier Torres.

(2nd para) When Tapia handed in his WBO Championship Belt in July due to weight-making difficulties a contest between Mauricio Martinez and Lester Fuentes that was intended to be for the ‘interim’ title was upgraded in order to find a new champion.

30 March 2001. Paulie Ayala w pts 12 Hugo Dianzo.

(2nd para) Ayala forfeited the WBA version of the title on 7 August for not receiving permission to meet Clarence Adams for the IBO junior featherweight championship, which he had won on 4 August. Following that, Eidy Moya, the ‘interim’ champion, and Adan Vargas were matched to contest the vacant title.

4 December 2009. Anselmo Moreno w rsc 11 Frederic Patrac.

(2nd para) Nehomar Cermeno successfully defended the WBA ‘interim’ title when knocking out Alejandro Valdez inside 11 rounds at the Itson Arena, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico on 19 December.

3 December 2011. Abner Mares w pts 12 Joseph Agbeko.

(2nd para) After Mares relinquished the IBF title on 9 February 2012 in order to move up to junior feather, Leo Santa Cruz and Vusi Malinga were matched to find a successor. While Santa Cruz was unbeaten in 20 fights, 11 of them coming inside the distance, Malinga had beaten Michael Domingo (w pts 12 at the University Hall, Mafikeng, South Africa on 30 October 2010) to win an eliminator, but had remained inactive.

3 December 2011. Anselmo Moreno w pts 12 Vic Darchinyan.

(2nd para) On 7 December, at the Prefectural Gym, Osaka, Japan, Koki Kameda knocked Mario Macias out in the fourth round to make a successful defence of the WBA ‘second tier’ title. Kameda made a further defence when outpointing Noldi Manakane over 12 rounds at The Arena, Yokohama, Japan on 4 April 2012.

10 November 2012. Leo Santa Cruz w rsc 9 Victor Zaleta.

25 October 2014. Randy Caballero w pts 12 Stuart Hall.

(2nd para) Lee Haskins won the vacant IBF 'interim' title when stopping Ryosuki Iwasa inside six rounds at the Whitchurch Sports Centre, Bristol, England on 13 June 2015.

18 June 2016. Rau'shee Warren w pts 12 Juan Carlos Payano.

(2nd para) Jamie McDonnell successfully defended his WBA ‘second tier’ title when outpointing Liborio Solis over 12 rounds at the Room of Stars, Monaco on 12 November 2016.

27 July 2016. Marlon Tapales w rsc 11 Phuengluang Sor Singyu.

(2nd para) Tapales lost his title on the scales the day before making a defence against Shohei Omori at the EDION Arena, Osaka, Japan on 23 April 2017. The fight went ahead, but Omori was stopped in the 11th. A day earlier, Zolani Tete had outpointed Arthur Villanueva over 12 rounds at The Arena, Leicester, England for the vacant ‘interim’ title, and on 26 April he replaced Tapales as the WBO champion.

Junior Bantamweight

2 February 1980. Rafael Orono w pts 15 Seung-Hoon Lee.

22 July 1984. Ju-Do Chun w co 7 (15) William Develos.

1 November 1986. Khaosai Galaxy w rsc 5 (15) Israel Contreras.

19 December 1986. Gilberto Roman w pts 12 Kongtoranee Payakaroon.

20 March 1987. Gilberto Roman w pts 12 Frank Cedeno.

4 September 1988. Gilberto Roman w pts 12 Kiyoshi Hatanaka.

7 April 1991. Khaosai Galaxy w rsc 5 Je-Suk Park.

21 December 1991. Khaosai Galaxy w pts 12 Armando Castro.

14 February 1992. Robert Quiroga w pts 12 Carlos Mercado.

7 October 1995. Carlos Salazar w pts 12 Harold Grey.

27 February 2006. Masamori Tokuyama w pts 12 Jose Navarro.

(3rd para) When Tokuyama relinquished the main title on 6 December due to weight-making difficulties, Mijares was appointed champion.

6 March 2010. Vic Darchinyan w pts 12 Rodrigo Guerrero.

(2nd para) On 8 May, Hugo Fidel Cazares outpointed Nobuo Nashiro over 12 rounds at the Prefectural Gym, Osaka, Japan to win the WBA ‘second tier’ title. Cazares made his first defence when stopping Everardo Morales inside seven rounds at the Convention Centre, Tlalnepantla, Mexico on 3 July.

