Featherweight


Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Boxing

Professional boxing

History

A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of. In the early days of the division, this limit fluctuated. The British have generally always recognized the limit at 126 pounds, but in America the weight limit was at first 114 pounds. An early champion, George Dixon, moved the limit to 120 and then 122 pounds. Finally, in 1920 the United States fixed the limit at 126 pounds.
The 1860 fight between Nobby Clark and Jim Elliott is sometimes called the first featherweight championship. However, the division only gained wide acceptance in 1889 after the Ike Weir-Frank Murphy fight.
Since the end of the 2000s and early 2010s the featherweight division is one of the most active in boxing with fighters such as Orlando Salido, Chris John, Juan Manuel López, Celestino Caballero, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Elio Rojas, Israel Vazquez, Cristobal Cruz, Rafael Márquez, Rocky Juarez, Steven Luevano, Naseem Hamed, Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao.

Current world champions

Sanctioning BodyReign BeganChampionRecordDefensesBeaten opponents
WBA January 29, 2017 Léo Santa Cruz37–1–1 33
WBCMarch 28, 2015 Gary Russell, Jr.31–1 55
IBFMay 19, 2018 Josh Warrington30–0 33
WBOOctober 26, 2019 Shakur Stevenson13–0 00

Current ''The Ring'' world rankings

As of ,.
Keys:
RankNameRecord Title
C
1 Josh Warrington30–0 IBF
2 Gary Russell Jr.31–1 WBC
3 Xu Can18–2
4 Shakur Stevenson13–0 WBO
5 Mark Magsayo20–0
6 Abdul Barry Awad27–1
7 Tugstsogt Nyambayar11–1
8 Ruben Villa18–0
9 Jessie Magdaleno27–1
10 Miguel Marriaga29–3

Longest reigning world featherweight champions

Below is a list of longest reigning featherweight champions in boxing measured by the individual's longest reign. Career total time as champion does not apply.
NameTitle reignTitle recognitionSuccessful defensesBeaten opponentsFights
1. Johnny Kilbane11 years, 3 months, 24 daysWorld44
2. Chris John10 years, 1 month, 5 daysWBA1816
3. Abe Attell8 years, 5 months, 19 daysWorld2214
4. Eusebio Pedroza7 years, 1 month, 23 daysWBA1918
5. Sandy Saddler6 years, 4 months, 13 daysWorld43
6. Gary Russell, Jr.WBC55
7. Naseem Hamed4 years, 11 months, 20 daysWBO1515
8. George Dixon4 years, 5 monthsWorld44
9. Antonio Esparragoza4 years, 27 daysWBA77
10. Davey Moore4 years, 3 daysWorld54

Amateur boxing

In amateur boxing, the weight limit is for women and for men. To make room for the introduction of women's boxing to the Olympics in 2012, the men's featherweight class was dropped down one kilogram and became bantamweight. Following further adjustments, the 2020 Olympics will again feature men's featherweight and, for the first time, women's featherweight.

Olympic champions

In kickboxing, a featherweight fighter generally weighs between. However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation featherweight division is between.
In Glory promotion, a featherweight division is up to.
In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a featherweight division is up to.

Mixed Martial Arts

In MMA, within the UFC company and most other MMA companies the featherweight range is from.

Current champions

These tables were last updated in April 2019.
Men:
OrganizationReign BeganChampionRecordDefenses
UFCDecember 14, 2019 Alexander Volkanovski21–1 1
Bellator MMAApril 21, 2017 Patrício Freire29-4 2
ONE ChampionshipAugust 18, 2016 Martin Nguyen12-3 2
ACAMarch 16, 2019 Salman Zhamaldaev17-1 0
Cage WarriorsDecember 8, 2018 Dean Trueman10-4 0
M-1 GlobalJuly 21, 2018 Nate Landwehr12-2 1
Fight Nights Global Vacant
Brave Combat FederationSeptember 21, 2018 Bubba Jenkins13-4 0
Titan FCApril 6, 2018 Jason Soares13-0 2
Legacy Fighting Alliance Vacant
Road FCNovember 3, 2018 Jung Young Lee8-1 0
KSWApril 27, 2019 Salahdine Parnasse13-0-1 0

Women:
OrganizationReign BeganChampionRecordDefenses
UFCDecember 29, 2018 Amanda Nunes17-4 0
Bellator MMAMarch 3, 2017 Julia Budd12-2 2
Invicta FC vacant