List of featherweight boxing champions
This is a list of featherweight boxing champions, as recognized by boxing organizations: The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA).

List of featherweight boxing champions

Section Title:
Table Section Text: This is a list of featherweight boxing champions, as recognized by boxing organizations: The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA).

Reign Began	Reign Ended	Champion	Recognition

World

1889-03-31	1890-01-13	Republic of IrelandIke 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	New ZealandTorpedo Billy Murphy	World

1890-09-02	1892-Vacated	AustraliaYoung Griffo	World

1892-06-27	1896-11-27	CanadaGeorge Dixon	World

1896-11-27	1897-03-24	SwitzerlandFrank Erne	World

1897-03-24	1897-10-24	CanadaGeorge Dixon	World

1897-10-04	1898-09-26	United StatesSolly Smith	World

1898-09-26	1898-11-11	Republic of IrelandDave Sullivan	World

1898-11-11	1900-01-09	CanadaGeorge Dixon	World

1899-05-29	1899-10-10	United KingdomBen 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	United StatesEddie Santry	British World Title

1900-01-09	1901-11-28	United StatesTerry McGovern	World

1901-11-28	1902-Vacated	United StatesYoung 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).

1904-02-01	1912-02-22	United StatesAbe Attell	World

1912-02-22	1923-06-02	United StatesJohnny Kilbane	World

1923-06-02	1923-07-26	FranceEugène Criqui	World

1923-07-26	1923-07-26-Vacated	ItalyJohnny Dundee	World

1925-01-02	1926-Vacated	UkraineLouis "Kid" Kaplan	World

1927-09-12	1928-02-10	UkraineBenny Bass	World

1928-02-10	1928-09-28	United StatesTony Canzoneri	World

1928-09-28	1929-09-23	FranceAndre Routis	World

1929-09-23	1932-01-27	United StatesChristopher Battalino	World

1932-05-26	1933-01-13	United StatesTommy Paul	NBA

1933-01-13	1936-05-11	United StatesFreddie Miller	NBA

1936-05-11	1937-10-29	United StatesPetey Sarron	NBA

1937-10-29	1937-10-29	United StatesHenry Armstrong	World

1939-04-18	1939-04-18	United StatesJoey Archibald	World

1940-05-15	1941-07-01	United StatesPetey Scalzo	NBA

1941-07-01	1941-11-18	United StatesRichie Lemos	NBA

1941-11-18	1943-01-18	United StatesJackie Wilson	NBA

1943-01-18	1943-08-16	CanadaJackie Callura	NBA

1943-08-16	1944-03-10	United StatesPhil Terranova	NBA

1944-03-10	1946-05-03	United StatesSal Bartolo	NBA

1946-06-07	1948-10-29	United StatesWillie Pep	World

1948-10-29	1949-02-11	United StatesSandy Saddler	World

1949-02-11	1950-09-08	United StatesWillie Pep	World

1950-09-08	Jan 1957-Vacated	United StatesSandy Saddler	World

1957-06-24	1959-03-18	NigeriaHogan Bassey	World

1959-03-18	1963-03-21	United StatesDavey Moore	World

1963-03-21	1964-09-26	CubaSugar Ramos	WBA/WBC

1964-09-26	1967-10-14-Vacated	MexicoVicente Saldivar	WBA/WBC

WBC

Title inaugurated

1963-03-21	1964-09-26	Cuba Sugar Ramos	WBC

1964-09-26	1967-10-Retired	Mexico Vicente Saldivar	WBC

1968-01-23	1968-07-24	United Kingdom Howard Winstone	WBC

1968-07-24	1969-01-21	Spain José Legrá	WBC

1969-01-21	1970-05-09	France Johnny Famechon	WBC

1970-05-09	1970-12-11	Mexico Vicente Saldivar	WBC

1970-12-11	1972-05-19	Japan Kuniaki Shibata	WBC

1972-05-19	1972-12-16-Stripped	Mexico Clemente Sanchez	WBC

1972-12-16	1973-05-05	Spain José Legrá	WBC

1973-05-05	1974-06-17-Stripped	Brazil Eder Jofre	WBC

1974-09-07	1975-06-20	United States Bobby Chacon	WBC

1975-06-20	1975-09-20	Mexico Rubén Olivares	WBC

1975-09-20	1976-11-06	Ghana David Kotei	WBC

1976-11-06	1980-02-02	United States Danny Lopez	WBC

1980-02-02	1982-07-21-Died	Mexico Salvador Sánchez	WBC

1982-09-15	1984-03-31	Puerto Rico Juan LaPorte	WBC

1984-03-31	1984-12-08	Puerto Rico Wilfredo Gómez	WBC

1984-12-08	1987-08-29-Vacated	Ghana Azumah Nelson	WBC

1988-03-07	1989-04-08-Vacated	Australia Jeff Fenech	WBC

1990-06-02	1991-11-13	Mexico Marcos Villasana	WBC

1991-11-13	1993-04-28	United Kingdom Paul Hodkinson	WBC

1993-04-28	1993-12-04	Mexico Gregorio Vargas	WBC

1993-12-04	1995-01-07	United States Kevin Kelley	WBC

1995-01-07	1995-09-23	Mexico Alejandro Martín González	WBC

1995-09-23	1995-12-11	Mexico Manuel Medina	WBC

1995-12-11	1999-05-15	Philippines Luisito Espinosa	WBC

1999-05-15	1999-10-22	Mexico Cesar Soto	WBC

1999-10-22	2000-Vacated	United Kingdom Naseem Hamed	WBC

2000-04-14	2001-02-17	Mexico Guty Espadas, Jr.	WBC

2001-02-17	2002-06-22-Stripped*	Mexico Erik Morales	WBC

*Morlales lost to Marco Antonio Barrera, who declined title.

