List of world featherweight boxing champions

Championship recognition

Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921

Champions were recognized by wide public acclamation. A heavyweight champion was a boxer who had a notable win over another notable boxer and then went without defeat. Retirements from the ring periodically led to a "true" champion going unrecognized, or for several to be recognized by the public for periods of time. Typically, public interest in having a single, "true" champion resulted in claimants to the heavyweight title being matched with one another; the winner of that bout was subsequently deemed the champion, with the claim (and title lineage) of the defeated boxer largely forgotten.

Sanctioning Bodies: 1921 to present

The National Boxing Association (NBA), was formed in 1921 as the first organization aimed at regulating boxing on a national (and later global) level. The prominence of New York City as the epicenter of boxing would lead to a governmental entity, the powerful New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), to join the NBA in sanctioning bouts as "world championships." A third entity, with lesser public recognition inside the USA, the European Boxing Union (EBU), would follow suit, with this triumvirate typically (but not always) recognizing the same boxers as world champions.

At its 1962 convention the NBA's non-U.S. members exploited a membership rule and took control of the organization, rebranding it the World Boxing Association. The (WBA), was joined a year later by a combination of state and national boxing commissions (including the NYSAC and IBU) to form a separate sanctioning body, the World Boxing Council (WBC). Each organization would later have a spin-off competing sanctioning body emerge: the International Boxing Federation (IBF), which was formed by members of the United States Boxing Association in 1983; and the World Boxing Organization (WBO), which was formed in 1989. A fifth significant (but not as publicly accepted) body came in the form of the International Boxing Organization (IBO), in 1991, and today there are over a dozen sanctioning organizations, of varying degrees of public acceptance, sanctioning bouts as for a world championship and proclaiming their title winners "Champion of the World."

