Boxing’s early years did not resemble the combat sport as it does now, especially the complicated and challenging-to-remember division names that gradually climbed in weight from 105 lbs to 201 lbs and upwards. You see, weights weren’t really a factor in fighting back then. Eight conventional weight classes with set restrictions made their debut about twenty years later. Heavyweight sports now carry much relevance and importance.
There are 17 different weight divisions in boxing, ranging from 105-pound dynamos to 300-pound heavyweight monsters. Are you curious to find out more about the different types of heavyweight sports? Continue reading as we analyze each weight class as it is at the moment!
Heavyweight
Weight Limit: Unlimited
In 1738, Jack Broughton established the heavyweight division in boxing, which featured competitors weighing 160 pounds or more. Boxers might theoretically weigh as much as they wish and compete at heavyweight because the division technically has no weight limit.
Cruiserweight
Weight Limit: 200 pounds
The 190-pound weight limit was initially introduced by the WBC in 1979 to accommodate lighter heavyweight boxers who couldn’t compete with the expanding size of the other boxers in the category. Mate Parlov and Marvin Camel battled it out for the new WBC Cruiserweight title in the first official cruiserweight champion match. But after the initial contest ended in a draw, Camel triumphed in the rematch to become the first cruiserweight world champion.
The WBC and the other three sanctioning bodies settled on a new weight restriction of 200 lbs. for the cruiserweight class in 2003.
Light Heavyweight
Weight Limit: 175 pounds
Journalist and promoter Loe Houseman of Chicago is credited with inventing the light heavyweight class. For the first light heavyweight championship trophy, he pitted Jack Root against Kid McCoy. In the end, Jack Root prevailed and held the title of world’s first light heavyweight champion.
The National Sporting Club of London formally established the light heavyweight division in 1909, setting the current weight restriction of 175 lbs.
Super Middleweight
Maximum weight: 168 pounds
Interest in a division between light heavyweight and middleweight first emerged in the 1960s. The term “junior light heavyweight champion” has its roots in a championship that was once recognized by a few states at a fixed weight of 168 pounds.
Middleweight
Maximum weight: 160 pounds
According to popular belief, the middleweight class first appeared in the bare-knuckle era in the 1840s. After defeating Dooney Harries in 1867, Tom Chandler would receive the first middleweight championship belt in that format.
Beginnings of the belt’s current design were first developed in 1889. The National Sporting Club (NSC) later amended it and formally formed it in 1909 with a 160-pound weight restriction.