(3rd para) Seven days later, on 10 July, Nonito Donaire stopped Hernan Marquez in the eighth round at the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico to retain the WBA ‘interim’ title, prior to stating that he was immediately moving up to the bantamweight division. That was followed by Drian Francisco stopping Duangpetch Kokietgym in the tenth round to win the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title at the Public School, Bueng Kan, Thailand on 30 November.

(4th para) Despite the WBA and WBC continuing to recognise Darchinyan as their ‘special’ champion at the weight, after he had won the IBO bantamweight title on 20 May, to all intents and purposes he would be fighting in a higher weight division from there on. However, it was not until the end of August that Darchinyan forfeited both the WBA and WBC titles, actions that were followed by Tomas Rojas and Kohei Kono being matched for the vacant WBC title and Cazares taking as head man at the WBA.

3 July 2010. Hugo Fidel Cazares w rsc 7 Everardo Morales.

Delete all (see under 6 March 2010)

31 August 2011. Tomonobu Shimizu w pts 12 Hugo Fidel Cazares. (Not 31 September)

8 October 2011. Rodrigo Guerrero w tdec 6 Raul Martinez.

31 August 2016. Luis Concepcion w pts 12 Kohei Kono.

(2nd para) Concepcion (117½) forfeited his WBA title when coming in over the weight for a defence against Khalid Yafai (114½) at The Arena, Manchester, England on 10 December. The fight went ahead with Yafai becoming the new champion when winning on points.

Flyweight

1 March 1912. Johnny Hughes w pts 20 Sam Kellar.

(2nd para) Clearly, Hughes deserved a chance to win the Lonsdale Belt, but following a derisory purse offer for a defence against him Sid Smith returned his belt to the NSC and went in search of better financial opportunities.

(3rd para) Meanwhile, Hughes took off for a short tour of America and then fought mainly as a bantam for the next three or four years before being offered a crack at Jimmy Wilde.

26 March 1914. Percy Jones w pts 20 Eugene Criqui.

(4th para) Finally, on 19 October, Jones (112¾) forfeited any right he had to his British 112lbs title when he failed to make the weight for a defence against Tancy Lee (111½) at the NSC. The fight went ahead at catchweights, with Lee winning after Jones retired in the 14th round. In the aftermath Lee claimed the British, European and world championships, but would have to wait for more solid recognition.

31 July 1916. Jimmy Wilde w co 10 (20) Johnny Hughes.

(2nd para) Over in America the Young Zulu Kid, inside 112lbs, was now claiming the American title having forced Little Jackie Sharkey to retire at the start of the sixth round at the Vanderbilt AC, Brooklyn, NYC, New York on 2 June, and would be Wilde’s next challenger in a truly international contest. Articles were duly signed on 8 October, the agreement calling for a contest of 20 three-minute rounds, the use of six-ounce gloves, both to be inside 112lbs, and to be billed for the world title.

12 March 1920. Jimmy Wilde nd-w pts 12 Frankie Mason.

(5th Para) Following Wilde’s defeat at the hands of the former world bantamweight champion, Pete Herman (119½), in a catchweight bout at the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England on 13 January 1921, in order to find an American title holder at the weight The Ring magazine tells us that two contests involving four of the best men available were held on 11 February 1921. Despite the match being made at 116lbs, Johnny Buff (112) outpointed Mason (108¼) over 15 rounds at the Tulane Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, while Abe Goldstein knocked out Wallace in the seventh of a scheduled 15-rounder at the Pioneer SC, Manhattan, NYC, New York. No weights were mentioned for the latter contest, although Goldstein was said to be inside 112lbs. Both winners came together over 15 rounds at The Casino, Manhattan on 31 March 1921, and Buff stopped Goldstein inside two rounds, each weighing 110lbs. The title changed hands after Buff (111) was stopped by Pancho Villa (110), inside 11 rounds at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, NYC on 14 September 1922.

18 June 1923. Pancho Villa w rsc 7 (15) Jimmy Wilde.

Venue: Polo Grounds, Manhattan, NYC, New York, USA. Recognition: GB/NBA/NY. Referee: Patsy Haley.

(2nd para) Following Villa’s victory the IBU recognised him as the world champion, while hoping he would defend against the European title holder, Michel Montreuil.

