1 Salvador Sánchez
Despite the fact his career was tragically cut short at the age of just 23, Sánchez built his legacy by winning the WBC featherweight title in 1980, when stopping Danny Lopez in 13 rounds, and then defending the belt nine times, beating the likes of Azumah Nelson, Juan Laporte and Wilfredo Gómez along the way.
2 Vicente Saldivar
Saldivar became the best featherweight in the world after stopping Sugar Ramos in 12 rounds in 1964. He then reigned as champion, beating the likes of Howard Winstone and Raul Rojas, until losing against Kuniaki Shibata in 1970.
3 Marco Antonio Barrera
A long-reigning champion at super-bantamweight, Barrera made his splash at featherweight when shocking “Prince” Naseem Hamed in 2001. After that, he beat Érik Morales to take the WBC title and also beat the likes of Johnny Tapia and Kevin Kelley before running into Manny Pacquiao in 2003.
4 Juan Manuel Márquez
After losing his first featherweight title fight against Freddie Norwood, Márquez stopped Manuel Medina in seven rounds to win the IBF belt in 2003. That was a belt he defended four times in a run that included a win against WBA champion Derrick Gainer and a famous draw with Manny Pacquiao.
5 Rubén Olivares
Born in Mexico City, Olivares first made his name as a super-bantamweight world champion before later making his mark at featherweight when stopping Zensuke Utagawa in seven rounds to win the WBA belt in 1974 and stopping Bobby Chacon inside two to lift the WBC belt the following year.
Two Mexicans from different socio-economic backgrounds, the rivalry between Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera was about as real as it gets in boxing (JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
6 Erik Morales
A four-weight world champion, Morales won the WBC featherweight title by outpointing Guty Espadas Jr in 2001, only to then lose it the following year to great rival Marco Antonio Barrera. He won the belt again, however, when outpointing Paulie Ayala in 2002.
7 Jorge Páez
Flamboyant showman Páez lifted the WBC featherweight title following a 15-round decision over Calvin Grove in 1988 and defended it eight times before losing against Tony Lopez in 1990. He also won the WBO version when beating Louie Espinoza.
8 Manuel Medina
Awkward and tough, Media won the IBF featherweight belt when outpointing Troy Dorsey in 1991 and defended the belt four times before surrendering it to Tom Johnson in ’93. He then beat Alejandro González in ’95 to win the WBC version before winning back the IBF version in ’98 with a win over Héctor Lizárraga.
9 Johnny González
Heavy-handed González won the WBC featherweight belt with a fourth-round stoppage of Hozumi Hasegawa in 2011 and defended it four times before an unfortunate cut helped Daniel Ponce de León beat him in 2012. He won the belt again in 2013 with a first-round KO of Abner Mares.
10 Orlando Salido
After experiencing disappointment in his first couple of title shots at featherweight, Salido finally got his hands on the WBC belt when outpointing Cristóbal Cruz in 2010. The following year, having lost his WBC belt, Salido went on to claim the WBO version by upsetting Juan Manuel López in eight rounds.