Champions that "beat the man" - Heavyweight edition

This is every boxing world champion that fought a sitting champ, as opposed to competing for a vacant or inaugural belt. Those others are included on separate lines in parentheticals.

1. James John "Gentleman Jim" Corbett (defeated John L. Sullivan, who reigned for 7 years with zero defenses after beating Dominick McCaffrey for the nascent gloved title)
2. Robert James "Ruby Rob" Fitzsimmons (defeated Corbett)
   (James Jackson Jeffries, Marvin Hart, and Noah "Tommy Burns" Brusso all won the belt when vacant)
3. John Arthur "Galveston Giant / Jack" Johnson (defeated Brusso)
4. Jess Myron "Pottawatomie Giant" Willard (defeated Johnson)
5. William Harrison "Manassa Mauler / Kid Blackie / Jack" Dempsey Jr. (defeated Willard)
6. James Joseph "The Fighting Machine / Gene" Tunney (defeated Dempsey)
   (Maximilian Adolph Otto Siegfried "Black Uhlan of the Rhine" Schmeling beat Juozas Žukauskas aka Jack Sharkey for the vacant title)
7. Juozas Povilas "The Boston Gob / Sharkboy / Jack Sharkey" Žukauskas - defeated Schmeling
   
8. Primo "Da Preem / The Ambling Alp / Gentle Giant / Vast Venetian" Carnera - defeated Žukauskas
9. Maximilian Adelbert "The Livermore Larupper / Madcap Maxie" Baer Sr. - defeated Carnera
   
10. James Walter "Bulldog of Bergen / Jersey Jim / Pride of the Irish / Cinderella Man" Braddock - defeated Baer
11. Joseph Louis "Joe / The Brown Bomber" Barrow - defeated Braddock
    (Ezzard Mack "The Cincinnati Cobra" Charles, Jr. defeated Arnold Raymond "Jersey Joe Walcott" Cream for the vacant title)
12. Arnold Raymond "Jersey Joe Walcott" Cream defeated Charles
    
13. Rocco Francis "The Brockton Blockbuster / Rocky Marciano" Marchegiano - defeated Cream
    (Floyd "The Gentleman" Patterson defeated Archie Moore for the vacant title)
14. Jens Ingemar ""The Hammer of Thor / Ingo" Johansson - defeated Patterson
    
15. Floyd "The Gentleman" Patterson - defeated Johansson
    
16. Charles L. "Big Bear / Sonny" Liston - defeated Patterson
17. Cassius Marcellus "The Louisville Lip" Clay Jr. (later Muhammad Ali) - defeated Liston
    (Ernie Terrell defeated Edward Mills Machen for the vacant WBA when they stripped Clay for rematching Liston. James Albert Ellis defeated Jerry Quarry after it was again vacant. Joseph William "Smokin' Joe" Frazier defeated Buster Mathis for the vacant NYSAC title, stripped due to Ali's conscientious objector status in the Vietnam War. )
18. "Big" George Edward Foreman - defeated Frazier
19. Muhammad Ali - defeated Foreman
20. "Neon" Leon Spinks - defeated Ali
    (Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. defeated James Young in an eliminator that was retroactively made for the vacant title when the WBC stripped Spinks for rematching Ali)
21. Lawrence "The Easton Assassin" Holmes - defeated Norton for the WBC
22. Muhammad Ali - defeated Spinks for the Ring & WBA
    (John Tate defeated Gerhardus Christian "The Boksburg Bomber / Bionic Hand" Coetzee for the vacant WBA)
23. Michael Dwayne Weaver - defeated Tate for the WBA
24. Michael Marshall Dokes - defeated Weaver for the WBA
25. Gerhardus Christian "The Boksburg Bomber / Bionic Hand" Coetzee - defeated Dokes for the WBA
    (Tim Witherspoon defeated Greg Page for the vacant WBC)
26. Pinklon Thomas - defeated Witherspoon for the WBC
27. Greg Page - defeated Coetzee for the WBA
28. Tony Tubbs - defeated Page for the WBA
    (Michael "The Jinx" Spinks defeated Larry Holmes for the inaugural IBF)
29. Tim Witherspoon - defeated Tubbs for the WBA
    
