| Name | Duration of reign | Defences |
|---|
| Young Joseph | 19 October 1908 — 6 May 1912r [1] | 1 |
| Johnny Summers | 17 June 1912 — 9 January 1914 | 3 |
| Tom McCormick | 9 January 1914 — 21 March 1914 | 2 |
| Matt Wells | 21 March 1914r | 0 |
| Johnny Basham | 14 December 1914 — 9 June 1920 | 4 |
| Ted "Kid" Lewis | 9 June 1920 — 26 November 1924 | 3 |
| Tommy Milligan | 26 November 1924r | 0 |
| Johnny Brown | 8 October 1925 — 19 November 1925 | 1 |
| Harry Mason | 19 November 1925 — 31 May 1926 | 2 |
| Jack Hood | 31 May 1926 — 13 March 1933r | 3 |
| Harry Mason | 11 June 1934 — 17 December 1934 | 1 |
| Pat Butler | 17 December 1934r | 0 |
| Dave McCleave | 23 April 1936 — 2 June 1936 | 1 |
| Jake Kilrain | 2 June 1936 — 23 March 1939 | 2 |
| Ernie Roderick | 23 March 1939 — 8 November 1948 | 5 |
| Henry Hall | 8 November 1948 — 15 November 1949 | 1 |
| Eddie Thomas | 15 November 1949 — 16 October 1951 | 2 |
| Wally Thom | 16 October 1951 — 24 July 1952 | 1 |
| Cliff Curvis | 24 July 1952r | 0 |
| Wally Thom | 24 September 1953 — 5 June 1956 | 2 |
| Peter Waterman | 5 June 1956 — 17 December 1956r | 1 |
| Tommy Molloy | 15 July 1958 — 1 February 1960 | 2 |
| Wally Swift | 1 February 1960 — 21 November 1960 | 1 |
| Brian Curvis | 21 November 1960 — 25 November 1965r | 6 |
| Johnny Cooke | 13 February 1967 — 20 February 1968 | 2 |
| Ralph Charles | 20 February 1968 — 7 December 1971r | 2 |
| Bobby Arthur | 31 October 1972 — 5 June 1973 | 1 |
| John H Stracey | 5 June 1973r | 0 |
| Pat Thomas | 15 December 1975 — 7 December 1976 | 2 |
| Henry Rhiney | 7 December 1976 — 4 April 1979 | 2 |
| Kirkland Laing | 4 April 1979 — 1 April 1980 | 1 |
| Colin Jones | 1 April 1980 — 28 April 1981r | 2 |
| Lloyd Honeyghan | 5 April 1983 — 6 December 1983r | 1 |
| Kostas Petrou | 13 April 1985 — 18 September 1985 | 1 |
| Sylvester Mittee | 18 September 1985 — 27 November 1985 | 1 |
| Lloyd Honeyghan | 27 November 1985r | 0 |
| Kirkland Laing | 14 March 1987 — 16 January 1991 | 4 |
| Del Bryan | 16 January 1991 — 20 February 1992 | 2 |
| Gary Jacobs | 20 February 1992 — 9 July 1992r | 1 |
| Del Bryan | 22 September 1993 — 15 September 1995 | 4 |
| Chris Saunders | 15 September 1995 — 13 February 1996 | 1 |
| Kevin Lueshing | 13 February 1996 — 19 July 1997 | 1 |
| Geoff McCreesh | 19 July 1997 — 31 October 1998r | 3 |
| Derek Roche | 10 April 1999 — 27 March 2000 | 3 |
| Harry Dhami | 27 March 2000 — 19 November 2001 | 3 |
| Neil Sinclair | 19 November 2001 — 1 February 2003r | 3 |
| David Barnes | 17 July 2003 — 12 November 2004r | 3 |
| Michael Jennings | 16 July 2005 — 28 January 2006 | 2 |
| Young Mutley | 28 January 2006 — 1 June 2006 | 1 |
| Kevin Anderson | 1 June 2006 — 2 November 2007 | 3 |
| Kevin McIntyre | 2 November 2007 — 29 February 2008r | 1 |
| Kell Brook | 14 June 2008 — 18 September 2010r | 4 |
| Craig Watson | 19 February 2011 — 16 April 2011 | 0 |
| Lee Purdy | 16 April 2011 — 16 July 2011 | 1 |
| Colin Lynes | 9 November 2011 — 12 May 2012 | 0 |
| Junior Witter | 12 May 2012 — 1 November 2012 | 0 |
| Frankie Gavin | 1 November 2012 — 29 November 2014r | 4 |
| Sam Eggington | 18 July 2015 — 5 March 2016 | 1 |
| Bradley Skeete | 5 March 2016 — 8 July 2017r | 3 |
| Johnny Garton | 20 October 2018 — 8 March 2019 | 0 |
| Chris Jenkins | 8 March 2019 — present | 2 |
