This is a chronological List of World Cruiserweight Boxing Champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:

• The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA),
• The World Boxing Council (WBC), founded in 1963,
• The International Boxing Federation (IBF), founded in 1983,
• The World Boxing Organization (WBO), founded in 1988,

{| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" |- style="background:#efefef;" !Reign Began !Reign Ended !Champion !Recognition |- |31 March 1980 |25 November 1981 | Marvin Camel |Universal (WBC) |- |colspan="4" style="font-size: smaller;"|

Camel and Mate Parlov fought to a draw in the first Cruiserweight championship bout on August 12, 1979, sanctioned by the World Boxing Council. Camel won the rematch to become champion. Since the WBC was the only sanctioning body to recognize a Cruiserweight division at the time, he is considered by some as an undisputed champion.

|- |25 November 1980 |27 June 1982 | Carlos De Leon |Universal (WBC) |- |13 February 1982 |1 December 1984 | Ossie Ocasio |WBA |- |colspan="4" style="font-size: smaller;"|

Ocasio defeated Robbie Williams in the first Cruiserweight championship bout sanctioned by the World Boxing Association.

|- |26 June 1982 |17 July 1983 | S.T. Gordon |WBC |- |17 July 1983 |6 June 1985 | Carlos De Leon |WBC |- |13 February 1983 |6 October 1984 | Marvin Camel |IBF |- |colspan="4" style="font-size: smaller;"|

Just as he had done with the WBC title, Camel became the first champion in the division crowned by the International Boxing Federation, defeating Roddy McDonald to win the title.

|- |6 October 1984 |25 October 1986 | Lee Roy Murphy |IBF |- |1 December 1984 |27 July 1985 | Piet Crous |WBA |- |6 June 1985 |21 September 1985 | Alfonso Ratliff |WBC |- |27 July 1985 |12 July 1986¹ | Dwight Braxton |WBA |- |21 September 1985 |22 March 1986 | Bernard Benton |WBC |- |22 March 1986 |9 April 1988 | Carlos De Leon |WBC |- |12 July 1986 |15 May 1987 | Evander Holyfield |WBA |- |25 October 1986 |15 May 1987 | Rickey Parkey |IBF |- |15 May 1987 |9 April 1988 | Evander Holyfield |WBA & IBF |- |colspan="4" style="font-size: smaller;"|

Holyfield defeated Parkey to unify the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titles.

|- |9 April 1988 |4 December 1988³ | Evander Holyfield |Universal |- |colspan="4" style="font-size: smaller;"|

Holyfield defeated Carlos De Leon to earn the World Boxing Council championship, making him the division's first truly undisputed champion.