22 August 1925. Fidel LaBarba w pts 10 Frankie Genaro.

(4th para) Following a ten-round points defeat at the hands of LaBarba at the Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California on 20 January 1926 at 115lbs, Clever Sencio's management team began negotiations for a shot at the title. The best they could get, though, was another overweight contest on 31 March 1926 at the Olympic Auditorium, the Filipino once again losing on points over ten rounds. Next time out, at The Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 19 April 1926, Sencio, still looking to fight for the championship, was adjudged by the press to have lost to Bud Taylor in a ten-round no-decision affair. Tragically, Sencio passed away following the contest.

7 July 1926. Fidel LaBarba w pts 10 Georgie Rivers.

21 January 1927. Fidel LaBarba w pts 12 Elky Clark.

(3rd para) A tournament to find the Californian version of the world title got underway on 26 August with Willie Davies beating Izzy Schwartz (w pts 10), and was followed by Johnny McCoy eliminating Britt Gorman on points over ten rounds on 2 September) before Harry Goldstein and Boy Walley drew over ten rounds on 9 September. After the first semi-final leg on 16 September, in which McCoy beat Davies (w pts 10), Jockey Tommy Hughes was introduced for the first time, along with Davey Adelman, who had earlier received a bye, and Walley and Goldstein, who had previously drawn. With McCoy already in the final, Walley stopped Adelman in the third round on 23 September and Hughes outpointed Goldstein over ten rounds on 30 September. Hughes then beat Walley (w rsc 10 on 7 October) to make the final. All of the above contests took place at the Legion Stadium, Los Angeles.

(4th para) In order for a NYSAC world champion to be crowned a competition started at the St Nicholas Arena, Manhattan, NYC on 12 September, with Izzy Schwartz, Billy Kelly, Frankie Genaro, Eddie Flank, Blas Rodriguez, Routier Parra, Alex Burlie and Joey Ross being named as the men who would be taking part in ten-round eliminating contests. Although he had lost to Davies in the Californian tournament on 26 August, Schwartz got off to a flying start, outpointing Kelly, while Genaro outpointed Flank and Rodriguez outpointed Parra, the draw having been rearranged after Burlie failed to show and Ross came in overweight. With Genaro drawing a bye at the semi-final stage, Schwartz outpointed Rodriguez on 4 October, again over ten rounds at the St Nicholas Arena, but the promoter’s plans to put on Genaro v Schwartz for the NYSAC version of the title were scuppered on 18 October when the commission failed to give it their approval, saying that the competition should remain open to all leading flyweights and would not be decided until the time was right. On hearing the news, Genaro made the decision to go for the NBA version of the title, while Schwartz was matched in a return match against Davies at the Pioneer SC, Manhattan, NYC, winning on points over 12 rounds on 9 November. Prior to it taking place, the NYSAC were asked by Schwartz’s manager to consider the fight as being for their version of the title, and once again they refused although recognising it as part of the elimination series. Eventually, with the NYSAC looking to find an opponent for Schwartz they settled on Newsboy Brown.

2 March 1929. Emile Pladner w co 1 (15) Frankie Genaro.

Venue: Winter Velodrome, Paris, France. Recognition: NBA. Referee: Henri Bernstein.

(2nd para) With just two losses to Johnny Hill blemishing his 44-fight record, Pladner was proclaimed by the IBU as world flyweight champion on 20 March.

18 June 1934. Jackie Brown drew 15 Valentin Angelmann.

(3rd para) Lynch had earned his right to a crack at Brown, having fought a 12-round draw with him at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow on 4 March 1935. He had then beaten Tommy Pardoe on a 14th-round retirement at the Embassy Rink, Birmingham on 15 April 1935 in an official eliminator. Lynch had taken part in 98 contests since turning pro in 1931, losing just ten times, and was unbeaten in his last 35. A superlative box-fighter with power in both hands, especially to the body, top men under his belt included Jim Maharg, Bert Kirby, Maurice Huguenin, Angelmann, Pedrito Ruiz and Tut Whalley.

16 December 1935. Small Montana w pts 10 Tuffy Pierpont.

(2nd para) Montana was eventually recognised by the NBA as their champion on 22 September 1936.

22 September 1938. Peter Kane w pts 15 Jackie Jurich.

(2nd para) However, having won the title Kane too found that he was beginning to struggle with making the weight. Still, it came as a surprise when he announced on 8 May 1939 that he was relinquishing the title in order to campaign as a bantamweight.

