How many weight classes are there in boxing?

Seventeen, from minimumweight at 105 lb to heavyweight with no limit. The four major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) all recognise the same seventeen, though some use older names: junior flyweight for light flyweight, junior welterweight for super lightweight, and so on.

What is the heaviest weight class in boxing?

Heavyweight, which has no upper limit. Anyone over the 200 lb cruiserweight limit is a heavyweight; modern champions weigh between 220 and 270 lb.

What is the lightest weight class in boxing?

Minimumweight, also called strawweight or mini-flyweight, with a limit of 105 lb (47.6 kg).

Do boxers fight at their weight-class limit?

No. Boxers weigh in the day before the fight at or under the limit, then rehydrate; by the opening bell a middleweight who weighed 160 lb is often 175 or more. That is why giving away a division or two matters less than the numbers suggest and giving away four or five matters more.

What is heavyweight in boxing in stone?

Heavyweight has no upper limit: anyone over the cruiserweight limit of 14 st 4 (200 lb) is a heavyweight. Modern heavyweight champions weigh roughly 15 st 10 to 19 st 4 (220 to 270 lb).

What is the junior welterweight weight limit?

Junior welterweight is the old name for super lightweight: 140 lb, 63.5 kg or 10 st. Junior middleweight (super welterweight) is 154 lb, 69.9 kg or 11 st.

What are the boxing weight classes in order?

Lightest to heaviest: minimumweight (105 lb), light flyweight (108), flyweight (112), super flyweight (115), bantamweight (118), super bantamweight (122), featherweight (126), super featherweight (130), lightweight (135), super lightweight (140), welterweight (147), super welterweight (154), middleweight (160), super middleweight (168), light heavyweight (175), cruiserweight (200) and heavyweight (no limit).

What weight class is 154 in boxing?

154 lb (69.9 kg) is the super welterweight limit, also called junior middleweight. 130 lb is super featherweight, 135 lb lightweight, 140 lb super lightweight, 147 lb welterweight, 160 lb middleweight and 168 lb super middleweight. In kilos, 80 kg is just over the light heavyweight limit of 79.4 kg, so an 80 kg boxer is a cruiserweight.

Why are there so many divisions?

Boxers are matched by weight because size is the biggest single advantage in the sport. The eight original divisions were spaced too far apart for men who could not safely make one limit and gave away too much at the next, so the junior and super divisions were added between them through the twentieth century.

Reference

Boxing Weight Classes

All seventeen divisions, from minimumweight to heavyweight, with every limit in pounds, kilograms and stone, the champion of each in the simulator, and a calculator that tells you where any weight lands.

All 17 boxing weight classes in order

Division	Limit (lb)	kg	Stone	Range (lb)	Range (kg)	Champion
Minimumweight strawweight	105	47.6	7 st 7	1–105	0.5–47.6	Oscar Collazo
Light Flyweight junior flyweight	108	49.0	7 st 10	106–108	48.1–49.0	Rene Santiago
Flyweight	112	50.8	8 st 0	109–112	49.4–50.8	Ricardo Sandoval
Super Flyweight junior bantamweight	115	52.2	8 st 3	113–115	51.3–52.2	David Jimenez
Bantamweight	118	53.5	8 st 6	116–118	52.6–53.5	Jesse Rodriguez
Super Bantamweight junior featherweight	122	55.3	8 st 10	119–122	54.0–55.3	Naoya Inoue
Featherweight	126	57.2	9 st 0	123–126	55.8–57.2	Rafael Espinoza
Super Featherweight junior lightweight	130	59.0	9 st 4	127–130	57.6–59.0	Emanuel Navarrete
Lightweight	135	61.2	9 st 9	131–135	59.4–61.2	Raymond Muratalla
Super Lightweight junior welterweight	140	63.5	10 st 0	136–140	61.7–63.5	Shakur Stevenson
Welterweight	147	66.7	10 st 7	141–147	64.0–66.7	Devin Haney
Super Welterweight junior middleweight	154	69.9	11 st 0	148–154	67.1–69.9	Jaron Ennis
Middleweight	160	72.6	11 st 6	155–160	70.3–72.6	Carlos Adames
Super Middleweight	168	76.2	12 st 0	161–168	73.0–76.2	Osleys Iglesias
Light Heavyweight	175	79.4	12 st 7	169–175	76.7–79.4	Dmitry Bivol
Cruiserweight	200	90.7	14 st 4	176–200	79.8–90.7	Jai Opetaia
Heavyweight	none	—	—	over 200	over 90.7	Oleksandr Usyk

Championship limits, lightest to heaviest · old names in italics · champions as rated in the simulator

The limits are set in pounds. Kilograms, used in amateur and Olympic boxing and by most of the world, and stone, still how British and Irish boxing talks about weight, are conversions: a welterweight makes 147 lb, which is 66.7 kg or 10 st 7. The numbers fans quote are the limits themselves, so 130 is super featherweight, 135 lightweight, 140 super lightweight, 147 welterweight, 154 super welterweight and 160 middleweight; one pound over and a fighter is in the class above. That is why an 80 kg boxer, a shade over the 79.4 kg light heavyweight limit, is a cruiserweight.

