Talk:List of world heavyweight boxing champions

message: I've removed most of the full names from the table, as they make it harder to read - If somebody really wants to know all of Max Schmeling's middle names they can look on his page. I also removed the IBO title again, as it doesn't have the same status as the "big four". There's too many minor belts to list them all here. sjorford 10:04, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, that used to be a redirect here, somebody's overwritten it with duplicate content. Redirected back, as this list is much more complete. sjorford →•← 08:28, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: Someone edited the article to include English and the England flag for all the British boxers. This made it look very untidy, especially for Lennox Lewis who had the British, English and Canadian flags in his entry. In boxing terms it's Britain, England does not exist as a discrete region - there is no English boxing championship and even the British Boxing Board of Control does not list England as a discrete region or area in its own right [unlike Scotland and Wales]. Whether you agree with them or not, it seems silly to include the English status just for jingoistic nationalistic reasons. I have reverted the changes for now. Little Professor (talk) 21:43, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: British(English) vs British

message: I note that of one enters 'workd heavyweight champions' for 'Go' or 'search' you get wrestling. Should not this sport, boxing, be the preferred redirect for that term? --Dumarest 14:29, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: THE heavyweight championship

message: The page was WAY better in the boxed form, who removed the boxes!!!  --T00C00L 13:19, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think it looks better without the table borders - otherwise the inline notes look rather odd. It's not like it's that hard to read in this state, is it? — sjorford++ 13:54, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: ???

message: You need to resize the listing and add the height and weight 
for each champion as height and weight key info in regard to 
all champions —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.192.1.172 (talk) 15:26, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Needed Article/List Addition

message: Is there a reason why boxers who won the championship on multiple occasions have their names hyperlinked at every mention?  Conventional Wikipedia format would dictate that the name only needs to be hyperlinked once within the same article, but I am not sure if there is a purpose that this multiple hyperlinking serves.  If I do not get any objections, I am going to delete the duplicate hyperlinks in the article. talk toSailorAlphaCentauri 15:43, 9 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Duplicate Hyperlinks 

message: I don't know what data to replace him with, but I don't think he belongs here...
--Motorbikematt (talk) 06:05, 11 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Why is Rocky Balboa on this list? 

message: This page seems to have too many links - so each link is diminished in importance.  I would like to clean 
up the article to have fewer links, concentrating on the important ones.  Some Wikipedia guidlines are
to be found in the Wikipedia Manual of Style and this Wikipedia article on 
overlinking
I want to make two improvements:
* Each boxer really only needs to be linked once, not every time they are mentioned
* Dates and locations are linked throughout the article.  In general, they don't add to the reader's knowledge of boxing champions.  Unless it is unexpected that Wikipedia has an article on the location, I plan to remove these links.
Benthatsme (talk) 07:20, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Excessive linking 

message: Mike Tyson held the IBF, WBA and WBC belts between August 1, 1987 and February 11, 1990. However, I guess that he was not technically the "Universal" champion from May 6, 1989 as Francesco Damiani became the first ever WBO champion, a belt that Tyson never held.
This article seems to be suggesting that Tyson wasn't the "Universal" champion between August 1, 1987 and May 6, 1989, despite him holding all the major belts in the division.
It also suggests that Tyson became "Universal" champion on August 13, 1989, despite the fact that he didn't hold the WBO belt at that stage (he never did) and he (or Damiani) didn't even fight on that date!
Until we get some citation, I think it's best if we say that Tyson was the "Universal" champion between August 1, 1987 and May 6, 1989 and the "IBF, WBA & WBC" champion between May 6, 1989 and February 11, 1990.
Standingfish (talk) 03:10, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mike Tyson: Universal Champion 

message: ALI DID NOT DESERVE SHOT, AS THE FIGHT VS COOPER SHOULD HAVE BEEN DRAW!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jackymakk (talk • contribs) 22:44, 11 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: SONNY LISTON SHOULD HAVE WAITED

message: John Ruiz was born and lived in the United States and as such, he should have an American flag next to his name.  He is of Puerto Rican DESCENT but he was not born in Puerto Rico and he never lived there (his parents did but he didn't), so he shouldn't have the Puerto Rican flag next to his name.  So, I'll change it to the American flag unless someone has any proof that he isn't American-born and bred.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.28.72.216 (talk) 20:55, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: PROOF ON 11/30 www.associatepublisher.com/e/r/ro/rocky_marciano.htm  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ringcham (talk • contribs) 20:47, 15 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  John Ruiz 

message: Why does someone keep putting 2 flags next to Oleg Maskaev's name as well as the unnecessary text underneath?  No one else gets this treatment and neither should he.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.235.111.193 (talk) 14:26, 7 October 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Oleg Maskaev 