20 October 1947. Rinty Monaghan w pts 15 Dado Marino.

Venue: The Arena, Harringay, London, England. Recognition: Eire/NBA. Referee: Teddy Waltham.

30 September 1949. Rinty Monaghan drew 15 Terry Allen.

(3rd para) When Monaghan retired as undefeated champion on 23 March 1950 the two leading contenders, Allen and Pratesi, the French champion, were matched for the vacant world and European titles. Pratesi, who already had a victory over Allen to his name, had also beaten top-class flyweights such as Louis Skena (twice), Tino Cardinale (twice), Raoul Degryse, Charles Bohbot (twice) and Mustapha Mustaphaoui.

1 November 1951. Dado Marino w pts 15 Terry Allen.

(2nd para) The Japanese fly and bantamweight champion, Yoshio Shirai, would be Marino’s next challenger, having stopped him inside seven rounds of a non-title contest at The Stadium, Honolulu on 4 December. Shirai, who had been fighting for pay since 1943, fully warranted his opportunity with 36 wins from 42 contests.

11 January 1956. Pascual Perez w pts 15 Leo Espinosa.

30 March 1957. Pascual Perez w co 1 (15) Dai Dower.

(2nd para) Later that year, two Argentines, Urbieta Sosa (w rsc 3 on 2 August at the Industrial Pavilion, Santa Fe) and Pablo Sosa (w co 3 on 17 August at the Ramon Santamaria Club, Buenos Aires), weighed in at less than 112lbs for non-title contests against Perez. There would be just one more occasion that the champion allowed his non-title opponents to make less than the limit for the weight class.

23 April 1965. Salvatore Burruni w pts 15 Pone Kingpetch.

(2nd para) Burruni forfeited recognition from the WBA on 1 November and from the WBC on 19 November after failing to defend against their number one challenger, Hiroyuki Ebihara, within the given deadline. Following the announcement, the latter was matched for the vacant WBA title against Horacio Accavallo, who had outpointed Burruni a few months earlier. Following this, the WBC stated that they would also support the winner of a contest between Accavallo and Hiroyuki Ebihara as being for the vacant title. Although Ebihara had to be replaced by Katsuyoshi Takayama when injured in training, the WBC stated that they would still recognise the winner.

2 December 1965. Salvatore Burruni w co 13 (15) Rocky Gattellari.

Venue: The Showgrounds, Sydney, Australia. Recognition: EBU/NY. Referee: Harold Valan.

1 March 1966. Horacio Accavallo w pts 15 Katsuyoshi Takayama.

Venue: Martial Arts Hall, Tokyo, Japan. Recognition: WBA/WBC. Referee: Nicholas Pope.

14 June 1966. Walter McGowan w pts 15 Salvatore Burruni.

Venue: The Arena, Wembley, London, England. Recognition: EBU/GB/NY. Referee: Harry Gibbs.

15 July 1966. Horacio Accavallo w pts 15 Hiroyuki Ebihara.

Venue: Luna Park Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recognition: WBA/WBC. Referee: Ramon Berumen.

10 December 1966. Horacio Accavallo w pts 15 Efren Torres.

Venue: Luna Park Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recognition: WBA/WBC. Referee: Juan Barbe.

30 December 1966. Chartchai Chionoi w rsc 9 (15) Walter McGowan.

Venue: Kittikachorn Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand. Recognition: EBU/GB/NY. Referee: Sang Hiranyalekha.

26 July 1967. Chartchai Chionoi w co 3 (15) Puntip Keosuriya.

Venue: Kittikachorn Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand. Recognition: EBU/GB/NY. Referee: Cheaur Chaksuraks.

12 August 1967. Horacio Accavallo w pts 15 Hiroyuki Ebihara.

Venue: Luna Park Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recognition: WBA/WBC. Referee: Carlos Martinez Casas.

(2nd para) Having broken his left leg when falling down a flight of stairs in November, Accavallo was given time out to recover before being booked to defend against the number two ranked Jose Severino in Buenos Aires on 5 October 1968. There had been talk of Accavallo meeting Chartchai Chionoi in order to unify the championship. Strangely uninterested, on the eve of the Severino contest Accavallo suddenly announced his retirement from boxing, giving his reasons as being worn out and financially secure. Following that, Severino was matched against Ebihara to decide the vacant WBA title, while the WBC decided to recognise Chartchai Chionoi v Bernabe Villacampo as a vacant title fight.