30. Trevor Berbick - defeated Thomas for the WBC
31. James "Bonecrusher" Smith - defeated Witherspoon for the WBA
    (Tony Craig "TNT" Tucker defeated James "Buster" Douglas for the vacant IBF)
    
32. Michael Gerard "Kid Dynamite / Iron Mike" Tyson - defeated Berbick for the WBC, Smith for the WBA, Tucker for the IBF and Spinks for the Ring - reunifying the HW division in the span of just 19 months)
    (Francesco Damiani defeated Johnny du Plooy for the inaugural WBO)
33. James "Buster" Douglas - defeated Tyson for the WBA/WBC/IBF/Ring* Magazine.
    
34. Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield - defeated Douglas for the WBA/WBC/IBF/Ring* Magazine
35. Raymond Anthony "Merciless" Mercer - defeated Damiani for the WBO
    (Michael Lee Moorer defeated Bert Cooper for the vacant WBO)
36. Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe - defeated Holyfield for the WBA/WBC/IBF/Ring* Magazine
    (Lennox Claudius "The Lion" Lewis was awarded the WBC title after Bowe threw it in the garbage)
    (Tommy Morrison defeated Foreman for the vacant WBO)
37. Michael Bentt - defeated Morrison for the WBO
38. Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield - defeated Bowe for the IBF & WBA.
    
39. Herbie Hide - defeated Bentt for the WBO
40. Michael Lee Moorer - defeated Holyfield for the IBF & WBA.
41. Oliver William "The Atomic Bull" McCall - defeated Lewis for the WBC
42. "Big" George Edward Foreman - defeated Moorer for the IBF & WBA
43. Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe - defeated Hide for the WBO
    (Bruce Samuel Seldon defeated Tucker for the vacant WBA)
44. Franklin Roy Bruno - defeated McCall for the WBC
45. Michael Gerard "Kid Dynamite / Iron Mike" Tyson - defeated Bruno for the WBC and Seldon for the WBA, once again partially reunifying the division
    (Michael Lee Moorer defeated Axel Schulz for the vacant IBF)
    Henry Akinwande defeated Jeremy Williams for the vacant WBO)
46. Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield - defeated Tyson for the WBA, Moorer for the IBF.
    (Lennox Claudius "The Lion" Lewis defeated McCall for the vacant WBC)
47. Lennox Claudius "The Lion" Lewis defeated Holyfield for the IBF & WBA.
    (Herbie Hide defeated Tucker for the vacant WBO)
48. Vitalii Volodymyrovych "Dr. Iron Fist" Klitschko - defeated Hide for the WBO
    
49. Christopher Cornelius Byrd - defeated Klitschko for the WBO
    (Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield defeated John Ruiz for the vacant WBA)
50. Volodymyr Volodymyrovych "Dr. Steelhammer" Klitschko - defeated Byrd for the WBO
    
51. John "The Quiet Man" Ruiz - defeated Holyfield for the WBA
52. Hasim Sharif Rahman - defeated Lewis for the WBC & IBF
53. Lennox Claudius "The Lion" Lewis - defeated Rahman for the WBC & IBF, awarded The Ring Magazine title in 2002 (by some accounts the first holder since Tyson)
    (Christopher Cornelius Byrd defeated Holyfield for the vacant IBF)
    
54. Roy Levesta Jones, Jr. - defeated Ruiz for the WBA
55. Cornelius Johannes "The Sniper" Sanders - defeated W. Klitschko for the WBO
    (John "The Quiet Man" Ruiz defeated Rahman for the interim WBA)
    (Lamon Tajuan Brewster defeated W. Klitschko for the vacant WBO)
    (Vitalii Volodymyrovych "Dr. Iron Fist" Klitschko defeated Sanders for the vacant WBC)
    (Hasim Sharif Rahman defeated Monte Barrett for the vacant WBC)
56. Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev - defeated Ruiz for the WBA
    
57. Siarhei Piatrovich "The White Wolf" Liakhovich - defeated Brewster for the WBO
    
58. Volodymyr Volodymyrovych "Dr. Steelhammer" Klitschko - defeated Byrd for the IBF, later defeated Ibragimov for the WBO
    
