Thomas Hearns is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and long arms and shoulders allowed him to move up over fifty pounds (22.7kg) in his career and become the first boxer in history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.
Michael Lee Moorer is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He won a world championship on four occasions in two weight classes, having held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1988 to 1991; compiling 22 straight KOs in 22 fights and the WBO heavyweight title from 1992 to 1993; the unified WBA, IBF and lineal heavyweight titles in 1994; and regained the IBF heavyweight title again from 1996 to 1997 becoming a three-time heavyweight world champion.
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Christopher Cornelius Byrd is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2009. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having first won the WBO title in 2000 after an upset corner stoppage over then-undefeated Vitali Klitschko. In his first title defense later that year, he lost to Vitali's brother Wladimir Klitschko. In 2002, Byrd defeated Evander Holyfield to win the IBF heavyweight title for his second reign as world champion. He made four successful defenses until losing his title again to Wladimir Klitschko in a 2006 rematch. He was ranked by BoxRec in the world's top 10 heavyweight from 1998 to 2004, reaching his highest ranking of No.3 in 2000.
Stephen Collins is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles simultaneously and never losing a fight as champion.
Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
As in the 1980s, the 1990s in boxing's popularity focused on all divisions. When 1980s legends Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, as well as others retired, newer superstars filled the void: Pernell Whitaker, Julio César Chávez, in the early 1990s, Oscar De La Hoya, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the mid to late 1990s.
Zsolt Erdei is a Hungarian former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2014. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO and lineal light-heavyweight titles from 2004 to 2009, and the WBC cruiserweight title from 2009 to 2010. Erdei is the first boxer from Hungary to win world titles in two weight divisions. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 2000 Olympics. He also competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Byron Deangelo-Tarone Mitchell is an American former professional boxer who fought from 1996 to 2012. He was the Lineal and two-time WBA super middleweight champion, winning the titles in 1999 and 2001.
Graciano Rocchigiani was a German professional boxer who competed from 1983 to 2003. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF super-middleweight title from 1988 to 1989, and the WBC light-heavyweight title in 1998. At regional level he held the European light-heavyweight title from 1991 to 1992. He was the younger brother of former cruiserweight world champion of boxing, Ralf Rocchigiani.
Ray Close is a British retired boxer who fought for most of his career in the Super Middleweight division, ending his career in the Light Heavyweight division. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly Mormon. He grew up in east Belfast and attended Knockbreda High School.
Denis Inkin Russian: Инкин, Денис Анатольевич is a Russian former professional boxer who fought in Germany at super middleweight.
Joseph William Calzaghe is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including unified and lineal titles at super-middleweight, and the Ring magazine light-heavyweight title.
Jürgen Brähmer is a German professional boxer, who held the WBO title from 2009 to 2011, and the WBA (Regular) title from 2013 to 2016.
Bernard Hopkins Jr. is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at middleweight from 2001 to 2005, and the lineal championship at light heavyweight from 2011 to 2012.
Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez is a Mexican professional boxer who is a two division world champion. He has held the World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight title since March 2024. He previously held the WBO super middleweight title from 2016 to 2019, and is the first boxer from Mexico to win a major world title in those weight classes. He unified the cruiserweight title on November 16, 2024 with the WBO championship. As of April 2024, Ramírez is ranked as the world's best active cruiserweight by BoxRec, sixth by The Ring magazine, and seventh by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Liam Mark Smith is a British professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) light-middleweight title from 2015 to 2016. At regional level, he has held multiple light-middleweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles between 2012 and 2015.
Patrick Alen Teixeira is a Brazilian professional boxer who held the WBO light middleweight title from 2019 to February 2021.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns II, billed as The War, was a professional boxing match contested on June 12, 1989, for the WBC super middleweight title. The fight ended in a split draw, meaning both fighters retained their respective titles.
Shefat Isufi, is a German professional boxer who held the WBF World light-heavyweight title from 16 April 2022. He previously held the WBO Inter-Continental Title in Super Middle Weight from 8 July 2017 to 18 May 2019.