19 September 1967. Chartchai Chionoi w rsc 7 (15) Walter McGowan.

Venue: The Arena, Wembley, London, England. Recognition: EBU/GB/NY. Referee: Ike Powell.

28 January 1968. Chartchai Chionoi w rsc 13 (15) Efren Torres.

Venue: City Bullring, Mexico City, Mexico. Recognition: EBU/GB/NY. Referee: Arthur Mercante.

5 April 1970. Berkrerk Chartvanchai w pts 15 Bernabe Villacampo.

20 November 1971. Erbito Salavarria drew 15 Betulio Gonzalez.

17 November 1973. Betulio Gonzalez w rsc 11 (15) Alberto Morales.

24 May 1975. Miguel Canto w pts 15 Betulio Gonzalez.

13 December 1975. Miguel Canto w pts 15 Ignacio Espinal.

17 September 1977. Miguel Canto w pts 15 Martin Vargas.

17 February 1980. Tae-Shik Kim w co 2 (15) Luis Ibarra.

12 April 1980. Chan-He Park w pts 15 Alberto Morales.

9 April 1984. Gabriel Bernal w co 2 (12) Koji Kobayashi.

Venue: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan. Recognition: WBC/Lineal. Referee: Tony Perez.

Fight Summary: Another championship fight between southpaws saw Bernal (111) knock out Kobayashi (112) at 2.37 of the second round. Having first put the champion down with a heavy left cross, Bernal finished matters with a terrific right, after switching to orthodox.

15 April 1985. Soon-Chun Kwon w co 3 (15) Shinobu Kawashima.

24 July 1988. Yong-Kang Kim w pts 12 Sot Chitalada.

12 November 1988. Yong-Kang Kim w pts 12 Emil Romano.

29 July 1990. Leopard Tamakuma w rsc 10 Yul-Woo Lee.

7 September 1990. Sot Chitalada w co 11 Richard Clarke.

5 June 2003. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam w pts 12 Randy Mangubat.

16 February 2006. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam w pts 12 Gilberto Keb Baas.

(2nd para) On 8 April, at the Thomas & Mack Centre, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Jorge Arce (111) knocked out Rosendo Alvarez (115) inside six rounds. Supposed to be a defence of Arce’s WBC ‘interim’ honours, the title was not at stake after Alvarez failed to make the required weight. Following that, Arce was quick to move up a weight division.

2 April 2011. Hernan Marquez w rsc 10 Luis Concepcion.

(2nd para) At the Vicente Polimeni Stadium, Las Heras, Mendoza, Argentina on 10 June, Jean Piero Perez lost his WBA ‘interim’ title when knocked out inside two rounds by Juan Carlos Reveco.

13 May 2012. Brian Viloria w rsc 9 Omar Nino.

26 September 2015. Juan Francisco Estrada w rsc 10 Hernan Marquez.

(5th para) When Estrada relinquished the WBA/WBO titles on 14 September 2016 to move up a weight division, Ioka was given full championship status by the WBA. Thus Ioka became a three-weight world champion on the edict, having previously been an undefeated WBA/WBC mini flyweight champion and an undefeated WBA junior flyweight title holder.

10 September 2016. Johnriel Casimero w rsc 10 Charlie Edwards.

(2nd para) Casimero relinquished the IBF title on 20 December in order to fight at 115lbs.

Junior Flyweight

5 May 1990. Jose De Jesus w rsc 5 Alli Galvez.

23 July 1990. Humberto Gonzalez w rsc 5 Jung-Keun Lim.

25 August 1990. Humberto Gonzalez w co 9 Jorge Rivera.

25 July 1993. Myung-Woo Yuh w pts 12 Yuichi Hosono.

(2nd para) After Yuh relinquished his WBA version of the title when retiring on 20 September, Leo Gamez and Shiro Yahiro were matched in order to find a successor.

30 April 1998. Mauricio Pastrana w co 4 Anis Roga.

(2nd para) On 29 August, at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, Pastrana (109¾) forfeited the IBF version of the title when coming in over the weight for a defence against Carlos Murillo (108). The fight went ahead, with Murillo being stopped in the ninth round.