The older names in italics are still on posters and in the record books, and the sanctioning bodies do not all use the same ones: the WBA and IBF say junior welterweight where the WBC says super lightweight, for the same 140 lb.

Boxing weight classes chart

What weight class am I?

Enter a weight in pounds, kilograms or stone. The matching row in the table above is highlighted.

Remember that boxers weigh in the day before and rehydrate: the number on the scale at the weigh-in is usually ten to fifteen pounds under what they weigh at the first bell. How the fight is then scored is in How Boxing Is Scored.

The women’s divisions

Division	Limit	Champion
Minimumweight	105 lb	Yokasta Valle
Light Flyweight	108 lb	—
Flyweight	112 lb	—
Super Flyweight	115 lb	—
Bantamweight	118 lb	—
Super Bantamweight	122 lb	—
Featherweight	126 lb	Amanda Serrano
Super Featherweight	130 lb	—
Lightweight	135 lb	Caroline Dubois
Super Lightweight	140 lb	—
Welterweight	147 lb	Lauren Price
Super Welterweight	154 lb	—
Middleweight	160 lb	—
Super Middleweight	168 lb	Lani Daniels
Light Heavyweight	175 lb	—
Cruiserweight	200 lb	—
Heavyweight	no limit	—

Same seventeen limits as the men · women’s title fights are ten rounds of two minutes

Every division, in detail

Minimumweight

105 lb · 47.6 kg · 7 st 7

Also called strawweight or mini-flyweight. The smallest division in the sport, created in 1987 and fought almost entirely in Asia and Latin America; a great minimumweight is quick, tireless and rarely a puncher.

Champion in the simulator: Oscar Collazo · Women’s: Yokasta Valle · Simulate a minimumweight fight →

Light Flyweight

108 lb · 49.0 kg · 7 st 10

Junior flyweight. A step up from the minimum limit that has produced some of the longest reigns in boxing history, and a division where speed and work rate decide most nights.

Champion in the simulator: Rene Santiago · Simulate a light flyweight fight →

Flyweight

112 lb · 50.8 kg · 8 st 0

The oldest of the small divisions, a world title since 1913. Flyweights fight at a pace heavyweights could not hold for a round, and the best of them have moved up and won at 115 and 118.

Champion in the simulator: Ricardo Sandoval · Simulate a flyweight fight →

Super Flyweight

115 lb · 52.2 kg · 8 st 3

Junior bantamweight. The busiest of the lighter divisions in the modern era, with a run of great fighters and great fights that made it a television staple.

Champion in the simulator: David Jimenez · Simulate a super flyweight fight →

Bantamweight

118 lb · 53.5 kg · 8 st 6

A championship weight since the 1880s, and the division where the smaller men start to carry real power. Naoya Inoue made it the most watched small-man division in the world.

Champion in the simulator: Jesse Rodriguez · Simulate a bantamweight fight →

Super Bantamweight

122 lb · 55.3 kg · 8 st 10

Junior featherweight. Four pounds above bantam, and lately the home of the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.

Champion in the simulator: Naoya Inoue · Simulate a super bantamweight fight →

Featherweight

126 lb · 57.2 kg · 9 st 0

One of the eight original weight classes. Featherweight has always mixed pure boxers with pressure fighters, and the great ones have usually been able to do both.

Champion in the simulator: Rafael Espinoza · Women’s: Amanda Serrano · Simulate a featherweight fight →

Super Featherweight

130 lb · 59.0 kg · 9 st 4

Junior lightweight. A four-pound bridge to lightweight that has been a proving ground for fighters on the way up and a last stop for fighters who could not make 126 any more.

Champion in the simulator: Emanuel Navarrete · Simulate a super featherweight fight →

Lightweight

135 lb · 61.2 kg · 9 st 9

The glamour division of the lower weights, with the deepest history in the sport: Leonard, Duran, Whitaker, De La Hoya, Mayweather and Lomachenko all held the title.

Champion in the simulator: Raymond Muratalla · Women’s: Caroline Dubois · Simulate a lightweight fight →

Super Lightweight

140 lb · 63.5 kg · 10 st 0

Junior welterweight. Ten pounds above lightweight in stature, five in name; a division of fast, heavy-handed fighters who tend to make great fights with each other.

