Open Boxing

WBA cruiserweight world title

Covers world title bouts since 1982. Current champion: David Benavidez, since 2nd May 2026.

In 2005, the WBA world title became the WBA Super world title. This page covers the WBA and WBA Super world titles. The WBA's secondary world title, WBA Regular, has its own separate page.

World title bouts
58
Champions
20
Longest reign (Arsen Goulamirian, 2019–2024)
4 years, 6 months
Most successful defences in one reign (Evander Holyfield, 1986–1988)
5

Current champion

David BenavidezWBA Super · Since 2nd May 2026 · 6 months · 0 successful defences

Reigns and world title bouts

Jan 2022 – Jan 2027

WBA
Arsen GoulamirianGilberto RamirezDavid Benavidez
AprJulOct2023AprJulOct2024AprJulOct2025AprJulOct2026AprJulOct2027
1990200020102020

World title bout

Reigns by length

  1. 1Arsen GoulamirianWBA Super2019–20244 years, 6 months · 3 successful defences
  2. 2Jean Marc MormeckWBA2002–20053 years, 1 month · 3 successful defences
  3. 3Fabrice TiozzoWBA1997–20003 years, 1 month · 4 successful defences
  4. 4Ossie OcasioWBA1982–19842 years, 9 months · 3 successful defences
  5. 5Bobby CzyzWBA1991–19932 years, 4 months · 2 successful defences
  6. 6Evander HolyfieldWBA1986–19882 years, 4 months · 5 successful defences
  7. 7Nate MillerWBA1995–19972 years, 3 months · 4 successful defences
  8. 8Gilberto RamirezWBA Super2024–20262 years, 1 month · 2 successful defences
  9. 9Orlin NorrisWBA1993–19951 year, 8 months · 4 successful defences
  10. 10Denis LebedevWBA Super2016–20181 year, 8 months · 1 successful defence
  11. 11Robert DanielsWBA1989–19911 year, 3 months · 1 successful defence
  12. 12Virgil HillWBA2000–20021 year, 2 months · 0 successful defences
  13. 13O'Neil BellWBA Super2006–20071 year, 2 months · 0 successful defences
  14. 14Dwight Muhammad QawiWBA1985–198611 months · 1 successful defence
  15. 15Jean Marc MormeckWBA Super2005–20069 months · 0 successful defences
  16. 16Oleksandr UsykWBA Super2018–20198 months · 1 successful defence
  17. 17Piet CrousWBA1984–19857 months · 1 successful defence
  18. 18Jean Marc MormeckWBA Super2007–20077 months · 0 successful defences
  19. 19David BenavidezWBA Super2026–present6 months · 0 successful defences
  20. 20Taoufik BelbouliWBA1989–19896 months · 0 successful defences
  21. 21David HayeWBA Super2007–20086 months · 1 successful defence
  22. 22Murat GassievWBA Super2018–20185 months · 0 successful defences

Timeline of world title events

  1. 1982

  2. Ossie Ocasio beats Robbie Williams via split decision 15/15

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  3. Ossie Ocasio beats Eddie Taylor via unanimous decision 15/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  4. 1983

  5. Ossie Ocasio beats Randy Stephens via unanimous decision 15/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  6. 1984

  7. Ossie Ocasio beats John Odhiambho via knockout 15/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  8. Piet Crous beats Ossie Ocasio via unanimous decision 15/15

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  9. 1985

  10. Piet Crous beats Randy Stephens via knockout 3/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  11. Dwight Muhammad Qawi beats Piet Crous via knockout 11/15

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  12. 1986

  13. Dwight Muhammad Qawi beats Leon Spinks via knockout 6/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  14. Evander Holyfield beats Dwight Muhammad Qawi via split decision 15/15

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  15. 1987

  16. Evander Holyfield beats Henry Tillman via knockout 7/15

    Cruiserweight · WBA

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA and IBF

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA and IBF

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA and IBF

  20. 1988

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA, WBC and IBF

  22. Evander Holyfield’s reign as the WBA cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  23. 1989

  24. Taoufik Belbouli beats Michael Greer via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  25. Taoufik Belbouli’s reign as the WBA cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  26. Robert Daniels beats Dwight Muhammad Qawi via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  1. 1990

