List of combined reigns
Main article: World heavyweight boxing championship records and statistics
As of December 14, 2020.
Keys: Active title reign Reign has endedWBO heavyweight title bouts before August 1997 are not included[88]
List of individual reigns
The list includes The Ring belt. Career total time as champion (for multiple time champions) does not apply.
Keys: Active Title Reign Reign has endedThe WBO heavyweight title bouts before August 1997 are not included
| Pos. | Name | Title Reign | Title recognition | Successful Defenses | Opponents beaten |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Joe Louis | 11 years, 8 months, 8 days | Universal | 26 | 21 |
| 2. | Wladimir Klitschko | 9 years, 7 months and 6 days | IBF (+WBA, WBO, The Ring) | 18 | 17 |
| 3. | Larry Holmes | 7 years, 3 months, 12 days | WBC-to-IBF (+The Ring) | 19 | 19 |
| 4. | Jack Dempsey | 7 years, 2 months, 19 days | Universal | 5 | 5 |
| 5. | John L. Sullivan | 7 years, 0 months, 9 days | Universal | 5 | 5 |
| 6. | Jack Johnson | 6 years, 3 months, 10 days | Universal | 6 | 6 |
| 7. | Muhammad Ali | 5 years, 11 months, 9 days | The Ring, (+WBA, WBC stripped) | 9 | 9 |
| 8. | James J. Jeffries | 5 years, 11 months, 4 days | Universal | 7 | 6 |
| 9. | Vitali Klitschko | 5 years, 2 months, 4 days | WBC | 9 | 9 |
| 10. | Deontay Wilder | 6 years, 7 months and 21 days | WBC | 10 | 8 |
| 11. | Joe Frazier | 4 years, 10 months, 18 days | NYSAC (+WBA, WBC) | 9 | 9 |
| 12. | James J. Corbett | 4 years, 6 months, 10 days | Universal | 1 | 1 |
| 13. | Jess Willard | 4 years, 2 months, 29 days | Universal | 1 | 1 |
| 14. | Lennox Lewis | 4 years, 2 months, 15 days | WBC (+IBF, WBA stripped, The Ring) | 9 | 8 |
| 15. | Rocky Marciano | 3 years, 11 months, 29 days | Universal | 6 | 5 |
| 16. | Chris Byrd | 3 years, 4 months, 8 days | IBF | 4 | 4 |
| 17. | Mike Tyson | 3 years, 2 months, 20 days | WBC (+WBA, IBF, The Ring) | 9 | 9 |
| 18. | Anthony Joshua | 3 years, 1 month and 23 days | IBF (+WBA, WBO) | 6 | 6 |
| 19. | George Foreman | 3 years, 0 months, 17 days | (+WBA, IBF stripped) | 2 | 2 |
| 20. | Evander Holyfield | 3 years, 0 months, 4 days | WBA (+IBF) | 4 | 4 |
By nationality
Map of countries, number of current and former world heavyweight boxing champions per country (as of February 2020). Note: interim titles, as well as WBA’s secondary belts (Regular, Gold etc.) are not included
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