The Five Best Flyweight Boxers of All-Time

Not only is flyweight a weight class with plenty of history, it has also produced some of the finest boxers in the sport.

First established as a professional boxing weight class in 1911, it is one of the eight “traditional” divisions. In the amateur system, however, it existed as early as 1904. For over a century boxers in this weight class have put on some of the best fights the sport has ever seen.

Read on as Big Fight Weekend presents its list of five of the best flyweight boxers of all-time (in no particular order).

The Five Best Flyweight Boxers of All-Time

Jimmy Wilde

According to BoxRec, Jimmy Wilde’s professional record was 132-4-1 with 98 KOs. He was the first official flyweight world champion and his reign lasted nearly seven years. The Welshman weighed under 100 lbs for several of his fights and was often much lighter than his opponents. He also fought and defeated future bantamweight world champion Joe Lynch and future featherweight world champion Tommy Noble.

Wilde became world champion with an eleventh round stoppage victory of Young Kid Zulu in December 1916. He made at least four title defences in fights that were not considered newspaper decision affairs. Wilde initially retired following a seventeenth round technical knockout loss to Pete Herman in a non-title fight in January 1921. Two and a half years later, however, he was brought out of retirement to put his flyweight championship (which he still officially held) at stake against the next boxer on this list.

Pancho Villa

Pancho Villa’s official record according to BoxRec was 77-4-4 with 22 KOs. He became the flyweight world champion with a seventh round knockout of Wilde, retiring the Welshman for good. The victory also made him the first Filipino boxing world champion ever. Villa would go on to make three title defences during his roughly two-year reign. He also faced future bantamweight champion Charles “Bud” Taylor three times, winning a newspaper decision and a unanimous decision against one newspaper decision loss.

Sadly, Villa passed away at just 23 years of age. Just ten days after his July 1925 fight against Jimmy McLarnin, he died from Ludwig’s angina resulting from an infection that spread to his throat from a tooth extraction the day of the bout. The flyweight title became vacant as a result.

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (91-5-2, 47 KOs) had two separate reigns as WBC flyweight world champion. He first won the title in March 2001 with a first round technical knockout against Malcolm Tunacao. Wonjongkam then proceeded to make 17 defences of the belt over a six-year period which included two wins over Daisuke Naito and a win over Hussein Hussein. The reign ended after he lost his third fight to Naito in July 2007.

Wonjongkam eventually regained the title in March 2010 after defeating Koki Kameda. However, this reign would be shorter than the first. He won three fights with the title at stake before a technical draw to Hirofumi Mukai (Mukai was badly cut in round one and the fight ended shortly after). Wonjongkam then faced Sonny Boy Jaro, losing via sixth round technical knockout in the last world title fight of his career.

Miguel Canto

Miguel Canto (61-9-4, 15 KOs) reigned as the WBC flyweight champion for just over four years. He first fought for that world title in August 1973 but would lose a majority decision to Betulio Gonzalez. Less than 18 months later, however, Canto defeated Shoji Oguma to become WBC champion. He made 14 defences of the title which also included two wins over Gonzalez. Canto’s reign saw him fight in the USA, Japan, Chile, Venezuela, and his native México.

In March 1979, he travelled to South Korea to face Park Chan-hee. Canto would go on to lose his title via unanimous decision. He returned to South Korea to rematch Park, but a draw result meant it was the last time Canto would fight with a world title on the line. The Mexican would have eight bouts after that, going 4-4 before retiring from the sport.

Frankie Genaro

Frankie Genaro won gold for the United States as a flyweight at the 1920 Olympics. He then entered the professional ranks and amassed a record of 80-20-8 with 19 KOs. Genaro’s first shot at the world title was in August 1925 against Fidel LaBarba to whom he lost on points. He would eventually become champion with a unanimous decision over Frenchy Belanger in February 1928.

While his first title defence ended in a draw, Genaro won his next two title defences before losing to Emile Pladner via first round knockout. The American would rematch Pladner, regaining the world championship via controversial disqualification (two judges ruled that Pladner landed an illegal blow, the third judge and the French spectators disagreed, resulting in a riot). Genaro won six and drew two world title fights (in addition to winning several other non-title bouts) before ultimately losing the title in October 1931. He remained an active boxer until February 1934 but never challenged for a world title again.