| 1888 |
| Oct. 30 | Paddy Duffy | KO 17 | William McMillan | Fort Foote, VA | |
| | By beating McMillan, the English champion, Duffy became the first world champion | |
| 1890 |
| | Duffy died on July 19, leaving the title vacant until 1892 | |
| 1892 |
| Dec. 14 | Mysterious Billy Smith | KO 14 | Danny Needham | San Francisco | |
| 1894 |
| Jul. 26 | Tommy Ryan | W 20 | Mysterious Billy Smith | Minneapolis | |
| 1898 |
| | Ryan moved up in class and Smith claimed the title | |
| Aug. 25 | Mysterious Billy Smith | W 25 | Matty Matthews | New York City | |
| | Smith won universal recognition as champion after this victory | |
| 1900 |
| Apr. 17 | Matty Matthews | KO 19 | Mysterious Billy Smith | New York City | |
| May 5 | Eddie Connolly | W 25 | Matty Matthews | Brooklyn, NY | |
| Aug. 13 | Rube Ferns | KO 15 | Eddie Connolly | Buffalo | |
| Oct. 16 | Matty Matthews | W 15 | Rube Ferns | Detroit | |
| 1901 |
| May 24 | Rube Ferns | KO 10 | Matty Matthews | Toronto | |
| Dec. 18 | Joe Walcott | KO 5 | Rube Ferns | Toronto | |
| 1904 |
| Apr. 29 | Dixie Kid | W Disq. 20 | Joe Walcott | San Francisco | |
| | Dixie Kid outgrew the class and Walcott claimed the title once more | |
| 1906 |
| Oct. 16 | Honey Mellody | W 15 | Joe Walcott | Chelsea, MA | |
| 1907 |
| Apr. 23 | Mike Twin Sullivan | W 20 | Honey Mellody | Los Angeles, CA | |
| | Sullivan moved up in class, leaving many claimants but no clear champion. All of the following fights were billed as championship bouts. | |
| Nov. 1 | Frank Mantell | KO 15 | Honey Mellody | Dayton, OH | |
| 1908 |
| Jan. 23 | Harry Lewis | KO 3 | Frank Mantell | New Haven, CT | |
| Nov. 7 | Jimmy Gardner | W 15 | Jimmy Clabby | Gretna, LA | |
| 1910 |
| Sep. 5 | Jimmy Clabby | KO 13 | Guy Buckles | Sheridan, WY | |
| 1914 |
| Jan. 1 | Waldemar Holberg | W 20 | Ray Bronson | Melbourne | |
| Jan. 24 | Tom McCormick | W Disq. 6 | Waldemar Holberg | Melbourne | |
| Mar. 21 | Matt Wells | W 20 | Tom McCormick | Sydney | |
| 1915 |
| May 1 | Mike Glover | W 12 | Matt Wells | Boston | |
| May 22 | Jack Britton | W 12 | Mike Glover | Boston | |
| Aug. 31 | Ted (Kid) Lewis | W 12 | Jack Britton | Boston | |
| | Lewis was the first universally recognized champion since 1907 | |
| 1916 |
| Apr. 24 | Jack Britton | W 20 | Ted (Kid) Lewis | New Orleans | |
| 1917 |
| May 25 | Ted (Kid) Lewis | W 20 | Jack Britton | Dayton, OH | |
| 1919 |
| Mar. 17 | Jack Britton | KO 9 | Ted (Kid) Lewis | Canton, OH | |
| 1922 |
| Nov. 1 | Mickey Walker | W 15 | Jack Britton | New York City | |
| 1926 |
| May 20 | Pete Latzo | W 10 | Mickey Walker | Scranton, PA | |
| 1927 |
| May 3 | Joe Dundee | W 15 | Pete Latzo | New York City | |
| 1929 |
| Mar. 25 | Jackie Fields | W 10 | Young Jack Thompson | Chicago | NBA |
| Jul. 25 | Jackie Fields | W Disq. 2 | Joe Dundee | Detroit | |
| 1930 |
| May 9 | Young Jack Thompson | W 15 | Jackie Fields | Detroit | |