  2. Robert Daniels beats Craig Bodzianowski via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  3. Robert Daniels and Taoufik Belbouli draw via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  4. 1991

  5. Bobby Czyz beats Robert Daniels via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  6. Bobby Czyz beats Bash Ali via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  7. 1992

  8. Bobby Czyz beats Donny Lalonde via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  9. 1993

  10. Bobby Czyz’s reign as the WBA cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  11. Orlin Norris beats Marcelo Victor Figueroa via knockout 6/12

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  12. 1994

  13. Orlin Norris beats Arthur Williams via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  14. Orlin Norris beats Arthur Williams via knockout 3/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  15. Orlin Norris beats James Heath via knockout 2/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  16. 1995

  17. Orlin Norris beats Adolpho Washington via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  18. Nate Miller beats Orlin Norris via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  19. 1996

  20. Nate Miller beats Reinaldo Gimenez via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  21. Nate Miller beats Brian LaSpada via technical knockout 9/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  22. Nate Miller beats James Heath via knockout 7/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  23. 1997

  24. Nate Miller beats Alexander Gurov via knockout 2/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  25. Fabrice Tiozzo beats Nate Miller via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  26. 1998

  27. Fabrice Tiozzo beats Terry Ray via knockout 1/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  28. Fabrice Tiozzo beats Ezequiel Paixao via knockout 2/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  29. 1999

  30. Fabrice Tiozzo beats Ken Murphy via knockout 7/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  1. 2000

  2. Fabrice Tiozzo beats Valeriy Vykhor via knockout 6/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  3. Virgil Hill beats Fabrice Tiozzo via knockout 1/12

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  4. 2002

  5. Jean Marc Mormeck beats Virgil Hill via corner retirement 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBANew champion

  6. Jean Marc Mormeck beats Dale Brown via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  7. 2003

  8. Jean Marc Mormeck beats Alexander Gurov via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  9. 2004

  10. Jean Marc Mormeck beats Virgil Hill via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA

  11. 2005

  12. Jean Marc Mormeck's WBA world title becomes the WBA Super world title

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super

    Jean Marc Mormeck beats Wayne Braithwaite via unanimous decision 12/12

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

  13. 2006

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

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

  15. 2007

  16. Jean Marc Mormeck beats O'Neil Bell via unanimous decision 12/12

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

  17. David Haye beats Jean Marc Mormeck via knockout 7/12

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

  18. 2008

  19. David Haye beats Enzo Maccarinelli via knockout 2/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super, WBC, WBO and The Ring

  20. David Haye’s reign as the WBA Super cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super

  1. 2016

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and IBFNew WBA Super champion

  3. 2017

  4. Denis Lebedev beats Mark Flanagan via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super

  5. 2018

  6. Denis Lebedev’s reign as the WBA Super cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and IBFNew WBA Super champion

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

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

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

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

  10. 2019

  11. Oleksandr Usyk’s reign as the WBA Super cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super

  12. Arsen Goulamirian becomes the WBA Super cruiserweight world champion

    Cruiserweight · WBA SuperNew champion

  13. Arsen Goulamirian beats Kane Watts via knockout 4/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super

  14. Arsen Goulamirian beats Constantin Bejenaru via corner retirement 9/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super

  1. 2022

  2. Arsen Goulamirian beats Aleksei Egorov via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super

  3. 2024

  4. Gilberto Ramirez beats Arsen Goulamirian via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA SuperNew champion

  5. Gilberto Ramirez beats Chris Billam-Smith via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and WBO

  6. 2025

  7. Gilberto Ramirez beats Yuniel Dorticos via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and WBO

  8. 2026

  9. David Benavidez beats Gilberto Ramirez via knockout 6/12

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and WBONew WBA Super champion

    Source: Benavidez KOs Ramirez in the 6th to win the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles(opens in a new tab), AP News, Mark Anderson,