History
Jack Root was a very good boxer, but he was a "tweener": Too big for the middleweight class, which then had a limit of 158 pounds, but not big enough to take on top heavyweights, who weighed 180 pounds and up.
Root's manager, Lou Houseman, in 1903, created a new division with an oxymoronic name and challenged any fighter of 175 pounds or less to take on his fighter for the light heavyweight title. The idea won general acceptance. On April 22, 1903, Root defeated Charles "Kid" McCoy to become the first light heavyweight champion, and the division has flourished ever since.
The lists below include generally recognized champions, as well as champions of the National Boxing Association/World Boxing Association (NBA/WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Organization (WBO), and International Boxing Federation (IBF).
Some other champions recognized by New York (NY), Great Britain (GBR), Europe and the European Boxing Union (EBU) are also included, if they seemed to be genuine claimants and /or later won recognition from an international body.
Only those bouts are included in which the championship changed hands or the championships of two or more governing bodies was unified.