Reign Began	Reign Ended	Champion	Recognition
World
1889-03-31	1890-01-13	Ike Weir	World
The featherweight class was established in 1860 but did not achieve universal recognition until Weir won the title.
1890-01-13	1890-09-02	Torpedo Billy Murphy	World
1890-09-02	1892-Vacated	Young Griffo	World
1892-06-27	1896-11-27	George Dixon	World
1896-11-27	1897-03-24	Frank Erne	World
1897-03-24	1897-10-24	George Dixon	World
1897-10-04	1898-09-26	Solly Smith	World
1898-09-26	1898-11-11	Dave Sullivan	World
1898-11-11	1900-01-09	George Dixon	World
1899-05-29	1899-10-10	Ben Jordan	British World Title
Jordan and Santry were recognized as champion in Britain. When Terry McGovern defeated Santry in 1900 the title was reunified.
1899-10-10	1900-02-01	Eddie Santry	British World Title
1900-01-09	1901-11-28	Terry McGovern	World
1901-11-28	1902-Vacated	Young Corbett II	World
Corbett could not make weight and relinquished the title (although some sources say he continued to defend the title at a higher weight). Attell was recognized as the best man at the weight and thus was proclaimed champion.
1904-02-01	1912-02-22	Abe Attell	World
1912-02-22	1923-06-02	Johnny Kilbane	World
1923-06-02	1923-07-26	Eugène Criqui	World
1923-07-26	1923-07-26-Vacated	Johnny Dundee	World
1925-01-02	1926-Vacated	Louis Kid Kaplan	World
1927-09-12	1928-02-10	Benny Bass	World
1928-02-10	1928-09-28	Tony Canzoneri	World
1928-09-28	1929-09-23	Andre Routis	World
1929-09-23	1932-01-27	Christopher Battalino	World
1932-05-26	1933-01-13	Tommy Paul	NBA
1933-01-13	1936-05-11	Freddie Miller	NBA
1936-05-11	1937-10-29	Petey Sarron	NBA
1937-10-29	1937-10-29	Henry Armstrong	World
1939-04-18	1939-04-18	Joey Archibald	World
1940-05-01	1941-07-01	Petey Scalzo	NBA
1941-07-01	1941-11-18	Richie Lemos	NBA
1941-11-18	1943-01-18	Jackie Wilson	NBA
1943-01-18	1943-08-16	Jackie Callura	NBA
1943-08-16	1944-03-10	Phil Terranova	NBA
1944-03-10	1946-05-03	Sal Bartolo	NBA
1946-06-07	1948-10-29	Willie Pep	World
1948-10-29	1949-02-11	Sandy Saddler	World
1949-02-11	1950-09-08	Willie Pep	World
1950-09-08	Jan 1957-Vacated	Sandy Saddler	World
1957-06-24	1959-03-18	Hogan Bassey	World
1959-03-18	1963-03-21	Davey Moore	World
1963-03-21	1964-09-26	Sugar Ramos	WBA/WBC
1964-09-26	1967-10-14-Vacated	Vicente Saldivar	WBA/WBC
WBC
Title inaugurated
1963-03-21	1964-09-26	Sugar Ramos	WBC
1964-09-26	1967-10-Retired	Vicente Saldivar	WBC
1968-01-23	1968-07-24	Howard Winstone	WBC
1968-07-24	1969-01-21	José Legrá	WBC
1969-01-21	1970-05-09	Johnny Famechon	WBC
1970-05-09	1970-12-11	Vicente Saldivar	WBC
1970-12-11	1972-05-19	Kuniaki Shibata	WBC
1972-05-19	1972-12-16-Stripped	Clemente Sanchez	WBC
1972-12-16	1973-05-05	José Legrá	WBC
1973-05-05	1974-06-17-Stripped	Eder Jofre	WBC
1974-09-07	1975-06-20	Bobby Chacon	WBC
1975-06-20	1975-09-20	Rubén Olivares	WBC
1975-09-20	1976-11-06	David Kotei	WBC
1976-11-06	1980-02-02	Danny Lopez	WBC
1980-02-02	1982-07-21-Died	Salvador Sánchez	WBC
1982-09-15	1984-03-31	Juan LaPorte	WBC
1984-03-31	1984-12-08	Wilfredo Gómez	WBC
