Boxing
Who beat the most world champions in boxing?
Find out who scalped the most world champions in boxing.
Floyd Mayweather Sr., Rafael Garcia, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and DeJuan Blake// Getty Images
Who has defeated the most world champions in boxing history?
When questioning which boxer defeated the most world champions during their career, the answer is not exactly held on a fair playing field due to the evolution of the sport.
When Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali fought for world titles during their careers, there was only one championship available to win, but when Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao were active, there were as many as four legitimate world titles to access over an increased amount of weight classes.
So, when comparing boxers in history with the most wins over world champions, the older boxers should count as more than double when world championships were not as abundant as they are today.
Defeating a world champ is always an incredible feat, but due to the expansion of weight classes and world titles, the achievement has been diluted since the older days of the sport.
There are now 68 world titles in boxing, compared to just eight over 100 years ago, when conquering the world was considerably harder to accomplish. When Sugar Ray Robinson was a world champion, he was one of only eight in the world, now there’s almost 10 times that many!
Here is a list of the boxers in history with the most wins over world champions.
Who beat the most world champions?
Floyd Mayweather defeated 23 world champs during his career, which is an astonishing amount when he retired at 50-0, meaning almost half his opponents were world champions.
He has a record of 7-0, 3KO against International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees – Diego Corrales; Arturo Gatti; Oscar De La Hoya; Ricky Hatton; Juan Manuel Marquez; Shane Mosley; Miguel Cotto.
During June 2005 to September 2015, he defeated 15 world champs in a row, and holds an impressive 13-0 record against Lineal champions.
A bit of a Marmite figure – you either love him or hate him – but his talent and legacy he left behind is undeniable and he was great for the sport.
Who comes a close second?
Manny Pacquiao is just slightly behind Mayweather at 22. If he hadn’t been robbed against Jeff Horn in Australia, then he would have equalled Floyd’s feat.
However, the Filipino legend was an eight-weight world champion and holds more wins over world champions in different weight classes than anyone else.
Pac-Man has a record of 12-4-1, 6KO against International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees – Oscar De La Hoya; Ricky Hatton; Shane Mosley; Juan Manuel Marquez; Marco Antonio Barrera; Erik Morales; Miguel Cotto; Tim Bradley.
Who could potentially beat the record?
Canelo has conquered 18 world champions, but at the age of 34 and after 66 bouts, clocking up over 500 rounds, he may not be able to beat Floyd’s record as his career appears to be drawing to a close.
The Mexican megastar has a record of 22-2-1,10KO in world title fights, and has beaten two Hall of Famers – Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto.
He needs to defeat another five world champions to make history, but for Alvarez, who only fights twice a year on Mexican holidays, that would mean another three years in the sport which would take him to 37-years-old.
However, his campaign could be boosted if one of his latest victims, Edgar Berlanga, goes on to become a world champion, which at only 27, is highly likely.
So, it’s still possible for Canelo to make it to the top of this list.
Tim has over 27 years experience within the sports industry, working for football clubs Arsenal FC and Millwall FC, and boxing news websites British Boxing News, Boxing Social and Global Boxing News. His boxing articles have been published in Boxing News Magazine, national newspapers, plus many other major news outlets.