Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the competitor has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a competitor held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the competitor shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized.
* Bolded letters in the competitor's name, if any, indicate the surname/family name.
Johnny Moneghan
1855-12-18
CAN
Defeats Jimmy Hart; the match takes place in CAN to avoid any police interference.
Jimmy Hart
1856-07-19
Beverly, MA
Johnny Moneghan [2]
1856
Claims the title again after Hart (temporarily) retires.
Barney Aaron
1857-09-28
(near) Providence, RI
Competitors and their parties charter the steamboat "Water Lily" to go down from Boston, MA to near Providence, RI (New York Daily Herald, 57-09-30).
Scotty of Brooklyn (Patrick Brannagan)
1858-10-18
Ft. Erie, ON, CAN
Match takes place at Point Abino (Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, 58-10-19); retires in 61.
Owney Geoghegan
1861-04-18
in New York, NY
Defeats Eddie Touhey; retires after his last fight on 63-05-15.
Sam Collyer
1866-06-20
Pohick Landing, VA
Defeats Barney Aaron.
Barney Aaron [2]
1867-06-13
Stafford, VA?
Match takes place near Aqua Creek.
Sam Collyer [2]
1867-06
Again claims the title when Aaron retires.
Billy Edwards
1868-08-24
Northumberland Co., VA
Arthur Chambers
1872-09-04
Walpole Is., ON, CAN
Match takes place in Walpole Is., First Nation reserve "about forty miles" from Detroit, MI (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, 72-09-05) to avoid interference from "neither the authorities of Michigan nor Canada" (New York Herald, 72-09-05); some pre-match articles have Fighting Is. or Squirrel Is.; Chambers temporarily retires in 77-04; again defends the title against another title claimant John Clark on 79-03-27; mostly fights in exhibition matches thereafter.