1984-12-08	1987-08-29-Vacated	Azumah Nelson	WBC
1988-03-07	1989-04-08-Vacated	Jeff Fenech	WBC
1990-06-02	1991-11-13	Marcos Villasana	WBC
1991-11-13	1993-04-28	Paul Hodkinson	WBC
1993-04-28	1993-12-04	Gregorio Vargas	WBC
1993-12-04	1995-01-07	Kevin Kelley	WBC
1995-01-07	1995-09-23	Alejandro Martín González	WBC
1995-09-23	1995-12-11	Manuel Medina	WBC
1995-12-11	1999-05-15	Luisito Espinosa	WBC
1999-05-15	1999-10-22	Cesar Soto	WBC
1999-10-22	2000-Vacated	Naseem Hamed	WBC
2000-04-14	2001-02-17	Guty Espadas Jr	WBC
2001-02-17	2002-06-22-Stripped*	Erik Morales	WBC
*Morales lost to Marco Antonio Barrera, who declined title.
2002-11-16	2003-05-03-Vacated	Erik Morales	WBC
2004-04-10	2006-01-29	In-Jin Chi	WBC
2006-01-29	2006-07-30	Takashi Koshimoto	WBC
2006-07-30	2006-12-17	Rudy Lopez	WBC
2006-12-17	2007-07-Retired	In-Jin Chi	WBC
2007-07-21	2008-08-13-Vacated	Jorge Linares	WBC
2008-08-13	2009-03-12	Óscar Larios	WBC
2009-03-12	2009-07-14	Takahiro Aoh	WBC
2009-07-14	2010-08-25-Stripped	Elio Rojas	WBC
2010-11-26	2011-04-08	Hozumi Hasegawa	WBC
2011-04-08	2012-09-12	Jhonny González	WBC
2012-09-12	2013-05-04	Daniel Ponce De Leon	WBC
2013-05-04	2013-08-24	Abner Mares	WBC
2013-08-24	2015-03-28	Jhonny González	WBC
2015-03-28	2022-01-22	Gary Russell, Jr.	WBC
2022-01-22	2022-07-09	Mark Magsayo	WBC
2022-07-09	2024-10-18 (Champion in recess)	Rey Vargas	WBC
2024-10-18	Present	Brandon Figueroa	WBC
WBA
Title inaugurated
1963-03-21	1964-09-26	Sugar Ramos	WBA
1964-09-26	1967-10-Retired	Vicente Saldivar	WBA
1968-03-28	1968-09-27	Raul Rojas	WBA
1968-09-27	1971-09-02	Shozo Saijo	WBA
1971-09-02	1972-08-19	Antonio Gomez	WBA
1972-08-19	1974-02-16-Retired	Ernesto Marcel	WBA
1974-07-09	1974-11-23	Rubén Olivares	WBA
1974-11-23	1976-06-19-Vacated	Alexis Argüello	WBA
1977-01-15	1977-12-17	Rafael Ortega	WBA
1977-12-17	1978-04-15	Cecilio Lastra	WBA
1978-04-15	1985-06-08	Eusebio Pedroza	WBA
1985-06-08	1986-06-23	Barry McGuigan	WBA
1986-06-23	1987-03-06	Steve Cruz	WBA
1987-03-06	1991-03-30	Antonio Esparragoza	WBA
1991-03-30	1993-12-04	Yong-Kyun Park	WBA
1993-12-04	1996-05-18	Eloy Rojas	WBA
1996-05-18	1997-11-08-Stripped	Wilfredo Vazquez	WBA
1998-04-03	1998-07-10-Stripped	Freddie Norwood	WBA
1998-10-03	1999-05-29	Antonio Cermeno	WBA
1999-05-29	2000-09-09	Freddie Norwood	WBA
2000-09-09	2003-11-01	Derrick Gainer	WBA
2003-11-01	2005-Stripped	Juan Manuel Márquez	WBA Super Champion
2003-11-01	2013-12-06	Chris John	WBA Super Champion
2009-07-23	2011-06-11-Stripped	Yuriorkis Gamboa	WBA Unified Champion
2010-12-04	2011-10-14	Jonathan Victor Barros	WBA Regular Champion
2011-10-14	2012-08-07-Vacated	Celestino Caballero	WBA Regular Champion
2012-12-08	2015-06-12-Stripped	Nicholas Walters	WBA Super Champion
2013-12-06	2014-05-31	Simpiwe Vetyeka	WBA Super Champion
2014-05-31	2014-10-18	Nonito Donaire	WBA Super Champion
2015-02-21	2016-12-10	Jesus Cuellar	WBA Regular Champion
2015-08-29	2016-07-30	Leo Santa Cruz	WBA Super Champion
2016-07-30	2017-01-28	Carl Frampton	WBA Super Champion
