Here is a list of the heavyweight boxing champions of all time, along with the dates of their reigns:
John L. Sullivan (USA)
Reign: February 7, 1882, to September 7, 1892
James J. Corbett (USA)
Reign: September 7, 1892, to March 17, 1897
Bob Fitzsimmons (Australia/USA)
Reign: March 17, 1897, to June 9, 1899
James J. Jeffries (USA)
Reign: June 9, 1899, to May 13, 1905
Marvin Hart (USA)
Reign: July 3, 1905, to February 23, 1906
Tommy Burns (Canada)
Reign: February 23, 1906, to December 26, 1908
Jack Johnson (USA)
Reign: December 26, 1908, to April 5, 1915
Jess Willard (USA)
Reign: April 5, 1915, to July 4, 1919
Jack Dempsey (USA)
Reign: July 4, 1919, to September 23, 1926
Gene Tunney (USA)
Reign: September 23, 1926, to July 31, 1928
Jack Sharkey (USA)
Reign: June 21, 1932, to June 29, 1933
Max Schmeling (Germany)
Reign: June 12, 1930, to June 29, 1933
Primo Carnera (Italy)
Reign: June 29, 1933, to June 14, 1934
Max Baer (USA)
Reign: June 14, 1934, to June 13, 1935
James J. Braddock (USA)
Reign: June 13, 1935, to June 22, 1937
Joe Louis (USA)
Reign: June 22, 1937, to March 1, 1949
Ezzard Charles (USA)
Reign: September 27, 1950, to July 18, 1951
Jersey Joe Walcott (USA)
Reign: July 18, 1951, to September 23, 1952
Rocky Marciano (USA)
Reign: September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956
Floyd Patterson (USA)
Reign: November 30, 1956, to June 26, 1959
Ingemar Johansson (Sweden)
Reign: June 26, 1959, to March 13, 1961
Floyd Patterson (USA) – (2nd Reign)
Reign: November 30, 1956, to September 25, 1962
Sonny Liston (USA)
Reign: September 25, 1962, to February 25, 1964
Muhammad Ali (USA)
Reign: February 25, 1964, to February 6, 1967;
October 30, 1974, to February 15, 1978;
September 29, 1978, to June 27, 1979
Joe Frazier (USA)
Reign: February 16, 1970, to January 22, 1973
George Foreman (USA)
Reign: January 22, 1973, to October 30, 1974
Leon Spinks (USA)
Reign: February 15, 1978, to September 15, 1978
Larry Holmes (USA)
Reign: June 9, 1978, to September 21, 1985
Michael Spinks (USA)
Reign: September 21, 1985, to June 27, 1988
Mike Tyson (USA)
Reign: November 22, 1986, to February 11, 1990
James “Buster” Douglas (USA)
Reign: February 11, 1990, to October 25, 1990
Evander Holyfield (USA)
Reign: October 25, 1990, to March 9, 1992;
November 9, 1996, to March 13, 1999
Riddick Bowe (USA)
Reign: November 13, 1992, to March 6, 1993
Lennox Lewis (UK/Canada)
Reign: December 14, 1992, to April 29, 1994;
November 13, 1999, to February 6, 2001;
June 8, 2001, to April 21, 2002
Hasim Rahman (USA)
Reign: April 22, 2001, to November 17, 2001
Vitali Klitschko (Ukraine)
Reign: April 24, 2004, to November 9, 2005;
October 11, 2008, to December 17, 2013
Chris Byrd (USA)
Reign: April 1, 2002, to December 13, 2003
John Ruiz (USA)
Reign: March 3, 2001, to April 22, 2001;
December 15, 2001, to March 1, 2003
Nikolai Valuev (Russia)
Reign: December 17, 2005, to November 7, 2009
David Haye (UK)
Reign: November 7, 2009, to July 2, 2011
Wladimir Klitschko (Ukraine)
Reign: April 22, 2006, to November 28, 2015
Tyson Fury (UK)
Reign: November 28, 2015, to February 27, 2016;
February 22, 2020, to present
Please note that these dates represent the starting and ending points of each boxer’s reign as heavyweight champion, and the list may not include more recent developments in the division.
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