Lineal Lightweight World Champions

[135lbs]

Lightweight World Championship: Vacant

1 Jack McAuliffe (1886 - 1897) Retired

2 George Lavigne (1897 - 1899)

3 Frank Erne (1899 – 1902)

4 Joe Gans (1902 - 1908)

5 Battling Nelson (1908) - 1910)

6 Ad Wolgast (1910 - 1912)

7 Willie Ritchie (1912 - 1914)

8 Freddie Welsh (1914 - 1917)

9 Benny Leonard (1917 - 1925) Retired

10 Jimmy Goodrich (1925)

11 Rocky Kansas (1925 - 1926)

12 Sammy Mandell (1926 - 1930)

13 Al Singer (1930)

14 Tony Canzoneri (1930 - 1933)  **

15 Barney Ross (1933 - 1935) Vacated

16 Tony Canzoneri (1935 - 1936)  **

17 Lou Ambers (1936 - 1938)  **

18 Henry Armstrong (1938 - 1939)

19 Lou Ambers (1939 - 1940)  **

20 Lew Jenkins (1940 - 1941)

21 Sammy Angott (1941 - 1942) Vacated

22 Ike Williams (1947 - 1951)

23 Jimmy Carter (1951 - 1952)  ***

24 Lauro Salas (1952)

25 Jimmy Carter (1952 - 1954)  ***

26 Paddy DeMarco (1954)

27 Jimmy Carter (1954 - 1955)  ***

28 Wallace “Bud” Smith (1955 - 1956)

29 Joe Brown (1956 - 1962)

30 Carlos Ortiz (1962 - 1965)  **

31 Ismael Laguna (1965)  **

32 Carlos Ortiz (1965 - 1968)  **

33 Carlos Teo Cruz (1968 - 1969)

34 Mando Ramos (1969 - 1970)

35 Ismael Laguna (1970)  **

36 Ken Buchanan (1970 - 1972)

37 Roberto Duran (1972 - 1979) Vacated

38 Alexis Arguello (1981 - 1983) Vacated

39 Julio Caesar Chavez (1988 - 1989) Vacated

40 Pernell Whitaker (1989 - 1992) Vacated

41 Floyd Mayweather Jr. (2002 - 2004) Vacated

42 Jose Luis Castillo (2004 - 2005)

43 Diego Corrales (2005 - 2006)

44 Joel Cassamayor (2006 - 2008)

45 Juan Manuel Marquez (2008 - 2012) Vacated

46 Terence Crawford (2014 - 2015) Vacated

47 Teofimo Lopez (2020 - 2021)

48 George Kambosos Jr. (2021 - 2022)

49 Devin Haney (2022 - 2023) Vacated

1989

Julio Cesar Chavez vacated the crown at lightweight after winning the WBC super lightweight belt from Roger Mayweather on May 13th 1989.

On August 20, #1-ranked Pernell Whitaker (IBF titlist) outpointed #2-ranked Jose Luis Ramirez by 12-round unanimous decision to become the new king at 135lb. The bout was also for the vacant WBC and Ring belts.

Whitaker had previously lost a split decision to Ramirez in 1988, but then on February 18th 1989 he defeated Greg Haugen (#-1-ranked), to position him, along with Ramirez at the top of the division.

Ring ratings (1).

2020

Teofimo Lopez defeated Vasyl Lomachenko on October 17th, 2020, via 12 round unanimous decision – the two men were the top two rated lightweights in the world, according to all the leading independent rankings (ESPN/TBRB/Ring/Boxing News). George Kambosos SD-12 Lopez, November 27, 2021. Devin Haney UD-12 Kambosos, June 4, 2022

2023

Devin Haney defeated Regis Prograis at junior welterweight to win the WBC 140lb belt on December 9, 2023 - from this date onwards, LBC recognised the 135lb Lineal crown as being vacant. Prior to the fight with Prograis, Haney had already vacated all of his sanctioning body titles at 135lb, stating at the end of November:

"I did everything at 135 that I could," Haney said Wednesday. "The biggest fight for me was making that Gervonta Davis fight, and his side showed no interest in making the fight. I've outgrown the division, so now I make my quest to 140 to become a two-division champion.“ (0)

… … … … … …

(0) Coppinger M. (2023) Undisputed lightweight champion Haney to vacant titles. ESPN. November 30, 2023. Link: https://www.espn.co.uk/boxing/story/_/id/39007596/undisputed-lightweight-champion-devin-haney-vacate-titles

(1) Rold C. Measured Against All-Time: Pernell Whitaker - In Memoriam. August 1, 2019. Link: https://www.boxingscene.com/measured-against-all-time-pernell-whitaker-memoriam--141350

@LinealBoxChamp