| Sep. 5 | Tommy Freeman | W 15 | Young Jack Thompson | Cleveland | |
| 1931 |
| Apr. 14 | Young Jack Thompson | KO 12 | Tommy Freeman | Cleveland | |
| Oct. 23 | Lou Brouillard | W 15 | Young Jack Thompson | Boston | |
| 1932 |
| Jan. 28 | Jackie Fields | W 10 | Lou Brouillard | Chicago | |
| 1933 |
| Feb. 22 | Young Corbett III | W 10 | Jackie Fields | San Francisco | |
| May 29 | Jimmy McLarnin | KO 1 | Young Corbett III | Los Angeles | |
| 1934 |
| May 28 | Barney Ross | W 15 | Jimmy McLarnin | Long Island City | |
| Sep. 17 | Jimmy McLamin | W 15 | Barney Ross | Long Island City | |
| 1935 |
| May 28 | Barney Ross | W 15 | Jimmy McLarnin | New York City | |
| 1938 |
| May 31 | Henry Armstrong | W 15 | Barney Ross | Long Island City | |
| 1940 |
| Oct. 4 | Fritzie Zivic | W 15 | Henry Armstrong | New York City | |
| 1941 |
| Jul. 29 | Freddie Cochrane | W 15 | Fritzie Zivic | Newark, NJ | |
| 1946 |
| Feb. 1 | Marty Servo | KO 4 | Freddie Cochrane | New York City | |
| | A nose injury forced Servo to announce his retirement in August | |
| Dec. 20 | Sugar Ray Robinson | W 15 | Tommy Bell | New York City | |
| | Robinson was recognized as champion after this victory | |
| 1951 |
| | Robinson resigned after winning the middleweight championship | |
| Mar. 14 | Johnny Bratton | W 15 | Charley Fusari | Chicago | NBA |
| | This was the final of a tournament to determine the new champion | |
| May 18 | Kid Gavilan | W 15 | Johnny Bratton | New York City | |
| 1954 |
| Oct. 20 | Johnny Saxton | W 15 | Kid Gavilan | Philadelphia | |
| 1955 |
| Apr. 1 | Tony DeMarco | KO 15 | Johnny Saxton | Boston | |
| May 10 | Carmen Basilio | KO 12 | Tony DeMarco | Syracuse | |
| 1956 |
| Mar. 14 | Johnny Saxton | W 15 | Carmen Basilio | Chicago | |
| Sep. 12 | Carmen Basilio | KO 9 | Johnny Saxton | Syracuse | |
| | Basilio resigned after winning the middleweight championship | |
| 1958 |
| May 5 | Virgil Akins | KO 4 | Vince Martinez | St. Louis | |
| | Akins claimed the vacant welterweight title with this victory | |
| Dec. 5 | Don Jordan | W 15 | Virgil Akins | Los Angeles | |
| 1960 |
| May 27 | Benny Kid Paret | W 15 | Don Jordan | Las Vegas | |
| 1961 |
| Apr. 1 | Emile Griffith | KO 13 | Benny Kid Paret | Miami Beach | |
| Sep. 30 | Benny Kid Paret | W 15 | Emile Griffith | New York City | |
| 1962 |
| Mar. 24 | Emile Griffith | KO 12 | Benny Kid Paret | New York City | |
| 1962 |
| Dec 8 | Emile Griffith | TKO 9 | Jorge Jose Fernandez | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBA, WBC |
| 1963 |
| Mar 21 | Luis Manuel Rodriguez | UD 15 | Emile Griffith | Los Angeles, California | WBA, WBC |
| Jun 8 | Emile Griffith | SD 15 | Luis Manuel Rodriguez | New York, New York | WBA, WBC |
| 1966 |
| | Emile Griffith vacated the WBA and WBC titles; Cokes and Gonzalez fought for the vacant titles | |
| Aug 24 | Curtis Cokes | UD 15 | Manuel Gonzalez | New Orleans, Louisiana | WBA, WBC |
| 1969 |
