The best boxers in the world constantly face challengers who aim to take the title from them.
Despite their age, some of these boxers have held on to their title for more than a decade!
Keep reading to see who has the most title defenses in boxing!
Who Has The Most Title Defenses In Boxing?
Some of the boxers with the most title defenses include:
- Joe Louis
- Dariusz Michalzewski
- Ricardo Lopez
- Joe Calzaghe
- Gennady Golovkin
What’s amazing is that some of these boxers held their titles for decades when they were way past their prime.
Meanwhile, new boxers today get their title claim, but lose it on the very next bout.
It shows that experience goes a long way against younger, faster, and stronger fighters.
Joe Louis
First on our list is Joe Louis, with the most consecutive title defenses.
The Brown Bomber, one of the most celebrated heavyweight champions in boxing history, kept the heavyweight title for 13 years.
After defeating James Braddock (“The Cinderella Man”) by an eighth-round knockout in 1937 to gain the title, he would go on to defend it 26 times.
In 1950, when Louis was past his prime, he lost the title to Ezzard Charles by a 15-round unanimous decision.
Louis would retire from boxing the year after this fight.
Dariusz Michalczewski
Next on our list is Dariusz Michalczewski, one of the boxers with the most successful title defenses in history.
The Tiger dominated the light heavyweight division for a decade.
Michalczewski became world champion for the light heavyweight division in 1994 after defeating Leeonzer Barber by a 12-round unanimous decision.
In 2003, he would lose his title to Julio Gonzalez by a 12-round split decision.
Ricardo Lopez
Next on our list is Ricardo Lopez.
El Finito held the strawweight and light flyweight tiles for almost two decades, from 1985 to 2001.
Lopez became world champion for the strawweight title after defeating Hideyuki Ohashi by knockout.
After this, he would defend his title 21 times, but gave it up after deciding to move up a weight class.
Joe Calzaghe
Next on our list is Joe Calzaghe.
The Pride of Wales held the super middleweight class title for 13 years, from 1995 to 2008.
Calzaghe became world champion in 1995 after defeating Stephen Wilson by an eighth-round technical knockout.
After this, he would defend the super middleweight title 21 times and would go on to dominate the light heavyweight division as well.
Calzaghe ended his career undefeated as one of the most impressive (and overlooked) fighters in boxing history.
Gennady Golovkin
Last on our list is Gennady Golovkin.
GGG is a living legend, fighting with a unique blend of the Soviet boxing style and the Mexican boxing style.
Golovkin became world champion in the middleweight division after defeating Milton Nunez by knockout in the first minute of the first round.
After this, he would go on to defend his title 20 times before he lost to Canelo Alvarez via a heavily disputed 12-round majority decision in 2018, in one of the greatest boxing trilogies in history.
Conclusion
In the boxing world, new stars are always rising to the top and falling just as fast as they came up.
However, these boxers showed that experience goes a long way when it comes to title defenses.
Other boxers with numerous title defenses that are worth mentioning include:
- Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- Manny Pacquiao
- Julio Cesar Chavez
- Bernard Hopkins
The boxers on this list show that you can have a long and successful boxing career at the top without burning out.
It’s important to note that these boxers don’t take up every fight that they’re offered.
Perhaps these boxers lasted so long because they chose their title defenses very wisely.
For example, though he had an illustrious career, Money Mayweather still gets criticism that he only has a perfect record because he strategically ducked certain opponents.
Though the critics have a point, they can’t deny that Mayweather’s strategy works well inside and outside of the ring.
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