Shiki?
Was he in some crew? Maybe his captain defeated him, similar to WB and Ace.
Dunno if Mihawk is strong enough (probably, considering him training with Shanks), but I can imagine Zoro one day being on par with the current Yonkou, so could have been some previous swordsman.
Could have been anyone while he was coming up, I guess. Like Luffy has been defeated twice by Crocodile and once by Kuma already (twice if you count Thriller Bark, unfair on Luffy though) and could have been defeated by so many if he crossed their path too early or by some he beat if he without his crew's help (eg Moria/Oars and maybe Lucci).
If the 7 counts marines, then probably an old Admiral or Vice-admiral or even someone lower-ranked (Luffy got defeated by Smoker). We don't really know much about the top marines from that time and what devil fruit powers they had.