29 September 2001. Ricardo Lopez w co 8 Zolani Petelo.

(2nd para) When Lopez announced his retirement from boxing on 28 November 2002, the IBF matched Jose Victor Burgos and Alex Sanchez to contest the vacant title. Burgos and Sanchez had already met in an eliminator which ended in a 12-round draw on 11 May 2002 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

18 December 2004. Jorge Arce w rsc 3 Juan Francisco Centeno.

(2nd para) After Arce vacated the title on 18 December 2004 to move up a weight division, Eric Ortiz and Jose Antonio Aguirre were matched to find a successor. To secure the contest, Ortiz had eliminated Wyndel Janiola (w tdec 5 at The Bullring, Tijuana, Mexico on 4 September) and Aguirre had beaten Kermin Guardia (w pts 10 at the Plaza Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada on 26 November).

18 November 2006. Omar Nino drew 12 Brian Viloria.

(2nd para) Originally announced as a draw, the result was later changed to that of a no contest after Nino failed the post-fight drugs test. When Nino was stripped on 2 February 2007, the WBC set up a meeting between Viloria and Edgar Sosa to find a new champion.

20 December 2006. Koki Kameda w pts 12 Juan Jose Landaeta.

(2nd para) Due to having weight problems, Kameda relinquished the title on 18 January 2007 in order to campaign at flyweight. This was followed by Juan Carlos Reveco and Nethra Sasiprapa being signed up to find a new champion.

8 December 2007. Brahim Asloum w pts 12 Juan Carlos Reveco.

(2nd para) Even though Asloum was designated to be a ‘champion in recess’ on 18 July 2008 due to inactivity, the WBA ran with an ‘interim’ champion after Cesar Canchila outpointed Giovani Segura over 12 rounds at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 26 July 2008. In his very next fight Segura challenged for the WBA ‘interim’ title against the same opponent at the FEX Stockade, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico on 14 March 2009, winning by a fourth-round stoppage, before being elevated to full championship status on 5 June 2009.

12 September 2009. Ivan Calderon w tdec 7 Rodel Mayol.

(2nd para) Johnriel Casimero won the vacant WBO ‘interim’ title when stopping Cesar Canchila inside 11 rounds at the Dennis Martinez National Stadium, Managua, Nicaragua on 19 December.

20 February 2010. Giovani Segura w rsc 3 Walter Tello.

(2nd para) On 17 July, the WBA ‘interim’ champion, Juan Carlos Reveco, stopped Armando Torres in the fifth round of their title contest at the Vicente Polimeni Sports Arena, Las Heras, Mendoza, Argentina. When Segura was elevated to ‘super’ champion status on 28 August, Reveco took over the WBA ‘second tier’ title.

12 June 2010. Ivan Calderon w pts 12 Jesus Iribe.

(2nd para) Defending the WBO ‘interim’ title for the first time on 24 July, Johnriel Casimero was outpointed by Ramon Garcia Hirales over 12 rounds at the Centennial Sports Centre, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Garcia Hirales successfully defended his title when outpointing Manuel Vargas over 12 rounds at The Forum, Tijuana, Mexico on 25 September.

28 August 2010. Giovani Segura w co 8 Ivan Calderon.

(2nd para) At the Ryogoku Sumo Arena, Tokyo, Japan, on 24 October, Roman Gonzalez, the former undefeated WBA mini flyweight champion, won the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title when knocking out Francisco Rosas in the second session.

2 April 2011. Giovani Segura w co 3 Ivan Calderon.

(2nd para) A few days later, on 5 April, Segura relinquished the WBO title to fight among the flyweights and Jesus Geles, the ‘interim’ champion, was upgraded to fill the vacancy. However, Segura held The Ring Championship Belt until 19 September.

17 November 2012. Roman Gonzalez w pts 12 Juan Francisco Estrada.

(3rd para) On 16 March 2013, at the Miguel Grau Coliseum, Callao, Peru, Alberto Rossel outpointed Walter Tello over 12 rounds in defence of his WBA ‘interim’ title. Rossel made another successful defence when outpointing Jose Alfredo Zuniga over 12 rounds at the North Lima Megaplaza, Lima Peru on 28 September 2013.

