The following list gives credit to "The Man Who Beat The Man." Comments can be sent to the Research Staff. This division was lame in concept -- fat light-heavies have tended to compete rather than "small heavyweights" -- and, with the exception of Evander Holyfield, lame in execution. The Cyber Boxing Zone welcomes suggestions as to whether continued recognition of this division is warranted.
The Cruiserweight Division is also known as the Junior Heavyweight Division. On December 8, 1979, the WBC matched
Marvin Camel and former WBC Light Heavyweight champion Mate Parlov for the newly created title with a weight limit of 190. They fought a draw.
Camel won the rematch, but lost to
Carlos
"Sugar" DeLeon in his first defense. The WBA recognized the division in 1982 with
Ossie Ocasio's win over Robbie Williams.
Marvin Camel won the IBF version of the title with a fifth round kayo of Roddy MacDonald on December 13, 1983. Or, was it Rick
"Rocky" Sekorski in May 1983? Sick enough? Okay.
Evander Holyfield beat everyone of note: Dwight Qawi (Dwight Braxton),
Ocasio, DeLeon, and several others, including the title-holders of the WBA, WBC and IBF. Therefore,
Evander Holyfield is the first lineal cruiserweight champion. In 2006,
O'Neil Bell established himself as Lineal Champion by beating
Jean-Marc Mormeck. Or, you can run it as follows: