Open Boxing

WBO cruiserweight world title

Covers world title bouts since 1989. Current champion: David Benavidez, since 2nd May 2026.

World title bouts
74
Champions
20
Longest reign (Johnny Nelson, 1999–2006)
7 years, 5 months
Most successful defences in one reign (Johnny Nelson, 1999–2006)
12

Current champion

David BenavidezSince 2nd May 2026 · 6 months · 0 successful defences

Upcoming world title bouts

  1. David Benavidez v Michal Cieslak

    Cruiserweight · WBC and WBO

Reigns and world title bouts

Feb 2022 – Feb 2027

WBO
Lawrence OkolieChris Billam-SmithGilberto RamirezDavid Benavidez
AprJulOct2023AprJulOct2024AprJulOct2025AprJulOct2026AprJulOct2027
1990200020102020

World title boutScheduled

Reigns by length

  1. 1Johnny NelsonWBO1999–20067 years, 5 months · 12 successful defences
  2. 2Marco HuckWBO2009–20155 years, 11 months · 12 successful defences
  3. 3Oleksandr UsykWBO2016–20192 years, 8 months · 6 successful defences
  4. 4Ralf RocchigianiWBO1995–19972 years, 3 months · 6 successful defences
  5. 5Lawrence OkolieWBO2021–20232 years, 2 months · 3 successful defences
  6. 6Nestor Hipolito GiovanniniWBO1993–19941 year, 5 months · 1 successful defence
  7. 7Carl ThompsonWBO1997–19991 year, 5 months · 2 successful defences
  8. 8Chris Billam-SmithWBO2023–20241 year, 5 months · 2 successful defences
  9. 9Enzo MaccarinelliWBO2006–20081 year, 5 months · 4 successful defences
  10. 10Gilberto RamirezWBO2024–20261 year, 5 months · 1 successful defence
  11. 11Krzysztof GlowackiWBO2015–20161 year, 1 month · 1 successful defence
  12. 12Magne HavnaWBO1990–19918 months · 2 successful defences
  13. 13Victor Emilio RamirezWBO2009–20096 months · 1 successful defence
  14. 14Tyrone BoozeWBO1992–19936 months · 1 successful defence
  15. 15David BenavidezWBO2026–present6 months · 0 successful defences
  16. 16Boone PultzWBO1989–19905 months · 0 successful defences
  17. 17Mairis BriedisWBO2019–20195 months · 0 successful defences
  18. 18David HayeWBO2008–20084 months · 0 successful defences
  19. 19Markus BottWBO1993–19934 months · 0 successful defences
  20. 20Dariusz MichalczewskiWBO1994–199515 days · 0 successful defences
  21. 21Krzysztof GlowackiWBO2019–201910 days · 0 successful defences

Timeline of world title events

  1. 1989

  2. Boone Pultz beats Magne Havna via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  1. 1990

  2. Magne Havna beats Boone Pultz via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  3. Magne Havna beats Daniel Eduardo Neto via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  4. 1991

  5. Magne Havna beats Tyrone Booze via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  6. 1992

  7. Tyrone Booze beats Derek Angol via knockout 7/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  8. Tyrone Booze beats Ralf Rocchigiani via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  9. 1993

  10. Markus Bott beats Tyrone Booze via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  11. Nestor Hipolito Giovannini beats Markus Bott via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  12. Nestor Hipolito Giovannini beats Markus Bott via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  13. 1994

  14. Dariusz Michalczewski beats Nestor Hipolito Giovannini via knockout 10/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  15. 1995

  16. Dariusz Michalczewski’s reign as the WBO cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  17. Ralf Rocchigiani beats Carl Thompson via knockout 11/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  18. Ralf Rocchigiani beats Marc Randazzo via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  19. Ralf Rocchigiani beats Dan Ward via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  20. 1996

  21. Ralf Rocchigiani beats Jay Snyder via knockout 4/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  22. Ralf Rocchigiani beats Bash Ali via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  23. Ralf Rocchigiani beats Stefan Angehrn via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  24. 1997

  25. Ralf Rocchigiani beats Stefan Angehrn via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  26. Carl Thompson beats Ralf Rocchigiani via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  27. 1998

  28. Carl Thompson beats Chris Eubank via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  29. Carl Thompson beats Chris Eubank via corner retirement 9/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  30. 1999

