Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.
Francisco Javier Castillejo Rodríguez, commonly known as Javier Castillejo, is a Spanish former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2009. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC and lineal light-middleweight titles from 1999 to 2001, the WBC light-middleweight title again in 2005, and the WBA middleweight title from 2006 to 2007. At regional level he held the European light-middleweight title twice between 1994 and 1998, and the European Union middleweight title in 2002.
Mike McCallum is a Jamaican former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1997. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBA super welterweight title from 1984 to 1988, the WBA middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and the WBC light heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995.
Howard Anthony Eastman is a Guyanese-British former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2014. He challenged twice for middleweight world championships; the vacant WBA title in 2001; and the undisputed title against Bernard Hopkins in 2005. At regional level, he held the British, Commonwealth and EBU European middleweight titles twice each between 1998 and 2007.
Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight, is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports.
Lamont Peterson is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2019. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF light welterweight title between 2011 and 2015, and the WBA (Regular) welterweight title in 2017.
Daniel Geale is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2016. He held the unified WBA (Super) and IBF middleweight titles between 2011 and 2013, and the IBO middleweight title from 2007 to 2009. As an amateur boxer, Geale won a welterweight gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Óscar Andres Rivas Torres is a Colombian professional boxer. He held the WBC bridgerweight title from 2021 to 2023. He also challenged for the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title in 2019, and previously held the IBF International, WBC-NABF and WBO-NABO heavyweight titles. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2007 Pan American Games.
Ezekiel "Kell" Brook is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2022. He held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title from 2014 to 2017, and challenged once for a unified middleweight world title in 2016. At regional level, he held multiple welterweight titles, including the British welterweight title from 2008 to 2010. In May 2017, Brook was ranked as the world's best active welterweight by The Ring magazine.
Cecilia Carmen Linda Brækhus is a Norwegian professional boxer and former kickboxer. She reigned as the undisputed female welterweight boxing champion from 2014 to 2020, and is the first woman in any weight class to hold the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles simultaneously. Brækhus is also one of only 11 boxers in history, female or male, to hold all four major world titles simultaneously. She also held the IBO title from 2016 to 2020.
Keith Fitzgerald Thurman is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 2015 to 2019, and the WBC title from 2017 to 2018. As of July 2022, he is ranked as the world's fifth best active welterweight by BoxRec.
Errol Spence Jr. is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified champion in the welterweight division, having held the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles between 2017 and 2023. As an amateur, in the welterweight division, he won three consecutive United States national championships and represented the U.S. at the 2012 Olympics, where he reached the quarter-finals. In 2015, Spence was named Prospect of the Year by ESPN.
Samuel Andrés Vargas Ariza is a Canadian-Colombian professional boxer.
Erickson Lubin is an American professional boxer who challenged for the WBC super welterweight title in 2017. As of January 2022, he is ranked as the world's fourth best active super welterweight by The Ring magazine seventh by BoxRec, and third by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Denis Fuatovich Shafikov is a Russian professional boxer. He held the European super-lightweight title from 2011 to 2013, and has challenged three times for the IBF lightweight title. In November 2017, Shafikov was ranked within the world's top ten active lightweights by The Ring magazine, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and BoxRec.
Jussi Koivula is a Finnish professional boxer who has challenged twice for the European welterweight title in 2016 and 2017.
David Gavrushevich Avanesyan is a Russian professional boxer. He has held the European welterweight title since 2019 and previously the WBA (Regular) welterweight title in 2017.
Mohamed Mimoune is a French professional boxer who held the IBO super-lightweight title in 2018. At regional level, he held the European and European Union welterweight titles between 2016 and 2017.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman, was a boxing match for the WBA (Super) welterweight championship. The event took place on July 20, 2019 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao won the fight by split decision, and at 40 years old, became the oldest welterweight to win a major world title in boxing history. The bout sold 500,000 pay-per-view (PPV) buys in the United States, earning an estimated $37.5 million in pay-per-view revenue.
Mario Thomas Barrios is an American professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) super lightweight title from 2019 to June 2021. As of October 2021, he is ranked as the world's ninth-best active super lightweight by The Ring.
