By the numbers
Updated
Independent desk. Figures are traced to named sources and corrections are logged — see the editorial policy.
From 105 pounds at the bottom to no upper limit at the top. The names change from one era to the next; the limits have been stable for decades.
Professional boxing recognises 17 weight divisions, and the four major sanctioning bodies — the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO — use the same limits, even if the names vary in older records.
The seventeen limits
- Minimumweight (strawweight): 105 lb
- Light flyweight: 108 lb
- Flyweight: 112 lb
- Super flyweight: 115 lb
- Bantamweight: 118 lb
- Super bantamweight: 122 lb
- Featherweight: 126 lb
- Super featherweight: 130 lb
- Lightweight: 135 lb
- Super lightweight: 140 lb
- Welterweight: 147 lb
- Super welterweight: 154 lb
- Middleweight: 160 lb
- Super middleweight: 168 lb
- Light heavyweight: 175 lb
- Cruiserweight: 200 lb
- Heavyweight: over 200 lb, with no upper limit.
How the limits came to be
The original eight divisions, from flyweight to heavyweight, were set early in the twentieth century. The "super" classes, which sit a few pounds above an older class, were added later to give fighters a place to go after they outgrew it. Cruiserweight was created in the late 1970s, and its limit was raised from 190 to 200 pounds in the early 2000s.
Weigh-ins
Boxers weigh in the day before the fight and must be at or below the limit for their class. A boxer who is over may be given a short period to lose the weight, and the other side can accept or refuse a fight at the new weight.
Why it matters for the sport
Because every title is tied to a weight limit, the ability of a boxer to win belts in more than one class is one of the main measures of his career. The number of divisions is the reason a fighter can be called a "four-division champion" and the reason the record books are divided by weight.