Fighters who went up a division and than back down a division to defend their titles

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by quintonjacksonfan, Feb 24, 2026.


  1. quintonjacksonfan

    quintonjacksonfan Active Member Full Member

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    Hearns went up to 160 to fight Murray Sutherland and than went back down to 154 to defend his super welterweight title against Luigi Minchillo.

    SRL -went up 154 (taking a huge risk on missing his Thomas Hearns mega fight) against Ayub Kalule
    and than went back to 147 for his classic unification fight with Hearns
     
    quintonjacksonfan, Feb 24, 2026
    quintonjacksonfan, Feb 24, 2026
    #1
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  2. Fogger

    Fogger Father, grandfather and big sports fan. Full Member

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    The first guy I thought of was welterweight kingpin, Jose Napoles. He went up to middleweight to challenge Carlos Monzon who stopped him in six rounds. Mantequilla then went back down to welterweight and defended his belt four more times.

    Also Carlos Zarate, the bantamweight belt holder, moved up to 122 but was throttled by Wilfredo Gomez who scored a fifth round kayo. Zarate then went back down and had a final successful defense at 118.
     
    Fogger, Feb 24, 2026
    Fogger, Feb 24, 2026
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  3. MidniteProwler

    MidniteProwler Fab 4. Mayor of Aussie Boxing Full Member

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    I believe Briedis had a couple heavyweight fights whilst he was cruiserweight champion.
     
    MidniteProwler, Feb 24, 2026
    MidniteProwler, Feb 24, 2026
    #3
  4. Flo_Raiden

    Flo_Raiden Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    First guy that comes to mind is Bob Foster who went up to HW twice when he challenged Frazier and Ali. After losing both times to them he resumed back to defending his titles at 175.
     
    Flo_Raiden, Feb 24, 2026
    Flo_Raiden, Feb 24, 2026
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  5. Ice8Cold

    Ice8Cold The Hype Job Spotter. Full Member

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    Canelo?
     
    Ice8Cold, Feb 24, 2026
    Ice8Cold, Feb 24, 2026
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  6. Macedoine62

    Macedoine62 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    O'Shaquie Foster, Canelo, Emanuel Navarrete, Orlando Canizales, Marco Huck, Anselmo Moreno, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

    All of them was world champions and during their reigns they moved up during 1 fight and then be back in their categories for defend their world belts again.
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2026
    Macedoine62, Feb 26, 2026
    Macedoine62, Feb 26, 2026
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  7. Grinder

    Grinder Dude, don't call me Dude Full Member

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    RJJ went to HW and came back down. Messed up his physiology imho.
     
    Grinder, Feb 26, 2026
    Grinder, Feb 26, 2026
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