31 December 2015. Ryoichi Taguchi w rtd 9 Luis De La Rosa.

(2nd para) On 16 April 2016, Randy Petalcorin handed in his WBA 'interim' Championship Belt in order to move up to the flyweight division and contest the WBC 'silver' title.

8 May 2016. Akira Yaegashi w pts 12 Martin Tecuapetla.

(2nd para) Milan Melindo won the vacant IBF ‘interim’ title when outpointing Fahlan Sakreerin Jnr over 12 rounds at The Coliseum, Cebu City, Philippines on 26 November 2016.

Mini Flyweight

24 March 1988. Samuth Sithnaruepol w tdec 11 (15) Pretty Boy Lucas.

21 December 1991. Ricardo Lopez w pts 12 Kyung-Yung Lee.

25 October 1993. Paul Weir w pts 12 Lindi Memani.

7 March 1998. Ricardo Lopez tdraw 7 Rosendo Alvarez.

(3rd para) Later, with Lopez still undecided on whether to move up a weight, Songkram Porpaoin defeated Ronnie Magramo via an eighth-round technical decision on 30 January 1999 at the City Hall, Pattaya, Thailand to win the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title, but after losing his next fight the Thai moved up a weight class.

28 September 2001. Roberto Carlos Leyva tdraw 3 Miguel Barrera.

12 July 2003. Noel Arambulet w pts 12 Yutaka Niida.

(2nd para) On 31 January 2004, Juan Jose Landaeta won the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title on outpointing Chana Porpaoin over 12 rounds at The Polyhedron, Caracas, Venezuela and successfully defended it when drawing over the same distance against the same man at the Rajadamnern Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand on 5 May 2004.

4 March 2006. Yutaka Niida w pts 12 Ronald Barrera.

(2nd para) On 7 November, at the Grand Cube, Osaka, Japan, Katsunari Takayama beat Carlos Melo on a technical decision in the ninth round to win the vacant WBA ‘interim’ title.

18 June 2008. Oleydong Sithsamerchai w rsc 9 Junichi Ebisuoka.

(2nd para) At the Juan Pachin Vicens Auditorium, Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 2 August, Juan Palacios won the vacant WBC ‘interim’ title when halting Omar Soto inside ten rounds. He then successfully defended it on 7 November when stopping Teruo Misawa inside seven rounds at the Sichuan Gym, Chengdu, China.

30 August 2008. Donnie Nietes w rsc 2 Eddy Castro.

(2nd para) On 26 September, at Municipal Sports Hall (no 2), Caseros, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Daniel Reyes outpointed Luis Alberto Lazarte over 12 rounds to win the vacant WBO ‘interim’ title, but lost it on 6 December when knocked out in the fourth round by Manuel Vargas at the Fair Auditorium, Lagos De Moreno, Jalisco, Mexico.

(3rd para) Vargas went on to retain the WBO ‘interim’ title when outpointing Walter Tello over 12 rounds at the Expo Forum, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico on 14 February 2009.

6 October 2012. Moises Fuentes w rsc 5 Ivan Calderon.

(2nd para) Merlito Sabillo stopped Luis De La Rosa in the eighth round at the Mario De Leon Coliseum, Cereta, Colombia on 9 March 2013 to win the vacant WBO ‘interim’ title.

9 August 2014. Francisco Rodriguez Jnr w pts 12 Katsunari Takayama.

(2nd para) Looking to box in a higher weight division, Rodriguez first vacated the IBF title on 9 October before handing back his WBO Championship Belt in December.

31 December 2014. Katsunari Takayama w rsc 7 Go Odaira.

(2nd para) Takayama relinquished the WBO title on 2 March 2015 in order to concentrate on his IBF crown.

2 June 2015. Wanheng Menayothin w rsc 9 Jerry Tomogdan.

(2nd para) Due to defend his title against Gil-Bae Young in a makeshift arena in the City Hall Grounds, Chonburi, Thailand on 24 November, despite the latter coming in well over the weight Menayothin went ahead with the fight, winning by a ninth-round stoppage.

20 August 2016. Katsunari Takayama w tdec 6 Riku Kano.

(2nd para) Tatsuya Fukuhara won the WBO ‘interim’ title when outpointing Moises Calleros over 12 rounds at the Matsushima Athletic Park Gym, Kamiamakusa, Kumamoto, Japan on 26 February 2017.

(3rd para) After Takayama announced his retirement on 14 April 2017, Fukuhara was given full title status.