59. Oleg Alexandrovich "The Big O" Maskaev - defeated Rahman for the WBC
    
60. Shannon Demont "The Cannon" Briggs - defeated Liakhovich for the WBO
61. Ruslan Shamilevich "White Tyson" Chagaev - defeated Valuev for the WBA
    
62. Sultan-Ahmed Magomedsalihovich Ibragimov - defeated Briggs for the WBO
    
63. Samuel Okon "The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter - defeated Maskaev for the WBC
    (Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev defeated Ruiz for the vacant WBA)
64. Vitalii Volodymyrovych "Dr. Iron Fist" Klitschko - defeated Peter for the WBC
    (Volodymyr Volodymyrovych "Dr. Steelhammer" Klitschko awarded Ring title after defeating Chagaev)
65. David Deron "Hayemaker" Haye - defeated Valuev for the WBA
    (Alexander Vladimirovich "Russian Vityaz" Povetkin defeated Chagaev for the vacant "regular" WBA)
    (Bermane "B. Ware" Stiverne defeated Cristobal Arreola for the vacant WBC)
    (Ruslan Shamilevich "White Tyson" Chagaev defeated Fres Oquendo for the vacant "regular" WBA)
66. Deontay Leshun "The Bronze Bomber" Wilder - defeated Stiverne for the WBC
67. Tyson Luke "The Gypsy King" Fury - defeated W. Klitschko for the IBF, WBO, & WBA (Super) and Ring
    (Charles Lee Martin defeated Vyacheslav Valeriyovych Glazkov for the vacant IBF)
68. Lucas "Big Daddy" Browne - defeated Chagaev for the "regular" WBA
69. Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua - defeated Martin for the IBF and later Parker for the WBO
    (Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua defeated W. Klitschko for the vacant WBA Super)
    (Ruslan Shamilevich "White Tyson" Chagaev awarded the "regular" WBA)
    (Joseph Dennis Parker Lupesoliai defeated Andrés Ponce Ruiz Jr. for the vacant WBO)
    (Mahmoud "Diamond Boy / Manuel" Charr defeated Aleksandr Ustinov for the vacant "regular" WBA)
70. Andrés Ponce "Destroyer" Ruiz Jr. defeated Joshua for the IBF/WBO/WBA (Super)
71. Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua - defeated A. Ruiz for the IBF/WBO/WBA (Super)
    
72. Tyson Luke "The Gypsy King" Fury - defeated Wilder for the WBC
    (Trevor Cosmo Bryan Jr. defeated Stiverne for the vacant "regular" WBA)
73. Oleksandr Oleksandrovych "The Cat" Usyk - defeated Joshua for the IBF/WBO/WBA (Super), then Fury for the WBC
    
74. Daniel Raphael Dubois - defeated Bryan for the "regular" WBA
    (Mahmoud "Diamond Boy / Manuel" Charr reinstated as "regular" WBA)
    (Daniel Raphael Dubois defeated Filip Hrgović for the interim IBF, then promoted to full champ)
    
75. Kubrat Venkov "The Cobra" Pulev - defeated Charr for the "regular" WBA

If you count the WBA regular championship, there have been 115 reigns as world heavyweight champion from Sullivan through Pulev. If you don't, there have been 106 from Sullivan through Dubois. If you only look at heavyweights that beat a sitting heavyweight champion (and exclude inaugural tilts, promotions from interim, and vacancies), there have been 73 from Corbett through Usyk. 62 if you subtract the WBO. 50 if you eliminate the WBA by itself (not as part of a unification package in the fractured era).

Just a couple of dozen if you count, in the post-facturing era, only men that have worn at least three unified major belts (a`la Tyson, Douglas, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis, and Usyk)

 

* Views conflict on whether anybody reigned as official Ring Magazine heavyweight champion from Tyson until Lewis. The publication under its then-ownership discontinued the practice in the late nineteen-eighties, but also did acknowledge Douglas, Holyfield and Bowe as legitimate true champions. New ownership named Lewis the Ring champ but remained noncommittal on the status of the intervening trio.