2002-11-16	2003-05-03-Vacated	Mexico Erik Morales	WBC

2004-04-10	2006-01-29	South Korea In-Jin Chi	WBC

2006-01-29	2006-07-30	Japan Takashi Koshimoto	WBC

2006-07-30	2006-12-17	Mexico Rudy Lopez	WBC

2006-12-17	2007-07-Retired	South Korea In-Jin Chi	WBC

2007-07-21	2008-08-13-Vacated	Venezuela Jorge Linares	WBC

2008-08-13	2009-03-12	Mexico Óscar Larios	WBC

2009-03-12	2009-07-14	Japan Takahiro Aoh	WBC

2009-07-14	2010-08-25-Stripped	Dominican Republic Elio Rojas	WBC

2010-11-26	2011-04-08	Japan Hozumi Hasegawa	WBC

2011-04-08	2012-09-12	Mexico Jhonny Gonzalez	WBC

2012-09-12	2013-05-04	Mexico Daniel Ponce De Leon	WBC

2013-05-04	2013-08-24	Mexico Abner Mares	WBC

2013-08-24	2015-03-28	Mexico Jhonny Gonzalez	WBC

2015-03-28	Present	United States Gary Russell, Jr.	WBC

WBA

Title inaugurated

1963-03-21	1964-09-26	Cuba Sugar Ramos	WBA

1964-09-26	1967-10-Retired	Mexico Vicente Saldivar	WBA

1968-03-28	1968-09-27	United States Raul Rojas	WBA

1968-09-27	1971-09-02	Japan Shozo Saijo	WBA

1971-09-02	1972-08-19	Venezuela Antonio Gomez	WBA

1972-08-19	1974-02-16-Retired	Panama Ernesto Marcel	WBA

1974-07-09	1974-11-23	Mexico Rubén Olivares	WBA

1974-11-23	1976-06-19-Vacated	Nicaragua Alexis Argüello	WBA

1977-01-15	1977-12-17	Panama Rafael Ortega	WBA

1977-12-17	1978-04-15	Spain Cecilio Lastra	WBA

1978-04-15	1985-06-08	Panama Eusebio Pedroza	WBA

1985-06-08	1986-06-23	Republic of Ireland Barry McGuigan	WBA

1986-06-23	1987-03-06	United States Steve Cruz	WBA

1987-03-06	1991-03-30	Venezuela Antonio Esparragoza	WBA

1991-03-30	1993-12-04	South Korea Yong-Kyun Park	WBA

1993-12-04	1996-05-18	Venezuela Eloy Rojas	WBA

1996-05-18	1997-11-08-Stripped	Puerto Rico Wilfredo Vazquez	WBA

1998-04-03	1998-07-10-Stripped	United States Freddie Norwood	WBA

1998-10-03	1999-05-29	Venezuela Antonio Cermeno	WBA

1999-05-29	2000-09-09	United States Freddie Norwood	WBA

2000-09-09	2003-11-01	United States Derrick Gainer	WBA

2003-11-01	2005-Stripped	Mexico Juan Manuel Márquez	WBA Super Champion

2003-11-01	2013-12-06	Indonesia Chris John	WBA Super Champion

2009-07-23	2011-06-11-Stripped	Cuba Yuriorkis Gamboa	WBA Unified Champion

2010-12-04	2011-10-14	Argentina Jonathan Victor Barros	WBA Regular Champion

2011-10-14	2012-08-07-Vacated	Panama Celestino Caballero	WBA Regular Champion

2012-12-08	2015-06-12-Stripped	Jamaica Nicholas Walters	WBA Super Champion

2013-12-06	2014-05-31	South Africa Simpiwe Vetyeka	WBA Super Champion

2014-05-31	2014-10-18	Philippines Nonito Donaire	WBA Super Champion

2015-02-21	2016-12-10	Argentina Jesus Cuellar	WBA Regular Champion

2015-08-29	2016-07-30	Mexico Leo Santa Cruz	WBA Super Champion

2016-07-30	2017-01-28	United Kingdom Carl Frampton	WBA Super Champion

2016-12-10	Present	Mexico Abner Mares	WBA Regular Champion

2017-01-28	Present	Mexico Leo Santa Cruz	WBA Super Champion

IBF

Title inaugurated