2016-12-10	2018-06-09-Vacated	Abner Mares	WBA Regular Champion
2017-01-28	2022-12-12-Vacated	Leo Santa Cruz	WBA Super Champion
2019-01-26	2021-07-21	Xu Can	WBA Regular Champion
2021-07-21	2023-02-18	Leigh Wood	WBA Regular Champion
2023-02-18	2023-05-26	Mauricio Lara	WBA
2023-05-26	2023-10-17 (Vacated)	Leigh Wood (boxer)	WBA
2024-03-02	2024-06-01	Raymond Ford	WBA
2024-06-01	Present	Nick Ball (boxer)	WBA
IBF
Title inaugurated
1984-03-04	1985-11-29	Min-Keun Oh	IBF
1985-11-29	1986-08-30	Ki-Young Chung	IBF
1986-08-30	1988-01-23	Antonio Rivera	IBF
1988-01-23	1988-08-04	Calvin Grove	IBF
1988-08-04	1990-07-08-Vacated	Jorge Páez	IBF
1991-06-03	1991-08-12	Troy Dorsey	IBF
1991-08-12	1993-02-26	Manuel Medina	IBF
1993-02-26	1997-02-08	Tom Johnson	IBF
1997-02-08	1997-07-19-Vacated	Naseem Hamed	IBF
1997-12-13	1998-04-24	Hector Lizarraga	IBF
1998-04-24	1999-11-13	Manuel Medina	IBF
1999-11-13	2000-12-16	Paul Ingle	IBF
2000-12-16	2001-04-06	Mbulelo Botile	IBF
2001-04-06	2001-11-16	Frank Toledo	IBF
2001-11-16	2002-04-27	Manuel Medina	IBF
2002-04-27	2002-11-Vacated	Johnny Tapia	IBF
2003-02-01	2005-05-07-Stripped	Juan Manuel Márquez	IBF
2006-01-20	2006-05-13	Valdemir Pereira	IBF
2006-05-13	2006-09-02	Eric Aiken	IBF
2006-09-02	2006-11-04	Robert Guerrero	IBF
2006-11-04	2006-11-10-Stripped	Orlando Salido	IBF
2007-02-23	2008-06-23-Vacated	Robert Guerrero	IBF
2008-10-23	2010-05-15	Cristobal Cruz	IBF
2010-05-15	2010-09-11-Stripped	Orlando Salido	IBF
2010-09-11	2011-03-26-Stripped	Yuriorkis Gamboa	IBF
2011-07-29	2013-03-01	Billy Dib	IBF
2013-03-01	2015-05-30	Evgeny Gradovich	IBF
2015-05-30	2018-05-19-Stripped	Lee Selby	IBF
2018-05-19	2021-01-21-Vacated	Josh Warrington	IBF
2021-08-07	2021-11-13	Kid Galahad (boxer)	IBF
2021-11-13	2022-03-26	Kiko Martinez	IBF
2022-03-26	2022-12-10	Josh Warrington	IBF
2022-12-10	2024-08-10	Luis Alberto Lopez	IBF
2024-08-10	Present	Angelo Leo	IBF
WBO
Title inaugurated
1989-01-28	1989-11-11	Maurizio Stecca	WBO
1989-11-11	1990-04-07	Louie Espinoza	WBO
1990-04-07	1990-07-08-Vacated	Jorge Páez	WBO
1991-01-26	1992-05-16	Maurizio Stecca	WBO
1992-05-16	1992-09-26	Colin McMillan	WBO
1992-09-26	1993-01-Retired	Rubén Darío Palacio	WBO
1993-04-17	1995-09-30	Steve Robinson	WBO
1995-09-30	2000-09-20-Vacated	Naseem Hamed	WBO
2001-01-27	2001-06-16	Istvan Kovacs	WBO
2001-06-16	2002-10-19	Julio Pablo Chacón	WBO
2002-10-19	2003-07-23	Scott Harrison	WBO
2003-07-23	2003-11-29	Manuel Medina	WBO
2003-11-29	2006-06-23-Vacated	Scott Harrison	WBO
2006-12-06	2007-04-01-Vacated	Juan Manuel Márquez	WBO
2007-07-14	2010-01-23	Steven Luevano	WBO
2010-01-23	2011-04-16	Juan Manuel Lopez	WBO
2011-04-16	2013-01-19	Orlando Salido	WBO
2013-01-19	2013-06-14-Stripped	Mikey García	WBO
2013-10-12	2014-02-28-Stripped	Orlando Salido	WBO
2014-06-21	2015-11-7-Vacated	Vasyl Lomachenko	WBO
2016-07-23	2019-08-02-Vacated	Óscar Valdez	WBO
2019-10-26	2020-07-09-Vacated	Shakur Stevenson	WBO
2020-10-09	2023-02-10 Vacated	Emanuel Navarrete	WBO
2023-04-01	2023-12-09	Robeisy Ramírez	WBO
2023-12-09	Present	Rafael Espinoza	WBO