Top five WBC super bantamweight champions

Rey Vargas faces Franklin Manzanilla in the fourth defense of his WBC super bantamweight title this weekend. 

Ahead of Saturday’s fight, we take a look at the WBC’s top five 122-pound champions.

1. Wilfredo Gomez (1974-1990) is king of the division with a record 17 title defenses, all won by knockout. The Puerto Rican powerhouse secured 42 of his 44 wins inside the distance and started his career with a draw before reeling off 32 KOs in a row, including a five-round stoppage of Mexican great Carlos Zarate.

2 Erik Morales (1993-2012) stopped veteran champion Daniel Zaragoza in 11 rounds to win his first world title. The Tijuana native put his belt on the line nine times, claiming notable victories over Junior Jones, Wayne McCullough, and Marco Antonio Barrera to extend his record to 36-0 before moving up to win WBC belts in three more weight classes.

3 Jeff Fenech (1984-2008) ended the reign of Samart Payakaroon in four rounds to claim his second world title after stepping up from 118 lbs. The Australian knocked out future and former champions, Greg Richardson and Zarate, before outgrowing the division and vacating to become a three-weight champion.

4 Daniel Zaragoza (1980-1997) stopped Zarate in his final fight to win the WBC crown in a second weight division. The southpaw lost and regained the title twice, winning it for a third time a month shy of his 37th birthday before losing to a 21-year-old Morales and retiring afterwards. In three periods as champion, Zaragoza made 14 defenses, while all 22 of his world title fights were fought outside his native Mexico. 

5 Israel Vazquez (1995-2010) won the WBC belt after defeating Oscar Larios for the second time to settle their trilogy. Vazquez climbed off the canvas twice to defeat fellow champion Jhonny Gonzalez before losing his title to Rafael Marquez. “El Magnifco” bounced back with back-to-back wins over Marquez but lost the fourth fight with his fellow Mexican in his final ring appearance.