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John Sullivan holds "heavyweight title"
This era was still in the bare knuckle boxing phase, and there was no official belt. The champion was decided by public acclamation and John Sullivan won the title by defeating Paddy Ryan. -
Jack Johnson becomes the first black World Heavyweight Champion
Jack Johnson is now proclaimed the first black heavyweight champion after defeating Tommy Burns. After many troubles, the fight would only happen because the promoters promised Burns a large sum of money. The fight would be stopped in the 14th round after the referees decision of a KO and his reign would last until 1915. -
Jim Jeffries: The "Fight of the century"
Characterized by many at the time as the fight of the century, this fight would eventualy outgrow the name. Jim Jeffries had a killer left hook, held the heavyweight title from 1904 to 1910. In 1910, Jeffries came out of retirement to fight heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in what was called the fight of the century. This fight was heavily promoted by George “Tex” RIchard and coined the term “The fight of the Giants” to symbolize the race battle between Johnson and Jeffries. -
Kid Blackie starts reign as one of the hardest hitters in history
Jack Dempsey would fight on the 4th of July against the defending champion, Jess Willard. Listed as no. 7 as the hardest puncher in boxing history (via The Ring Magazine), Dempsey would not only beat Willard, but give him a broken jaw, fractured ribs, broken teeth, and deep fractures to the facial bones.He spent 1914-1918 toning his game, and even took a couple years “bumming around” in Salt Lake City. Controversy then arrive after this title fight because he simply was too hard of a puncher. -
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Jack Dempsey
Alot of controversy surrounded the fight in 1919, characterized by “gangsterism” Dempsey is seen in modern videos beating Willard with a rail spike. When he won the title he said he would no longer fight “Black boxers”, The press sided with Dempsey. Dempsey took the title in 1919 and held onto it until 1926. In 1921, the title fight between Dempsey and Bill Brennan generated the first million dollar ‘gate’ in history. -
Brown Bomber takes down the Cinderella Man
Joe Louis, ranked the #1 heavyweight by International Boxing Research Organization and The Ring Magazine, starts his reign as the longest reigning champion in any division with 25 title defenses. He was accepted by the American public, despite the color barrier, because of his clean, honest, and hardworking image and lifestyle. -
#therealROCKY starts 49-0 career
The man who defeated and retired Joe Louis would go on to become the next heavyweight star during the 1950s. He had the highest knockout percentage in history with 87% and his fighting style became the inspiration for the infamous Rocky films. He also would retire undefeated at 49-0 and owns the record for longest undefeated streak. -
Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston
One of the most famous moments in boxing history, young Cassius Clay defeats the defending champion, Sonny Liston. Both men were disliked by the media as Liston was an ex-convict and Clay displayed his brash personality. This would be the beginning of Cassius Clay, which was the man who coined the phrase "the baddest man in the world" to represent the heavyweight champion. -
Ali stripped of title
During Ali's prime in 1967, his title and boxing license would be stripped away due to his refusal of enlisting in army. He would publicly state that "no Vietcong ever called me nigger" and was not allowed to fight from 1967-1970(roughly between when he was 27 to 29 years old). The title would then be held by Joe Frazier. -
The Fight of the Century
This fight was between Ali and Frazier for the undisputed championship. Ali was coming back from being stripped of his belt and represented the average African American and anti-war movement. Frazier was the current champion and was more affiliated with "White America". Because the public declared that Joe Frazier would never be the real champion until he defeated Ali, this fight held a lot of attention. Frazier would go on to win and hand Ali his first loss. -
Rumble in the Jungle
Zaire's dictator provided the purse for this fight because he was looking for a high profile event to cover up the political turmoil of his country. Unlike Olympic gold medalist George Foreman, Ali represented the struggling African American community and was referred to the people's champ, even by the locals. This would end up being called one of the best sporting events of the 20th century with Ali knocking out the defending champion, George Foreman, in the 8th round. -
Thrilla in Manila
The third and final bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier is consistently ranked top among sports events in American history. It was a ploy of the Philipinne president to divert politcal attention and it gets its name from Ali clamining that he was going to be "a killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila". Ali would win the fight and retain his WBC/WBA titles, but the rivalry still exists today as Joe Frazier brags about him giving Ali parkinsons disease. -
Easton Assasin becomes champion
Larry Holmes comes out of Easton, Pennsylvania(thus his ringname the Easton Assasin) and defeats Ken Norton to begin the third longest reign as heavyweight champion. It is said that he was a huge contributor to Muhammad Ali's Parkinson disease. -
Mike Tyson reign begins
Mike Tyson beats Tony Tucker for the IBA belt, but would not be recognized as the top heavyweight in the world until he defeated, and retired Michael Spinks. Tyson would go on to put a new twist on the term "undisputed champion" as he was the first to hold the IBA, WBC, and WBA heavyweight belt. -
The Sound and the Fury
A rematch from their 1996 bout, this fight was for the WBA heavyweight title, but ended in a bizarre fashion via DQ. In this fight, Tyson would bite Holyfield's ear off and be disqualified along with his license being suspended. Tyson would later give a heartfelt apology via the Oprah show in 2009 and Holyfield would accept. -
Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko
Lewis wins the fight, but retires right after. This was considered the start of the decline of heavweight boxing because starting here there were only virtually unknown names to hold the heavyweight title. -
Era of Anonymous Champions
After Roy Jones, a long stream of unknown fighters from Latin countries and European countries would hold heavyweight champion belts. Because this was such a drastic change from the Tyson, Holyfield, and Lewis era in such a quick time, Americans lost interest in the heavyweight division. There were 13 different foreign boxers to hold the title, and none of them captivated the American public. -
Roy Jones vs. John Ruiz
After Roy Jones defeats John Ruiz for the WBO heavyweight belt, HBO reffered to him as the "new heavyweight belt holder" instead of "heavyweight champion. -
Start of Klitschko Era
Line em up, knock em down. That's been the Klitschko motto.Vitali won the WBC title in 2005 and begins the Klitschko era. Wladimir (WBA/IBF/WBO) and Vitali (WBC) Klitschko hold all four of the major sanctioning body heavyweight championships and are currently ranked 2nd and 8th for longest reigns as champions. -
Two New Hopes for Heavyweight Division Rise
Deontay Wilder (2008 Olympic silver medal, 6’7’’, 33 wins, 32 KO) just became the new WBC heavyweight title holder, and Anthony Joshua (2012 Olympic gold medalist, 6’6, 11 wins and 11 KO) is trying to make his statement in the heavyweight division. They are young, talented, and ambitious. However, the question is how good they really are comparing to Klitschko?