| Apr 18 | Jose Napoles | RTD 13 | Curtis Cokes | Inglewood, California | WBA, WBC |
| 1970 |
| Dec 3 | Billy Backus | TKO 4 | Jose Napoles | Syracuse, New York | WBA, WBC |
| 1971 |
| Jun 4 | Jose Napoles | TKO 8 | Billy Backus | Inglewood, California | WBA, WBC |
| 1975 |
| | Jose Napoles was stripped of the WBA title; Espada and Gray fought for the vacant title | |
| Jun 28 | Angel Espada | UD 15 | Clyde Gray | San Juan, Puerto Rico | WBA |
| Dec 6 | John H. Stracey | TKO 6 | Jose Napoles | Mexico City, Mexico | WBC |
| 1976 |
| Jun 22 | Carlos Palomino | TKO 12 | John H. Stracey | London, England | WBC |
| Jul 17 | Pipino Cuevas | TKO 2 | Angel Espada | Mexicali, Mexico | WBA |
| 1979 |
| Jan 14 | Wilfred Benitez | SD 15 | Carlos Palomino | San Juan, Puerto Rico | WBC |
| Nov 30 | Sugar Ray Leonard | TKO 15 | Wilfred Benitez | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBC |
| 1980 |
| Jun 20 | Roberto Duran | UD 15 | Sugar Ray Leonard | Montreal, Quebec, CAN | WBC |
| Aug 2 | Thomas Hearns | TKO 2 | Pipino Cuevas | Detroit, Michigan | WBA |
| Nov 25 | Sugar Ray Leonard | TKO 8 | Roberto Duran | New Orleans, Louisiana | WBC |
| 1981 |
| Sep 16 | Sugar Ray Leonard | TKO 14 | Thomas Hearns | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBA |
| 1983 |
| | Sugar Ray Leonard retired; Curry and Hwang fought for the vacant WBA title; McCrory and Jones fought for the vacant WBC title | |
| Feb 13 | Donald Curry | UD 15 | Jun-Suk Hwang | Fort Worth, Texas | WBA |
| Mar 19 | Milton McCrory | PTS 12 | Colin Jones | Reno, Nevada | WBC |
| 1984 |
| Feb 4 | Donald Curry | UD 15 | Marlon Starling | Atlantic City, New Jersey | IBF |
| 1985 |
| Dec 6 | Donald Curry | KO 2 | Milton McCrory | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBC |
| 1986 |
| Sep 27 | Lloyd Honeyghan | RTD 6 | Donald Curry | Atlantic City, New Jersey | IBF, WBA, WBC |
| 1987 |
| | Lloyd Honeyghan vacated the WBA title; Breland and Volbrecht fought for the vacant title | |
| Feb 6 | Mark Breland | TKO 7 | Harold Volbrecht | Atlantic City, New Jersey | WBA |
| Aug 22 | Marlon Starling | TKO 11 | Mark Breland | Columbia, South Carolina | WBA |
| Oct 28 | Jorge Vaca | TD 8 | Lloyd Honeyghan | London, England | WBC |
| 1988 |
| Mar 29 | Lloyd Honeyghan | KO 3 | Jorge Vaca | London, England | WBC |
| | Lloyd Honeyghan was stripped of the IBF title; Brown and Trice fought for the vacant title | |
| Apr 23 | Simon Brown | TKO 14 | Tyrone Trice | Berck sur Mer, France | IBF |
| Jul 29 | Tomas Molinares | NC 6 | Marlon Starling | Atlantic City, New Jersey | WBA |
| 1989 |
| | Tomas Molinares vacated the WBA title; Breland and Lee fought for the vacant title | |
| Feb 4 | Mark Breland | TKO 1 | Seung-Soon Lee | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBA |
| Feb 4 | Marlon Starling | TKO 9 | Lloyd Honeyghan | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBC |
| May 6 | Genaro Leon | KO 1 | Danny Garcia | Santa Ana, California | WBO |