Champion in the simulator: Shakur Stevenson · Simulate a super lightweight fight →

Welterweight

147 lb · 66.7 kg · 10 st 7

Robinson, Leonard, Hearns, Mayweather, Pacquiao. Welterweight has produced more pound-for-pound arguments than any other weight, and the belt at 147 is still the one every 140-pounder wants.

Champion in the simulator: Devin Haney · Women’s: Lauren Price · Simulate a welterweight fight →

Super Welterweight

154 lb · 69.9 kg · 11 st 0

Junior middleweight. The division where welterweights go when they grow, and a place that has quietly produced some of the best fights of the last decade.

Champion in the simulator: Jaron Ennis · Simulate a super welterweight fight →

Middleweight

160 lb · 72.6 kg · 11 st 6

The classic weight. Greb, Robinson, Monzon, Hagler, Hopkins, Golovkin. Middleweights are big enough to end a fight with one punch and small enough to fight twelve rounds at pace.

Champion in the simulator: Carlos Adames · Simulate a middleweight fight →

Super Middleweight

168 lb · 76.2 kg · 12 st 0

Created in 1984 and now one of the deepest divisions in boxing, with the undisputed championship the sport’s biggest prize below heavyweight.

Champion in the simulator: Osleys Iglesias · Women’s: Lani Daniels · Simulate a super middleweight fight →

Light Heavyweight

175 lb · 79.4 kg · 12 st 7

A championship weight since 1903 and the natural home of the fighter who is too big for 168 and too small to give away thirty pounds at heavyweight. Moore, Foster, Spinks, Jones and Bivol all ruled it.

Champion in the simulator: Dmitry Bivol · Simulate a light heavyweight fight →

Cruiserweight

200 lb · 90.7 kg · 14 st 4

The newest of the major divisions, introduced in 1979 for the men between light heavyweight and the giants. Holyfield and Usyk went from undisputed cruiserweight champion to heavyweight champion of the world.

Champion in the simulator: Jai Opetaia · Simulate a cruiserweight fight →

Heavyweight

no limit

No limit. The champion of the world, historically the most famous athlete alive. Modern heavyweights weigh 220 to 270 pounds, which is why the simulator treats 235 as the division’s working weight when it prices a cross-division fight.

Champion in the simulator: Oleksandr Usyk · Simulate a heavyweight fight →

Questions from the mailbag

How many weight classes are there in boxing?: Seventeen, from minimumweight at 105 lb to heavyweight with no limit. The four major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) all recognise the same seventeen, though some use older names: junior flyweight for light flyweight, junior welterweight for super lightweight, and so on.
What is the heaviest weight class in boxing?: Heavyweight, which has no upper limit. Anyone over the 200 lb cruiserweight limit is a heavyweight; modern champions weigh between 220 and 270 lb.
What is the lightest weight class in boxing?: Minimumweight, also called strawweight or mini-flyweight, with a limit of 105 lb (47.6 kg).
Do boxers fight at their weight-class limit?: No. Boxers weigh in the day before the fight at or under the limit, then rehydrate; by the opening bell a middleweight who weighed 160 lb is often 175 or more. That is why giving away a division or two matters less than the numbers suggest and giving away four or five matters more.
What is heavyweight in boxing in stone?: Heavyweight has no upper limit: anyone over the cruiserweight limit of 14 st 4 (200 lb) is a heavyweight. Modern heavyweight champions weigh roughly 15 st 10 to 19 st 4 (220 to 270 lb).
What is the junior welterweight weight limit?: Junior welterweight is the old name for super lightweight: 140 lb, 63.5 kg or 10 st. Junior middleweight (super welterweight) is 154 lb, 69.9 kg or 11 st.
What are the boxing weight classes in order?: Lightest to heaviest: minimumweight (105 lb), light flyweight (108), flyweight (112), super flyweight (115), bantamweight (118), super bantamweight (122), featherweight (126), super featherweight (130), lightweight (135), super lightweight (140), welterweight (147), super welterweight (154), middleweight (160), super middleweight (168), light heavyweight (175), cruiserweight (200) and heavyweight (no limit).
What weight class is 154 in boxing?: 154 lb (69.9 kg) is the super welterweight limit, also called junior middleweight. 130 lb is super featherweight, 135 lb lightweight, 140 lb super lightweight, 147 lb welterweight, 160 lb middleweight and 168 lb super middleweight. In kilos, 80 kg is just over the light heavyweight limit of 79.4 kg, so an 80 kg boxer is a cruiserweight.
Why are there so many divisions?: Boxers are matched by weight because size is the biggest single advantage in the sport. The eight original divisions were spaced too far apart for men who could not safely make one limit and gave away too much at the next, so the junior and super divisions were added between them through the twentieth century.

On the same paper

Pick a division and settle any fight in the boxing simulator, raise a fighter through it in the career mode, or browse the whole shelf of free boxing games, with pages on playing where games are blocked, on a phone and on a PC.