Open Boxing

IBF cruiserweight world title

Covers world title bouts since 1983. Vacant since 23rd Mar 2026.

World title bouts
71
Champions
27
Longest reign (Yoan Pablo Hernandez, 2011–2015)
3 years, 11 months
Most successful defences in one reign (Vassiliy Jirov, 1999–2003)
6

Current champion

VacantSince 23rd Mar 2026

Reigns and world title bouts

May 2021 – May 2026

IBF
Mairis BriedisJai OpetaiaJai Opetaia
JulOct2022AprJulOct2023AprJulOct2024AprJulOct2025AprJulOct2026Apr
1990200020102020

World title bout

Reigns by length

  1. 1Yoan Pablo HernandezIBF2011–20153 years, 11 months · 4 successful defences
  2. 2Vassiliy JirovIBF1999–20033 years, 10 months · 6 successful defences
  3. 3Alfred ColeIBF1992–19952 years, 5 months · 4 successful defences
  4. 4Lee Roy MurphyIBF1984–19862 years · 3 successful defences
  5. 5Jai OpetaiaIBF2024–20261 year, 10 months · 4 successful defences
  6. 6Mairis BriedisIBF2020–20221 year, 9 months · 1 successful defence
  7. 7Murat GassievIBF2016–20181 year, 7 months · 2 successful defences
  8. 8Evander HolyfieldIBF1987–19881 year, 6 months · 3 successful defences
  9. 9Steve CunninghamIBF2007–20081 year, 6 months · 1 successful defence
  10. 10Jai OpetaiaIBF2022–20231 year, 5 months · 1 successful defence
  11. 11Steve CunninghamIBF2010–20111 year, 3 months · 1 successful defence
  12. 12Yuniel DorticosIBF2019–20201 year, 3 months · 0 successful defences
  13. 13Jeff LampkinIBF1990–19911 year, 3 months · 1 successful defence
  14. 14Kelvin DavisIBF2004–20051 year · 0 successful defences
  15. 15Imamu MayfieldIBF1997–199811 months · 1 successful defence
  16. 16Oleksandr UsykIBF2018–201910 months · 1 successful defence
  17. 17James WarringIBF1991–199210 months · 2 successful defences
  18. 18O'Neil BellIBF2005–200610 months · 2 successful defences
  19. 19Tomasz AdamekIBF2008–200910 months · 2 successful defences
  20. 20Marvin CamelIBF1983–19849 months · 0 successful defences
  21. 21Adolpho WashingtonIBF1996–19979 months · 0 successful defences
  22. 22Glenn McCroryIBF1989–19909 months · 1 successful defence
  23. 23Victor Emilio RamirezIBF2015–20168 months · 0 successful defences
  24. 24Arthur WilliamsIBF1998–19997 months · 0 successful defences
  25. 25Ricky ParkeyIBF1986–19876 months · 1 successful defence
  26. 26Denis LebedevIBF2016–20166 months · 0 successful defences
  27. 27Krzysztof WlodarczykIBF2006–20076 months · 0 successful defences
  28. 28Uriah GrantIBF1997–19974 months · 0 successful defences
  29. 29James ToneyIBF2003–20034 months · 0 successful defences

Timeline of world title events

  1. 1983

  2. Marvin Camel beats Roddy MacDonald via knockout 5/15

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  3. 1984

  4. Lee Roy Murphy beats Marvin Camel via knockout 14/15

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  5. Lee Roy Murphy beats Eddie Taylor via knockout 12/15

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  6. 1985

  7. Lee Roy Murphy beats Chisanda Mutti via knockout 12/15

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  8. 1986

  9. Lee Roy Murphy beats Dorcy Gaymon via knockout 9/15

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  10. Ricky Parkey beats Lee Roy Murphy via knockout 10/15

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  11. 1987

  12. Ricky Parkey beats Chisanda Mutti via knockout 12/15

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  13. Evander Holyfield beats Ricky Parkey via knockout 3/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA and IBFNew IBF champion

  14. Evander Holyfield beats Ossie Ocasio via knockout 11/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA and IBF

  15. Evander Holyfield beats Dwight Muhammad Qawi via knockout 4/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA and IBF

  16. 1988

  17. Evander Holyfield beats Carlos De Leon via knockout 8/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA, WBC and IBF

  18. Evander Holyfield’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  19. 1989

  20. Glenn McCrory beats Patrick Lumumba via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  21. Glenn McCrory beats Siza Makathini via knockout 11/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  1. 1990

  2. Jeff Lampkin beats Glenn McCrory via knockout 3/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  3. Jeff Lampkin beats Siza Makathini via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  4. 1991

  5. Jeff Lampkin’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  6. James Warring beats James Pritchard via knockout 1/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  7. James Warring beats Donnell Wingfield via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  8. 1992

  9. James Warring beats Johnny Nelson via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  10. Alfred Cole beats James Warring via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  11. 1993

