History
Once upon a time, there were only two weight divisions in boxing, heavyweight and lightweight. The first boxer to call himself a middleweight was evidently Nat Langham of England, who began fighting in the 1840s.
There wasn't a real middleweight champion, though, until Tom Chandler beat Dooney Harris in a bareknuckle fight in 1867 to win the American title. Mike Donovan eventually became the champion before retiring in 1882, leaving the title vacant.
George Fulljames then claimed the championship, but he was knocked out by Jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey on July 30, 1884. That was the era between the old, bareknuckle London Prize Ring rules and the new Marquis of Queensberry rules, which called for gloves. Dempsey and Fulljames fought wearing heavy driving gloves as a kind of compromise, but Dempsey became the first modern champion with the victory.
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) 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.
Champions
Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey 1884-91Bob Fitzsimmons 1891-97
Charles "Kid" McCoy 1897-98
Tommy Ryan 1898-1907
Stanley Ketchel 1908
Billy Papke 1908
Stanley Ketchel 1908-10
Frank Klaus 1913
George Chip 1913-14
Al Mccoy 1914-17
Jeff Smith (Aus) 1914
Mick King (Aus) 1914
Jeff Smith (Aus) 1914-15
Lee Darcy (Aus) 1915-17
Mike O'dowd 1917-20
Johnny Wilson 1920-23
Wm. Bryan Downey (Ohio) 1921-22
Dave Rosenberg (NY) 1922
Jock Malone (Ohio) 1922-23
Mike O'dowd (NY) 1922
Lou Bogash (NY) 1923
Harry Greb 1923-26
Tiger Flowers 1926
Mickey Walker 1926-31
Gorilla Jones 1931-32
Marcel Thil 1932-37
Ben Jeby (NY) 1932-33
Lou Brouillard (NBA, NY) 1933
Vince Dundee (NBA, NY) 1933-34
Teddy Yarosz (NBA, NY) 1934-35
Babe Risko (NBA, NY) 1935-36
Freddie Steele (NBA, NY) 1936-38
Fred Apostoli 1937-39
Al Hostak (NBA) 1938
Solly Krieger (NBA) 1938-39
Al Hostak (NBA) 1939-40
Ceferino Garcia 1939-40
Ken Overlin 1940-41
Tony Zale (NBA) 1940-41
Billy Soose 1941
Tony Zale 1941-47
Rocky Graziano 1947-48
Tony Zale 1948
Marcel Cerdan 1948-49
Jake LaMotta 1949-51
Sugar Ray Robinson 1951
Randy Turpin 1951
Sugar Ray Robinson 1951-52
Carl (Bobo) Olson 1953-55
Sugar Ray Robinson 1955-57
Gene Fullmer 1957
Sugar Ray Robinson 1957
Carmen Basilio 1957-58
Sugar Ray Robinson 1958-60
Gene Fullmer (NBA) 1959-62
Paul Pender 1960-61
Terry Downes 1961-62
Paul Pender 1962-63
Dick Tiger (WBA) 1962-63
Dick Tiger 1963
Joey Giardello 1963-65
Dick Tiger 1965-66
Emile Griffith 1966-67
Nino Benvenuti 1967
Emile Griffith 1967-68
Nino Benvenuti 1968-70
Carlos Monzon 1970-77
Rodrigo Valdez (WBC) 1974-76
Rodrigo Valdez 1977-78
Hugo Corro 1978-79
Vito Antuofermo 1979-80
Alan Minter 1980
Marvelous Marvin Hagler 1980-87
Sugar Ray Leonard 1987
Frank Tate (IBF) 1987-88
Sumbu Kalambay (WBA) 1987-89
Thomas Hearns (WBC) 1987-88
Iran Barkley (WBC) 1988-89
Michael Nunn(IBF) 1988-91
Roberto Duran (WBC) 1989-90
Mike Mccallum (WBA) 1989-91
Julian Jackson (WBC) 1990-93
James Toney (IBF) 1991-93
Reggie Johnson (WBA) 1992-93
Roy Jones Jr. (IBF) 1993-94
Gerald Mcclellan (WBC) 1993-95
John David Jackson (WBA) 1993-94
Jorge Castro (WBA) 1994-97
Julian Jackson (WBC) 1995
Bernard Hopkins (IBF) 1995-00
Quincy Taylor (WBC) 1995-96
Shinji Takehara (WBA) 1995-96
William Joppy (WBA) 1996-97
Keith Holmes (WBC) 1996-98
Julio Cesar Green (WBA) 1997-98
William Joppy (WBA) 1998-2001
Hassine Cherifi (WBC) 1998-99
Keith Holmes (WBC) 1999-2001
Bernard Hopkins (IBF, WBC) 2001-
Felix Trinidad (WBA) 2001
Bernard Hopkins (IBF, WBA, WBC) 2001-