The Most Famous
BOXERS from Canada
Top 9
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Canadian Boxers of all time. This list of famous Canadian Boxers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. George Chuvalo (b. 1937)
With an HPI of 55.28, George Chuvalo is the most famous Canadian Boxer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.
George Louis Chuvalo (born September 12, 1937, as Jure Čuvalo) is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been knocked down in his 93 bout professional career including fights against Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman. Chuvalo unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship in 1966. Chuvalo was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
2. Arturo Gatti (1972 - 2009)
With an HPI of 52.03, Arturo Gatti is the 2nd most famous Canadian Boxer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Arturo Gatti (April 15, 1972 – July 11, 2009) was a Canadian professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2007. A world champion in two weight classes, Gatti held the IBF junior lightweight title from 1995 to 1998, and the WBC super lightweight title from 2004 to 2005. He also participated in The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year a total of four times (1997, 1998, 2002, and 2003). He announced his retirement on July 14, 2007. After his death in 2009, Gatti was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on December 10, 2012, in his first year of eligibility, becoming the tenth Canadian boxer to be so inducted. Gatti was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is the young brother of ex-professional boxer Joe Gatti. Gatti eventually relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey, as a teenager where he found a manager he trusted and decided to turn pro. He returned to Montreal after retiring from boxing to work in real estate. He died under mysterious circumstances in 2009. His Brazilian wife was arrested for his homicide, then released after an autopsy done in Brazil ruled his death was a suicide. Subsequent American and Canadian investigations could not agree on Gatti's cause of death, and discovered a history of suicidal ideation.
3. Sam Langford (1886 - 1956)
With an HPI of 50.47, Sam Langford is the 3rd most famous Canadian Boxer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Samuel Edgar Langford (March 4, 1886 – January 12, 1956) was a Canadian boxing standout of the early part of the 20th century. Called the "Greatest Fighter Nobody Knows", by ESPN, Langford is considered by many boxing historians to be one of the greatest fighters of all time. Originally from Weymouth Falls, a small community in Nova Scotia, he was known as "the Boston Bonecrusher", "the Boston Terror", and his most famous nickname, "the Boston Tar Baby". Langford stood 5 ft 6+1⁄2 in (1.69 m) and weighed 185 lb (84 kg) in his prime. He fought from lightweight to heavyweight and defeated many world champions and legends of the time in each weight class. Considered a devastating puncher even at heavyweight, Langford was rated No. 2 by The Ring on their list of "100 greatest punchers of all time". One boxing historian described Langford as "experienced as a heavyweight James Toney with the punching power of Mike Tyson". He was denied a shot at many World Championships, due to the colour bar and by the refusal of Jack Johnson, the first African-American World Heavyweight Champion, to fight him in a rematch. Langford was the World Colored Heavyweight Champion, a title vacated by Johnson after he won the World Championship, a record five times. Alongside this, Langford also defeated the reigning Lightweight Champion Joe Gans, the first African-American World Champion in boxing history and widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, in a non-title bout. Many boxing aficionados consider Langford to be the greatest boxer not to have won a world title. On August 13, 2020, the WBC granted Langford to be an honorary world champion. BoxRec ranks him as the 22nd greatest Canadian boxer of all time.
4. Horace Gwynne (1912 - 2001)
With an HPI of 49.61, Horace Gwynne is the 4th most famous Canadian Boxer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Horace "Lefty" Gwynne (October 5, 1912 – April 16, 2001) was a bantamweight professional boxer from Canada, who competed in the 1930s and won the gold medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics. He was still an amateur when he won the gold medal. Born in Toronto, Gwynne left school after grade 8, weighing only 65 lb (29.5 kg). When he started to grow, he began working out in Stokley's Gym in Toronto to lose weight in order to become a jockey.
5. Mark Leduc (1962 - 2009)
With an HPI of 40.05, Mark Leduc is the 5th most famous Canadian Boxer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Mark Leduc (May 4, 1962 – July 22, 2009) was a boxer from Canada, who won a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
6. David Lemieux (b. 1988)
With an HPI of 37.03, David Lemieux is the 6th most famous Canadian Boxer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
David Lemieux (born December 22, 1988) is a Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2007 to 2022. He held the IBF middleweight title in 2015.
7. Tammara Thibeault (b. 1996)
With an HPI of 26.19, Tammara Thibeault is the 7th most famous Canadian Boxer. Her biography has been translated into 8 different languages.
Tammara Thibeault (born December 27, 1996) is a Canadian boxer competing in the Middleweight category. Thibeault won the 2022 World Championship in Istanbul after earlier winning the middleweight bronze in 2019. She is the reigning Commonwealth Games champion when she won gold in Birmingham in 2022, improving on her bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Thibeault is also the current Pan American Games champion when she won gold at the 2023 Pan Am Games, again improving on her bronze from the 2019 Pan American Games.
8. Anna Lysenko (b. 1991)
With an HPI of 20.49, Anna Lysenko is the 8th most famous Canadian Boxer. Her biography has been translated into 3 different languages.
Anna Lysenko (Ukrainian: Анна Лисенко, born 22 December 1991) is a Ukrainian boxer.
9. Charlie Cavanagh (b. 2000)
With an HPI of 5.78, Charlie Cavanagh is the 9th most famous Canadian Boxer. Her biography has been translated into 2 different languages.
Charlie Cavanagh (born 15 June 2000) is a Canadian former amateur boxer who won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships. She retired in 2024.
People
Pantheon has 9 people classified as Canadian boxers born between 1886 and 2000. Of these 9, 5 (55.56%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Canadian boxers include George Chuvalo, David Lemieux, and Tammara Thibeault. The most famous deceased Canadian boxers include Arturo Gatti, Sam Langford, and Horace Gwynne. As of April 2024, 4 new Canadian boxers have been added to Pantheon including Horace Gwynne, Tammara Thibeault, and Anna Lysenko.
Living Canadian Boxers
Go to all Rankings
George Chuvalo
1937 - Present
HPI: 55.28
David Lemieux
1988 - Present
HPI: 37.03
Tammara Thibeault
1996 - Present
HPI: 26.19
Anna Lysenko
1991 - Present
HPI: 20.49
Charlie Cavanagh
2000 - Present
HPI: 5.78
Deceased Canadian Boxers
Go to all RankingsArturo Gatti
1972 - 2009
HPI: 52.03
Sam Langford
1886 - 1956
HPI: 50.47
Horace Gwynne
1912 - 2001
HPI: 49.61
Mark Leduc
1962 - 2009
HPI: 40.05
Newly Added Canadian Boxers (2024)
Go to all RankingsHorace Gwynne
1912 - 2001
HPI: 49.61
Tammara Thibeault
1996 - Present
HPI: 26.19
Anna Lysenko
1991 - Present
HPI: 20.49
Charlie Cavanagh
2000 - Present
HPI: 5.78
Overlapping Lives
Which Boxers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Boxers since 1700.