|- |25 March 1989 |25 September 1989² | Taoufik Belbouli |WBA |- |17 May 1989 |27 July 1990 | Carlos De Leon |WBC |- |3 June 1989 |22 March 1990 | Glenn McCrory |IBF |- |27 November 1989 |8 March 1991 | Robert Daniels |WBA |- |12 March 1989 |17 May 1990 | Boone Pultz |WBO |- |22 March 1990 |27 July 1991² | Jeff Lampkin |IBF |- |17 May 1990 |1 May 1992 | Magne Havnaa³ |WBO |- |27 July 1990 |20 July 1991 | Massimiliano Duran |WBC |- |8 March 1991 |5 August 1993² | Bobby Czyz |WBA |- |20 July 1991 |7 July 1995² | Anaclet Wamba |WBC |- |7 September 1991 |30 July 1992 | James Warring |IBF |- |25 July 1992 |13 February 1993 | Tyrone Booze |WBO |- |30 July 1992 |30 April 1996³ | Alfred Cole |IBF |- |13 February 1993 |26 June 1993 | Markus Bott |WBO |- |26 June 1993 |17 December 1994 | Nestor Giovannini |WBO |- |6 November 1993 |22 July 1995 | Orlin Norris |WBA |- |17 December 1994 |1 January 1995³ | Dariusz Michalczewski |WBO |- |10 June 1995 |4 October 1997 | Ralf Rocchigiani |WBO |- |22 July 1995 |8 November 1997 | Nate Miller |WBA |- |25 July 1995 |21 February 1998 | Marcelo Dominguez |WBC |- |31 August 1996 |21 June 1997 | Adolpho Washington |IBF |- |21 June 1997 |8 November 1997 | Uriah Grant |IBF |- |4 October 1997 |27 March 1999 | Carl Thompson |WBO |- |8 November 1997 |30 October 1998 | Imamu Mayfield |IBF |- |8 November 1997 |9 December 2000 | Fabrice Tiozzo |WBA |- |21 February 1998 |19 February 2002³ | Juan Carlos Gomez |WBC |- |30 October 1998 |5 June 1999 | Arthur Williams |IBF |- |27 March 1999 |22 September 2006 | Johnny Nelson |WBO |- |5 June 1999 |26 April 2003 | Vassiliy Jirov |IBF |- |9 December 2000 |23 February 2002 | Virgil Hill |WBA |- |23 February 2002 |7 January 2006 | Jean-Marc Mormeck |WBA & WBC |- |12 October 2003 |22 April 2005 | Wayne Braithwaite |WBC |- |26 April 2003 |9 December 2003³ | James Toney |IBF |- |1 May 2004 |20 May 2005³ | Kelvin Davis |IBF |- |20 May 2005 |7 January 2006 | O'Neil Bell |IBF |- |7 January 2006 |31 March 2006 | O'Neil Bell |WBA, WBC, & IBF |- |colspan="4" style="font-size: smaller;"|

O'Neil Bell defeated Jean-Marc Mormeck on January 7, 2006, by knockout in round 10, unifying his IBF belt with Mormeck's WBA and WBC making him the second undisputed champion of the division. That distinction lasted just under three months, as the IBF withdrew its recognition of Bell when Bell failed to reach an agreement to fight the organization's mandatory challenger.

|- |31 March 2006 |17 March 2007 | O'Neil Bell |WBA, WBC |- |22 September 2006 |8 March 2008 | Enzo Maccarinelli |WBO |- |26 November 2006 |26 May 2007 | Krzysztof Włodarczyk |IBF |- |17 March 2007 |10 November 2007 | Jean-Marc Mormeck |WBA, WBC |- |26 May 2007 |Present | Steve Cunningham |IBF |- |10 November 2007 |Present | David Haye |WBA, WBC |- |8 March 2008 |12 May 2008 | David Haye |WBA, WBC, WBO |- |colspan="4" style="font-size: smaller;"|

David Haye defeated Enzo Maccarinelli on March 8, 2008, by knockout in round 2, unifying his WBA and WBC belt with Maccarinelli's WBO making him the third undisputed champion of the division. On May 12th, he relinquished his WBC belt in order to move up to the heavyweight division in an attempt to emulate the success of Evander Holyfield.

|- |10 November 2007 WBA
12 May 2008 WBO |Present | David Haye |WBA, WBO |- |colspan="4" style="font-size: smaller;"|

Footnotes

¹ Later known as Dwight Muhammad Qawi.

² Championship recognition withdrawn due to champion's failure/refusal to defend title against mandatory or designated challenger.

³ Relinquished title.

Cruiserweight champions who won belts in other divisions

• Braxton, Michalczewski, Hill, and Tiozzo all were light-heavyweight champions.
• Holyfield is the only former cruiserweight champions to win a piece of the heavyweight title.
• Toney titles at middleweight and super middleweight. Toney defeated John Ruiz in an attempt on the heavyweight title but failed a post-fight drugs test and the result was set aside.

List of Cruiserweight Champions Prior to 1980

The cruiserweight class was inaugurated by the WBC in 1979, and the belt was to be decided by the winner of a fight between Mate Parlov and Marvin Camel. The bout ended in a draw, and the champion wasn't crowned until their rematch on 31 March 1980, which was won by Camel. The WBA followed suit in 1982, inaugurating their belt in a battle between Ossie Ocasio and Robbie Williams, which was won by Ocasio.