  31. Johnny Nelson beats Carl Thompson via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  32. Johnny Nelson beats Bruce Scott via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  33. Johnny Nelson beats Willard Lewis via corner retirement 4/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  34. Johnny Nelson beats Sione Asipeli via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  35. Johnny Nelson beats Christophe Girard via knockout 4/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  1. 2000

  2. Johnny Nelson beats Pietro Aurino via corner retirement 7/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  3. Johnny Nelson beats Adam Watt via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  4. 2001

  5. Johnny Nelson beats George Arias via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  6. Johnny Nelson beats Marcelo Dominguez via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  7. 2002

  8. Johnny Nelson beats Ezra Sellers via knockout 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  9. Johnny Nelson and Guillermo Jones draw via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  10. 2003

  11. Johnny Nelson beats Alexander Petkovic via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  12. 2004

  13. Johnny Nelson beats Ruediger May via knockout 7/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  14. 2005

  15. Johnny Nelson beats Vincenzo Cantatore via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  16. 2006

  17. Johnny Nelson’s reign as the WBO cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBO

    Enzo Maccarinelli becomes the WBO cruiserweight world champion

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  18. Enzo Maccarinelli beats Mark Hobson via knockout 1/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  19. 2007

  20. Enzo Maccarinelli beats Bobby Gunn via knockout 1/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  21. Enzo Maccarinelli beats Wayne Braithwaite via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  22. Enzo Maccarinelli beats Mohamed Azzaoui via knockout 4/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  23. 2008

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

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

  25. David Haye’s reign as the WBO cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  26. 2009

  27. Victor Emilio Ramirez becomes the WBO cruiserweight world champion

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  28. Victor Emilio Ramirez beats Ali Ismailov via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  29. Marco Huck beats Victor Emilio Ramirez via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  30. Marco Huck beats Ola Afolabi via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  1. 2010

  2. Marco Huck beats Adam Richards via knockout 3/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  3. Marco Huck beats Brian Minto via corner retirement 9/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  4. Marco Huck beats Matt Godfrey via knockout 5/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  5. Marco Huck beats Denis Lebedev via split decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  6. 2011

  7. Marco Huck beats Ran Nakash via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  8. Marco Huck beats Hugo Garay via knockout 10/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  9. Marco Huck beats Rogelio Omar Rossi via knockout 6/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  10. 2012

  11. Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi draw via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  12. Marco Huck beats Firat Arslan via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  13. 2013

  14. Marco Huck beats Ola Afolabi via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  15. 2014

  16. Marco Huck beats Firat Arslan via knockout 6/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  17. Marco Huck beats Mirko Larghetti via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  18. 2015

  19. Krzysztof Glowacki beats Marco Huck via knockout 11/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  20. 2016

  21. Krzysztof Glowacki beats Steve Cunningham via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  22. Oleksandr Usyk beats Krzysztof Glowacki via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  23. Oleksandr Usyk beats Thabiso Mchunu via knockout 9/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  24. 2017

  25. Oleksandr Usyk beats Michael Hunter via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  26. Oleksandr Usyk beats Marco Huck via knockout 10/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  27. 2018

  28. Oleksandr Usyk beats Mairis Briedis via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBC and WBO

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

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

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

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

  31. 2019

  32. Oleksandr Usyk’s reign as the WBO cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBO

    Krzysztof Glowacki becomes the WBO cruiserweight world champion

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  33. Mairis Briedis beats Krzysztof Glowacki via knockout 3/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  34. Mairis Briedis’s reign as the WBO cruiserweight world champion ends

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  1. 2021

  2. Lawrence Okolie beats Krzysztof Glowacki via knockout 6/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  3. Lawrence Okolie beats Dilan Prasovic via knockout 3/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  4. 2022

  5. Lawrence Okolie beats Michal Cieslak via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  6. 2023

  7. Lawrence Okolie beats David Light via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  8. Chris Billam-Smith beats Lawrence Okolie via majority decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBONew champion

  9. Chris Billam-Smith beats Mateusz Masternak via corner retirement 8/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

  10. 2024

  11. Chris Billam-Smith beats Richard Riakporhe via unanimous decision 12/12

    Cruiserweight · WBO

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and WBONew WBO champion

  13. 2025

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and WBO

  15. 2026

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

    Cruiserweight · WBA Super and WBONew WBO 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,

  17. David Benavidez v Michal Cieslak

    Cruiserweight · WBC and WBOScheduled

    Source: Benavidez-Cieslak title unification set for Dec. 5(opens in a new tab), The Ring, Nate Pardo-Marrero,