| | Genaro Leon vacated the WBO title; Galloway and Hamza fought for the vacant title | |
| Dec 15 | Manning Galloway | PTS 12 | Al Hamza | Yabucoa, Puerto Rico | WBO |
| 1990 |
| Jul 8 | Aaron Davis | KO 9 | Mark Breland | Reno, Nevada | WBA |
| Aug 19 | Maurice Blocker | MD 12 | Marlon Starling | Reno, Nevada | WBC |
| 1991 |
| Jan 19 | Meldrick Taylor | UD 12 | Aaron Davis | Atlantic City, New Jersey | WBA |
| Mar 18 | Simon Brown | TKO 10 | Maurice Blocker | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBC |
| | Simon Brown vacanted the IBF title; Blocker and Glenwood Brown fought for the vacant title | |
| Oct 4 | Maurice Blocker | SD 12 | Glenwood Brown | Atlantic City, New Jersey | IBF |
| Nov 29 | James “Buddy” McGirt | UD 12 | Simon Brown | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBC |
| 1992 |
| Oct 31 | Crisanto Espana | TKO 8 | Meldrick Taylor | London, UK | WBA |
| 1993 |
| Feb 12 | Gert Bo Jacobsen | UD 12 | Manning Galloway | Randers, DEN | WBO |
| Mar 6 | Pernell Whitaker | UD 12 | James “Buddy” McGirt | New York, New York | WBC |
| Jun 19 | Felix Trinidad | KO 2 | Maurice Blocker | San Diego, California | IBF |
| | Gert Bo Jacobsen vacated the WBO title; Loughran and Smith fought for the vacant title | |
| Oct 16 | Eamonn Loughran | UD 12 | Lorenzo Smith | Belfast, Northern Ireland | WBO |
| 1994 |
| Jun 4 | Ike Quartey | TKO 11 | Crisanto Espana | Levallois-Perret, France | WBA |
| 1996 |
| Apr 13 | Jose Luis Lopez | TKO 1 | Eamonn Loughran | Liverpool, England | WBO |
| 1997 |
| | Jose Luis Lopez vacated the WBO title; Loewe and Samaniego fought for the vacant title | |
| Feb 22 | Michael Loewe | UD 12 | Santiago Samaniego | Hamburg, Germany | WBO |
| Apr 12 | Oscar De La Hoya | UD 12 | Pernell Whitaker | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBC |
| 1998 |
| | Michael Loewe vacated the WBO title; Kotiev and Townsend fought for the vacant title | |
| Feb 14 | Ahmed Kotiev | UD 12 | Leonard Townsend | Stuttgart, Germany | WBO |
| | Ike Quartey was stripped of the WBA title; Page and Pestriaev fought for the vacant title | |
| Oct 10 | James Page | KO 2 | Andrei Pestriaev | Bercy, France | WBA |
| 1999 |
| Sep 18 | Felix Trinidad | MD 12 | Oscar De La Hoya | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBC |
| 2000 |
| May 6 | Daniel Santos | KO 5 | Ahmed Kotiev | Neuss, Germany | WBO |
| Jun 17 | Shane Mosley | SD 12 | Oscar De La Hoya | Los Angeles, California | WBC |
| | Felix Trinidad vacated the IBF title; Forrest and Frank fought for the vacant title | |
| Aug 26 | Vernon Forrest | NC 3 | Raul Frank | Las Vegas, Nevada | IBF |
| 2001 |
| Feb 17 | Andrew Lewis | TKO 7 | James Page | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBA |
| 2002 |
| Jan 26 | Vernon Forrest | UD 12 | Shane Mosley | New York, New York | WBC |
| | Daniel Santos vacated the WBO title; Margarito and Diaz fought for the vacant title | |
