Who Had the Most Successful Title Defenses?

By Ken Hissner: The one boxer you have heard about having the most title defenses was Detroit, Michigan’s Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis in the heavyweight division with “25”. His final record was 66-3 with 52 stoppages.

That number has been surpassed, and some may need an asterisk like Germany’s Regina Halmich with “44,” which includes losing records or no records being in their debut. Without the latter, that narrows it down to “26”.

She held titles at WIBF Flyweight, WIBF Super Flyweight, and WIBF Light Flyweight. Her final record was 54-1-1 with 16 stoppages.

Another female from Colombia and Norway was Cecilia “First Lady” Braekhus with “25” defenses. She held the WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF welterweight titles. She is currently at 36-2 with nine stoppages.

Mexico’s Julio “J.C.” Cesar Chavez, Sr. had “27” defenses. He won titles at WBC Super Featherweight, WBA and WBC Lightweight, and WBC and IBF Super Lightweight. His final record was 107-6-2 with 85 stoppages.

From Las Vegas, Nevada is Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr., who had “26” defenses. He won titles at WBC Super Featherweight, WBC Lightweight, WBC Super Lightweight, IBF, WBC, WBA, WBO Welterweight, WBA, and WBC Light Middleweight. His final record was 50-0 with 27 stoppages.

Argentina’s Omar “El Huracan” Andres Narvez, had “27” defenses. He held titles at WBO Flyweight and WBO Super Flyweight. His final record was 49-4-2 with 25 stoppages.

Henry “Homicide” Armstrong, from Los Angeles, California, had “26” defenses. He held world titles at Featherweight, Welterweight, and Lightweight. His final record was 149-21-10 with 99 stoppages.

Mexico’s Ricardo “Finito” Lopez had “24” defenses. He held titles WBC, WBO, WBA Minimumweight, and IBF Light Flyweight. His final record was 51-0-1 with 38 stoppages.

Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin from Kazakhstan has had “23” defenses. He holds the WBA and IBF Middleweight titles. His current record is 42-1-1 with 37 stoppages.

Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko had “23” defenses. He held the WBA, WBO, and IBF Heavyweight titles. He was born in Kazakhstan while living in Kyiv, Ukraine. His final record was 64-5 with 53 stoppages.

Poland’s Dariuz “Tiger” Michalczewski, had “23” defenses. He held the WBO, WBA, and IBF Light Heavyweight titles and the WBO Cruiserweight titles. His final record was 48-2 with 38 stoppages.

Virgil “Quicksilver” Hill had “22” defenses. He was from Williston, North Dakota, and lived in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He held the WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight titles and the WBA Cruiserweight titles. His final record was 51-7, with 24 stoppages.

Sven “Phantom” Ottke had “21” defenses, and was from Karlsruhe, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. During his career, he held the WBA and IBF Super Middleweight titles. His final record was 34-0 with six stoppages.

Joe “Pride of Wales Italian Dragon” Calzaghe had “21” defenses. He was from Newbridge, Wales, UK. He held the WBO, WBA, WBC, and IBF Super Middleweight titles. He was 46-0 with 32 stoppages.
Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins had “21” defenses. He held the WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF Middleweight titles and the WBA, WBC, and IBF Light Heavyweight titles. His final record was 55-8-2 with 32 stoppages. He was from Philadelphia, PA, living in Hockessin, Delaware.

Pongsaklek “Sitkanongsak” Wonjongkam had “21” defenses. He was from Nakhon, Ratchasima, Thailand, and he held the WBC Flyweight title. His final record was 91-5-2 with 47 stoppages.