Most boxing world titles held simultaneously in different traditional weight divisions

The most boxing world titles held simultaneously in different traditional weight divisions is three, achieved by Henry Armstrong (USA, b. Henry Jackson) at featherweight, welterweight and lightweight on 17 August 1938.

The “traditional” or “glamour” weight divisions of boxing were first codified by the National Sporting Club of London around 1909. They are heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight.

Armstrong knocked out Petey Sarron on 29 October 1937 to become featherweight champion. He defeated Barney Ross on 31 May 1938 to become welterweight champion and beat Lou Ambers in his next fight on 17 August 1938 to claim the lightweight crown. He later tried for a fourth world title, at middleweight, but drew with champion Ceferino Garcia on 1 March 1940. Armstrong faced 17 world champions in his career and defeated 15 of them.

Saul “Canelo” Álvarez (Mexico) defeated Sergey Kovalev on 2 November 2019 to add the WBO light-heavyweight title to his WBA super-middleweight and WBA (Super), WBC and IBF middleweight titles. Barney Ross (b. Barnet David Rosofsky, USA) is believed in some quarters to have held the lightweight, junior-welterweight and welterweight titles simultaneously from 28 May to 17 September 1934, although there is some dispute as to when he relinquished his lightweight title.