| Mar 16 | Antonio Margarito | TKO 10 | Antonio Diaz | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBO |
| Mar 30 | Ricardo Mayorga | TKO 5 | Andrew Lewis | Reading, Pennsylvania | WBA |
| | Vernon Forrest vacated the IBF title; Piccirillo and Spinks fought for the vacant title | |
| Apr 13 | Michele Piccirillo | UD 12 | Cory Spinks | Campione d'Italia, Italy | IBF |
| 2003 |
| Jan 25 | Ricardo Mayorga | TKO 3 | Vernon Forrest | Temecula, California | WBC |
| Mar 22 | Cory Spinks | UD 12 | Michele Piccirillo | Campione d'Italia, Italy | IBF |
| Dec 13 | Cory Spinks | MD 12 | Ricardo Mayorga | Atlantic City, New Jersey | WBA, WBC |
| 2005 |
| Feb 5 | Zab Judah | TKO 9 | Cory Spinks | Saint Louis, Missouri | IBF, WBA, WBC |
| | Zab Judah was stripped of the WBA title; Collazo and Gonzalez fought for the vacnat title | |
| Aug 13 | Luis Collazo | TKO 8 | Miguel Angel Gonzalez | Chicago, Illinois | WBA |
| 2006 |
| Jan 7 | Carlos Manuel Baldomir | UD 12 | Zab Judah | New York, New York | WBC |
| Apr 8 | Floyd Mayweather Jr. | UD 12 | Zab Judah | Las Vegas, Nevada | IBF |
| May 13 | Ricky Hatton | UD 12 | Luis Collazo | Boston, Massachusetts | WBA |
| | Floyd Mayweather Jr. vacated the IBF title; Cintron and Suarez fought for the vacant title | |
| Oct 28 | Kermit Cintron | TKO 6 | Mark Suarez | Palm Beach, Florida | IBF |
| Nov 4 | Floyd Mayweather Jr. | UD 12 | Carlos Manuel Baldomir | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBC |
| | Ricky Hatton vacated the WBA title; Cotto and Quintana fought for the vacant title | |
| Dec 2 | Miguel Angel Cotto | RTD 5 | Carlos Quintana | Atlantic City, New Jersey | WBA |
| 2007 |
| Jul 14 | Paul Williams | UD 12 | Antonio Margarito | Carson, California | WBO |
| 2008 |
| Feb 9 | Carlos Quintana | UD 12 | Paul Williams | Temecula, California | WBO |
| Apr 12 | Antonio Margarito | KO 6 | Kermit Cintron | Atlantic City, New Jersey | IBF |
| Jun 7 | Paul Williams | TKO 1 | Carlos Quintana | Uncasville, Connecticut | WBO |
| Jul 26 | Antonio Margarito | TKO 11 | Miguel Angel Cotto | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBA |
| | Antonio Margarito was stripped of the IBF title; Clottey and Judah fought for the vacant title | |
| Aug 2 | Joshua Clottey | TD 9 | Zab Judah | Las Vegas, Nevada | IBF |
| 2009 |
| Jan 24 | Shane Mosley | TKO 9 | Antonio Margarito | Los Angeles, California | WBA |
| | Paul Williams vacated the WBO title; Cotto and Jennings fought for the vacant title | |
| Feb 21 | Miguel Angel Cotto | TKO 5 | Michael Jennings | New York, New York | WBO |
| | Joshua Clottey vacated the IBF title; Hlatshwayo and Rodriguez fought for the vacant title | |
| Aug 1 | Isaac Hlatshwayo | SD 12 | Delvin Rodriguez | Uncasville, Connecticut | IBF |
| Nov 14 | Manny Pacquiao | TKO 12 | Miguel Angel Cotto | Las Vegas, Nevada | WBO |
| Dec 11 | Jan Zaveck | TKO 3 | Isaac Hlatshwayo | Johannesburg, South Africa | IBF |
