History
When the Walker Law was passed to legalize and regulate boxing in New York State in 1920, it established all of the present "junior" divisions, including junior bantamweight.
However, the division existed only on paper for 60 years. No one even claimed the title until 1980, when the World Boxing Council staged its first junior bantamweight championship. The World Boxing Association followed suit a year later, the International Boxing Federation in 1983.
In the list of championship fights below, only those bouts are included in which the championship changed hands or the championships of two or more governing bodies was unified.
Champions
Rafael Orono (WBC) 1980-81Chul-Ho Kim (WBC) 1981-82
Gustavo Ballas (WBA) 1981
Rafael Pedroza (WBA) 1981-82
Jiro Watanabe (WBA) 1982-84
Rafael Orono (WBC) 1982-83
Payao Poontarat (WBC) 1983-84
Joo-Do Chun (IBF) 1983-85
Jiro Watanabe 1984-86
Kaosai Galaxy (WBA) 1984
Ellyas Pical (IBF) 1985-86
Cesar Polanco (IBF) 1986
Gilberto Roman 1986-87
Ellyas Pical (IBF) 1986
Santos Laciar (WBC) 1987
Tae-Il Chang (IBF) 1987
Sugar Rojas (WBC) 1987-88
Ellyas Pical (IBF) 1987-89
Gilberto Roman (WBC) 1988-89
Juan Polo Perez (IBF) 1989-90
Nana Konadu (WBC) 1989-90
Sung-Kil Moon (WBC) 1990-93
Robert Quiroga (IBF) 1990-93
Julio Borboa (IBF) 1993-94
Katsuya Onizuka (WBA) 1993-94
Lee Hyung-Chul (WBA) 1994-95
Jose Luis Bueno (WBC) 1993-94
Hiroshi Kawashima (WBC) 1994-97
Harold Grey (IBF) 1994-95
Alimi Goitia (WBA) 1995-96
Yokthai Sith-Oar (WBA) 1996-97
Carlos Salazar (IBF) 1995-96
Harold Grey (IBF) 1996
Danny Romero (IBF) 1996-97
Gerry Penalosa (WBC) 1997-98
Johnny Tapia (IBF) 1997-98
Satoshi Lida (WBA) 1997-98
Cho In-Joo (WBC) 1998-2000
Jesus Rojas (WBA) 1998-99
Mark Johnson (IBF) 1999-2000
Hideki Todaka (WBA) 1999-2000
Masanori Tokuyama (WBC) 2000-04
Felix Machado (IBF) 2000-03
Leo Gamez (WBA) 2000-01
Celes Kobayashi (WBA) 2001-02
Alexander Munoz (WBA) 2002-04
Luis Perez (IBF) 2003-
Katsushige Kawashima (WBC) 2004-
Jose Martin Castillo (WBA) 2004-