Joe Louis or J.C. Chavez? Most title defenses

For years, when it came to title defenses, heavyweight champion Joe “The Bomber” Louis, 66-3, of Detroit, Michigan, having 25, was the most talked about.

I once did an article on Argentina’s WBO World Flyweight and Super Flyweight champion Omar “El Huracan” Narvaez, 49-4-2, having 27 and holding the record for most title defenses.

Today, the record with the most title defenses is held by the former 3-division world champion Mexico’s Julio “J.C.” Chavez, 107-6-2, with 29 defenses.

I even mentioned among the females were two, starting with Germany’s world Flyweight, Light Flyweight, and Super Flyweight champion Regina Halmich, 54-1-1, with 44 defenses, but some 26 were against opponents making their debut, and others with losing or poor records.

Another female who has 25 defenses is undisputed welterweight champion Colombian out of Norway Cecilia “First Lady” Braekhus, 37-2-1, who is still active.

Others high on the list of title defenses are 5-division world champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather, 50-0, of Las Vegas, Nevada, with 26, finishing up his career in 2017, which was prior to my article on title defenses.

Still active is 5-division world champion and current Super Middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 62-2-2, with 19 title defenses, of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Another inactive high on the list is 2-division world champion Ricardo “Finito” Lopez, 51-0-1, of Mexico City, Mexico, with 24 defenses.

Middleweight champion Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin, 42-2-1, of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, with 23 defenses last fought in 2022 and in 2023, gave up his two titles and looks like he is unofficially retired.

Two others with 23 defenses are former heavyweight champion Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko of Kyiv, Ukraine. Also, at 23, is two-division world champion Darious “Tiger” Michalczewski, 48-2, of Gdansk, Poland.

At 22 defenses is 2-division champion Virgil “Quicksilver” Hill, 51-7, of Williston, No. Dakota.

At 21, there are five, starting with the 3-division champion, the only one to have held all titles at the same time, Henry “Homicide Hank” Armstrong, 149-21-10, of L.A, California.

Germany’s Super Middleweight champion Sven “Phantom” Ottke, 34-0. Super Middleweight champion Joe “Pride of Wales” Calzaghe, 46-0, of Wales, UK. 2-division world champion Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins, 55-8-2, of Hockessin, Delaware.

Flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 91-5-2, of Nakhon, Ratchasima, Thailand.

At 19 are four starting with two heavyweight champions in Muhammad “The Greatest” Ali, 56-5, of Louisville, Kentucky, and Larry “The Easton Assassin” Holmes, 69-6, of Easton, Pennsylvania.

Two others at 19 are Featherweight champion Eusebio “El Alacran” Pedroza, 41-6-1, of Panama City, Panama. Also, world Super Flyweight champion Khaosai Galaxy, 47-1, of Bangkok, Thailand.

Three at 18, starting with 3-division world champion Wilfredo “Bazooka” Gomez, 44-3-1, of Las Monjas, Puerto Rico. 6-division world champion Oscar “Golden Boy” De La Hoya, 39-6, of East L.A., California. Third is Light Flyweight world champion Myung-Woo “Sunagi” Yuh, 38-1-1, of Suwon, South Korea.

Three at 17, starting with Chris “The Dragon” John, 48-1-3, of Semarsang, Indonesia. 4-time division champion Roy Jones, Jr., 66-10, of Pensacola, Florida. Two-division champion Azuma “The Professor” Nelson, 38-6-2, of Accra, Ghana.