message: From the preamble to the article:
"Bare knuckle champions who fought under London Prize Ring rules are not listed here, as they were predominantly British."
Are not the champions of the 20th century predominantly American? Is that a reason to exclude them too? I am not saying that the LPR champions should be included, simply that the reason given for the exclusion is not a good one. aldiboronti (talk) 08:12, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  London Prize Ring champions 

message: "Upon defeating Alexander Povetkin on October 5, 2013, all of the major heavyweight titles were held by the Klitschko brothers until Vitali Klitschko relinquished the WBC title." really should refer to the Wlad vs. Haye fight, shouldn't it? Unless I misremember the events, the author likely misreported through not understanding how the WBA system works. Haye had the real title while Povetkin only was regular-below-super champion. Besides, upon whose defeating Povetkin?80.226.24.2 (talk) 21:25, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Complete nonsense: Either they had all the titles with the defeat of Haye or they failed to have them as soon as a successor for Povetkin as the regular champion was found. I am changing this. If you do not understand the way the WBA works, read up first, talk later.213.196.223.94 (talk) 20:09, 28 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Klitschkos and all the titles 

message: Didn't Ken Norton defeat Frazer, but then lost to George Foreman - leading to the Rumble in the Jungle (perhaps the most famous match in boxing history ever), which mad Ali champion for the second time. And his third time came after winning the re-match against Spinks ?
Frazer -> Norton -> Foreman -> Ali (in -75), why are these not mentioned in the list ? Boeing720 (talk) 15:04, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Rumble in the Jungle (and Ken Norton) 

message: Can someone provide a credible source that mentions Andy Ruiz as a Mexican citizen? BoxRec lists him as American.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.176.44.158 (talk) 09:34, 3 June 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nationality of Andy Ruiz Jr. 

message: Why do we have a (quite poor) section on sanctioning bodies here? None of this is specific to the heavyweight division. It would be better covered in the main Professional boxing article. --Michig (talk) 17:16, 30 October 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sanctioning bodies 

message: The article listing the 'lineal champions' has now (rightly) been deleted, so someone has dumped the content here. I propose removing any mention of the 'lineal title' from this article, and just listing genuine world titles awarded by recognized sanctioning bodies. --Michig (talk) 19:20, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: , a new draft for lineal champions has been created...lol. – 2.O.Boxing 18:28, 15 January 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: (Sigh). --Michig (talk) 20:32, 15 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Let's please get rid of all the 'lineal' nonsense from this article 

message: The table in this article has multiple double standards in its listing of heavyweight titleholders, including some which contradict one another.  The numbering of champions for example credits some continuous championship reigns as multiple, separate eras; while in at least one case, the exact same situation in which one champion is kept in the listing with a footnote (Lucas Browne, who was stripped of his title for drug use) while another (Francois Botha) keeps being deleted from the list, though he won (and lost) the title under identical circumstances.  Further, cherry picking the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO while ignoring lineal and IBO championship titleholders (which in many cases overlap titles recognized by other organizations) is short sighted. --RaleighRadioGaGa (User talk:RaleighRadioGaGa) 23:33, 2 March 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: There is no lineal title. It's bullshit. IBO there's a case for including while we include WBO titles going back to when they arguably had less credibility than IBO titles do today and the WBA Regular nonsense. --Michig (talk) 09:38, 5 March 2020 (UTC)

text: No vendetta, but like most people who know what they're talking about I realise how bad it makes this encyclopedia look to include it. --Michig (talk) 17:34, 15 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Double standards galore 

message: Please update the sanctioning bodies sections with the current champions. Clearly, it is currently outdated.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kaizackjohnson (talk • contribs) 16:51, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Trevor Bryan is WBA Interim champion. Dillian Whyte is the WBC interim champion 

message: The phrase "Heavyweight Champion of the World" redirects to this article (as you'd expect), yet this exact phrasing is the title of a song by Reverend and the Makers. Would it be sensible to feature a hatnote on this article to point those looking for the song in the right direction?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by A wild wild world (talk • contribs) 22:37, 27 April 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Should there be a hatnote to link to the article "Heavyweight Champion of the World (song)"? 

message: Michael Bentt beat Tommy Morrison for the WBO in 1993, lost first defence against herbie hide, who DOES appear on the list. So add another champ to UK and Jamaca please 👍 Tottenhamdan77, Bournemouth 82.3.141.136 (talk) 17:29, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: He's listed as #56. – 2.O.Boxing 18:32, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Michael Bentt 

message: Michael doesn't appear un the list 'By nationality' in either Britain or Jamaica 82.3.141.136 (talk) 18:43, 9 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Michael Bentt 2 

message: Would it be helpful to color code the various titles; WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF? TY.54 (talk) 21:08, 25 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Color code the various titles?