Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the competitor has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a competitor held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the competitor shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized.
International Boxing Federation
World Middleweight Title (as of 2026-04-30)
* Bolded letters in the competitor's name, if any, indicate the surname/family name.
Marvin Hagler
1983-05-27
Providence, RI, USA
Defeats Wilford Scypion; stripped of the title on 87-04-06 when IBF refuses to sanction Hagler's defense against Sugar Ray Leonard.
Frank Tate
1987-10-10
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Defeats Michael Olajide.
Michael Nunn
1988-07-28
Las Vegas, NV, USA
James Toney
1991-05-10
Davenport, IA, USA
Vacates on 93-02-13 to move up to the super middleweight class.
Roy Jones Jr.
1993-05-22
Washington, DC, USA
Defeats Bernard Hopkins; vacates on 94-11-18 to move up to the super middleweight class.
Bernard Hopkins
1994-12-17
Landover, MD, USA
Defeats Segundo Mercado.
Jermain Taylor
2005-07-16
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Vacates on 05-10-11 after refusing to participate in an immediate mandatory defense.
Arthur Abraham
2005-12-20
Leipzig, GER
Defeats Kingsley Ikeke; vacates on 09-07-11 to move up to the super middleweight class.
Sebastian Sylvester
2009-09-19
Neubrandenburg, GER
Defeats Giovanni Lorenzo.
Daniel Geale
2011-05-07
Neubrandenburg, GER
Darren Barker
2013-08-17
Atlantic City, NJ, USA
Felix Sturm
2013-12-07
Stuttgart, GER
Sam Soliman
2014-05-31
Krefeld, GER
Jermain Taylor [2]
2014-10-08
Krefeld, GER
Stripped of the title on 15-02-05 due to his inability to defend it during his ongoing legal and mental health issues.
David Lemieux
2015-06-20
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Defeats Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam.
Gennady Golovkin
2015-10-17
New York, NY, USA
Stripped of the title on 18-06-06 for refusing to fight the mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Daniel Jacobs
2018-10-27
New York, NY, USA
Defeats Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Canelo Álvarez (Saúl Álvarez)
2019-05-04
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Stripped of the title on 19-08-01 for refusing to fight the mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Gennady Golovkin [2]
2019-10-05
New York, NY, USA
Defeats Sergiy Derevyanchenko and also wins the vacant IBO World Title; also wins WBA World Title on 22-04-09; vacates IBF title on 23-02-08.
Vincenzo Gualtieri
2023-07-01
Wuppertal, NW, GER
Defeats Esquiva Falcao.
Zhanibek Alimkhanuly
2023-10-14
Rosenberg, TX, USA
Also holds WBO World Title; stripped of the title on 26-03-10 after failing a drug test prior to the unification match against WBA champion Erislandy Lara on 25-12-02.