  12. Alfred Cole beats Uriah Grant via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  13. Alfred Cole beats Glenn McCrory via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  14. Alfred Cole beats Vincent Boulware via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  15. 1994

  16. Alfred Cole beats Nate Miller via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  17. 1995

  18. Alfred Cole’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  19. Alfred Cole beats Uriah Grant via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  20. 1996

  21. Adolpho Washington beats Torsten May via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  22. 1997

  23. Uriah Grant beats Adolpho Washington via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  24. Imamu Mayfield beats Uriah Grant via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  25. 1998

  26. Imamu Mayfield beats Terry Dunstan via knockout 11/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  27. Arthur Williams beats Imamu Mayfield via knockout 9/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  28. 1999

  29. Vassiliy Jirov beats Arthur Williams via knockout 7/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  30. Vassiliy Jirov beats Dale Brown via knockout 10/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  1. 2000

  2. Vassiliy Jirov beats Saul Montana via knockout 9/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  3. 2001

  4. Vassiliy Jirov beats Alex Gonzales via knockout 1/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  5. Vassiliy Jirov beats Terry McGroom via knockout 1/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  6. Vassiliy Jirov beats Julian Letterlough via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  7. 2002

  8. Vassiliy Jirov beats Jorge Castro via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  9. 2003

  10. James Toney beats Vassiliy Jirov via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  11. James Toney’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  12. 2004

  13. Kelvin Davis beats Ezra Sellers via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  14. 2005

  15. O'Neil Bell beats Dale Brown via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  16. O'Neil Bell beats Sebastiaan Rothmann via knockout 11/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  17. 2006

  18. O'Neil Bell beats Jean Marc Mormeck via knockout 10/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super, WBC, IBF and The Ring

  19. O'Neil Bell’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  20. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk beats Steve Cunningham via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  21. 2007

  22. Steve Cunningham beats Krzysztof Wlodarczyk via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  23. Steve Cunningham beats Marco Huck via knockout 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  24. 2008

  25. Tomasz Adamek beats Steve Cunningham via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The RingNew IBF champion

  26. 2009

  27. Tomasz Adamek beats Johnathon Banks via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  28. Tomasz Adamek beats Bobby Gunn via corner retirement 4/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  29. Tomasz Adamek’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  1. 2010

  2. Steve Cunningham beats Troy Ross via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  3. 2011

  4. Steve Cunningham beats Enad Licina via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  5. Yoan Pablo Hernandez beats Steve Cunningham via technical decision 6/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  6. 2012

  7. Yoan Pablo Hernandez beats Steve Cunningham via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  8. Yoan Pablo Hernandez beats Troy Ross via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  9. 2013

  10. Yoan Pablo Hernandez beats Alexander Alekseev via knockout 10/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  11. 2014

  12. Yoan Pablo Hernandez beats Firat Arslan via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  13. 2015

  14. Yoan Pablo Hernandez’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

    Victor Emilio Ramirez becomes the IBF cruiserweight world champion

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  15. Victor Emilio Ramirez and Ovill McKenzie draw via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  16. 2016

  17. Denis Lebedev beats Victor Emilio Ramirez via knockout 2/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and IBFNew IBF champion

  18. Murat Gassiev beats Denis Lebedev via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  19. 2017

  20. Murat Gassiev beats Krzysztof Wlodarczyk via knockout 3/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  21. 2018

  22. Murat Gassiev beats Yuniel Dorticos via knockout 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and IBF

  23. Oleksandr Usyk beats Murat Gassiev via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super, WBC, IBF, WBO and The RingNew IBF champion

  24. Oleksandr Usyk beats Tony Bellew via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super, WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring

  25. 2019

  26. Oleksandr Usyk’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  27. Yuniel Dorticos beats Andrew Tabiti via knockout 10/12

    Cruiserweight · IBFNew champion

  1. 2020

  2. Mairis Briedis beats Yuniel Dorticos via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The RingNew IBF champion

  3. 2021

  4. Mairis Briedis beats Artur Mann via technical knockout 3/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  5. 2022

  6. Jai Opetaia beats Mairis Briedis via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The RingNew IBF champion

  7. 2023

  8. Jai Opetaia beats Jordan Thompson via technical knockout 4/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  9. Jai Opetaia’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

  10. 2024

  11. Jai Opetaia beats Mairis Briedis via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The RingNew IBF champion

  12. Jai Opetaia beats Jack Massey via technical knockout 6/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  13. 2025

  14. Jai Opetaia beats David Nyika via knockout 4/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  15. Jai Opetaia beats Claudio Squeo via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

  16. Jai Opetaia beats Huseyin Cinkara via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · IBF and The Ring

    Source: Savage Opetaia knockout seals world title defence(opens in a new tab), AAP via Maitland Mercury, Murray Wenzel,

  17. 2026

  18. Jai Opetaia’s reign as the IBF cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · IBF

    Source: Jai Opetaia drops IBF title for second time without losing in the ring(opens in a new tab), Fight Mag, Parviz Iskenderov,