1984-03-04	1985-11-29	South Korea Min-Keun Oh	IBF

1985-11-29	1986-08-30	South Korea Ki-Young Chung	IBF

1986-08-30	1988-01-23	Puerto Rico Antonio Rivera	IBF

1988-01-23	1988-08-04	United States Calvin Grove	IBF

1988-08-04	1990-07-08-Vacated	Mexico Jorge Páez	IBF

1991-06-03	1991-08-12	United States Troy Dorsey	IBF

1991-08-12	1993-02-26	Mexico Manuel Medina	IBF

1993-02-26	1997-02-08	United States Tom Johnson	IBF

1997-02-08	1997-07-19-Vacated	United Kingdom Naseem Hamed	IBF

1997-12-13	1998-04-24	Mexico Hector Lizarraga	IBF

1998-04-24	1999-11-13	Mexico Manuel Medina	IBF

1999-11-13	2000-12-16	United Kingdom Paul Ingle	IBF

2000-12-16	2001-04-06	South Africa Mbulelo Botile	IBF

2001-04-06	2001-11-16	United States Frank Toledo	IBF

2001-11-16	2002-04-27	Mexico Manuel Medina	IBF

2002-04-27	2002-11-Vacated	United States Johnny Tapia	IBF

2003-02-01	2005-05-07-Stripped	Mexico Juan Manuel Márquez	IBF

2006-01-20	2006-05-13	Brazil Valdemir Pereira	IBF

2006-05-13	2006-09-02	United States Eric Aiken	IBF

2006-09-02	2006-11-04	United States Robert Guerrero	IBF

2006-11-04	2006-11-10-Stripped	Mexico Orlando Salido	IBF

2007-02-23	2008-06-23-Vacated	United States Robert Guerrero	IBF

2008-10-23	2010-05-15	Mexico Cristobal Cruz	IBF

2010-05-15	2010-09-11-Stripped	Mexico Orlando Salido	IBF

2010-09-11	2011-03-26-Stripped	Cuba Yuriorkis Gamboa	IBF

2011-07-29	2013-03-01	Australia Billy Dib	IBF

2013-03-01	2015-05-30	Russia Evgeny Gradovich	IBF

2015-05-30	2018-05-19-Stripped	United Kingdom Lee Selby	IBF

2018-05-19	Present	United Kingdom Josh Warrington	IBF

WBO

Title inaugurated

1989-01-28	1989-11-11	Italy Maurizio Stecca	WBO

1989-11-11	1990-04-07	United States Louie Espinoza	WBO

1990-04-07	1990-07-08-Vacated	Mexico Jorge Páez	WBO

1991-01-26	1992-05-16	Italy Maurizio Stecca	WBO

1992-05-16	1992-09-26	United Kingdom Colin McMillan	WBO

1992-09-26	1993-01-Retired	Colombia Rubén Darío Palacios	WBO

1993-04-17	1995-09-30	United Kingdom Steve Robinson	WBO

1995-09-30	2000-09-20-Vacated	United Kingdom Naseem Hamed	WBO

2001-01-27	2001-06-16	Hungary Istvan Kovacs	WBO

2001-06-16	2002-10-19	Argentina Julio Pablo Chacón	WBO

2002-10-19	2003-07-23	United Kingdom Scott Harrison	WBO

2003-07-23	2003-11-29	Mexico Manuel Medina	WBO

2003-11-29	2006-06-23-Vacated	United Kingdom Scott Harrison	WBO

2006-12-06	2007-04-01-Vacated	Mexico Juan Manuel Márquez	WBO

2007-07-14	2010-01-23	United States Steven Luevano	WBO

2010-01-23	2011-04-16	Puerto Rico Juan Manuel Lopez	WBO

2011-04-16	2013-01-19	Mexico Orlando Salido	WBO

2013-01-19	2013-06-14-Stripped	United States Mikey García	WBO

2013-10-12	2014-02-28-Stripped	Mexico Orlando Salido	WBO

2014-06-21	2015-11-7-Vacated	Ukraine Vasyl Lomachenko	WBO

2016-07-23	Present	Mexico Oscar Valdez	WBO

Sentence(s)

In 1977, Rafael Ortega won the WBA featherweight title.

final_sentence: In 1977, Rafael Ortega won the WBA featherweight title.