Featherweight

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

BoxingEdit

Professional boxingEdit

HistoryEdit

A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of Template:Convert. 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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 championsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Sanctioning Body	Reign Began	Champion	Record	Defenses
WBA	June 1, 2024	Nick Ball	21–0–1 (12 KO)	2
WBC	February 1, 2025	Stephen Fulton	23–1 (8 KO)	0
IBF	August 10, 2024	Angelo Leo	25–1 (12 KO)	0
WBO	December 9, 2023	Rafael Espinoza	27–0 (23 KO)	3

Current The Ring world rankingsEdit

As of May 14, 2025.<ref name=ring-sfw-ratings>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Keys:

Template:Color box Current The Ring world champion

Rank	Name	Record	Title(s)
C	Template:Font color
1	Rafael Espinoza	27–0 (23 KO)	WBO
2	Angelo Leo	25–1 (12 KO)	IBF
3	Nick Ball	22–0–1 (13 KO)	WBA
4	Stephen Fulton	23–1 (8 KO)	WBC
5	Luis Alberto Lopez	31–3 (18 KO)
6	Brandon Figueroa	25–2–1 (19 KO)
7	Bruce Carrington	15–0 (9 KO)
8	Mirco Cuello	15–0 (12 KO)
9	Robeisy Ramírez	14–3 (9 KO)
10	Omar Cande Trinidad	18–0–1 (13 KO)

Longest reigning world featherweight championsEdit

Below is a list of longest reigning featherweight champions in boxing measured by the individual's longest reign. Career total time as champion (for multiple time champions) does not apply.

	Name	Title reign	Title recognition	Successful defenses	Beaten opponents	Fights
1.	Johnny Kilbane	11 years, 3 months, 24 days	World/NYSAC	4	2	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=ibhof-book>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2.	Chris John	10 years, 1 month, 5 days	WBA	18	16	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
3.	Abe Attell	8 years, 5 months, 19 days	World	22	14	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
4.	Eusebio Pedroza	7 years, 1 month, 23 days	WBA	19	18	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
5.	Gary Russell, Jr.	6 years, 9 month, 25 days	WBC	5	5	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
6.	Sandy Saddler	6 years, 4 months, 13 days	World	4	3	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=ibhof-book2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
7.	Léo Santa Cruz	5 years, 10 months, 13 days	WBA (Super)	5	5	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
8.	Naseem Hamed	4 years, 11 months, 20 days	WBO	15	15	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
9.	George Dixon	4 years, 5 months	World	4	4	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=ibhof-book4>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
10.	Antonio Esparragoza	4 years, 27 days	WBA	7	7	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
11.	Davey Moore	4 years, 3 days	World	5	4	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lineal ChampionsEdit

Template:Flagicon Billy Murphy (1890-1891)
Template:Flagicon Young Griffo (1891) Vacated
Template:Flagicon George Dixon (1891-1897)
Template:Flagicon Solly Smith (1897-1898)
Template:Flagicon Dave Sullivan (1898)
Template:Flagicon George Dixon (1898-1900) (2)
Template:Flagicon Terry McGovern (1900-1901)
Template:Flagicon Young Corbett II (1901-1902) Vacated
Template:Flagicon Abe Attell (1903-1912)
Template:Flagicon Johnny Kilbane (1912-1923)
Template:Flagicon Eugene Criqui (1923)
Template:Flagicon Johnny Dundee (1923–1924) Vacated
Template:Flagicon Kid Kaplan (1925-1926) Vacated
Template:Flagicon Tony Canzoneri (1928)
Template:Flagicon Andre Routis (1928-1929)
Template:Flagicon Bat Battalino (1929-1932) Vacated
Template:Flagicon Henry Armstrong (1937-1938) Vacated
Template:Flagicon Joey Archibald (1939-1940)
Template:Flagicon Harry Jeffra (1940-1941)
Template:Flagicon Joey Archibald (1941)
Template:Flagicon Chalky Wright (1941-1942)
Template:Flagicon Willie Pep (1942-1948)
Template:Flagicon Sandy Saddler (1948-1949)
Template:Flagicon Willie Pep (1949-1950) (2)
Template:Flagicon Sandy Saddler (1950-1957) (2) Retired
Template:Flagicon Hogan Bassey (1957-1959)
Template:Flagicon Davey Moore (1959-1963)
Template:Flagicon Sugar Ramos (1963-1964)
Template:Flagicon Vicente Saldivar (1964-1967) Retired
Template:Flagicon Johnny Famechon (1969-1970)
Template:Flagicon Vicente Saldivar (1970) (2)
Template:Flagicon Kuniaki Shibata (1970-1972)
Template:Flagicon Clemente Sanchez (1972)
Template:Flagicon Jose Legra (1972-1973)
Template:Flagicon Eder Jofre (1973-1974) Abandoned
Template:Flagicon Alexis Arguello (1975-1977) Vacated
Template:Flagicon Danny Lopez (1979-1980)
Template:Flagicon Salvador Sanchez (1980-1982) Died
Template:Flagicon Eusebio Pedroza (1983-1986)
Template:Flagicon Barry McGuigan (1986)
Template:Flagicon Stevie Cruz (1986-1987)
Template:Flagicon Antonio Esparragoza (1987-1991)
Template:Flagicon Yong-Kyun Park (1991-1993)
Template:Flagicon Eloy Rojas (1993-1996)
Template:Flagicon Wilfredo Vazquez (1996-1998)
Template:Flagicon Naseem Hamed (1998-2001)
Template:Flagicon Marco Antonio Barerra (2001-2003)
Template:Flagicon Manny Pacquiao (2003-2005) Vacated

Olympic championsEdit

Men’sEdit

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Pan American ChampionsEdit

Template:Div col

1951 – Template:Flagicon Francisco Núñez (ARG)
1955 – Template:Flagicon Oswaldo Cañete (ARG)
1959 – Template:Flagicon Carlos Aro (ARG)
1963 – Template:Flagicon Rosemiro Mateus (BRA)
1967 – Template:Flagicon Miguel García (ARG)
1971 – Template:Flagicon Juan García (MEX)
1975 – Template:Flagicon Dave Armstrong (United States)
1979 – Template:Flagicon Bernard Taylor (United States)
1983 – Template:Flagicon Adolfo Horta (CUB)
1987 – Template:Flagicon Kelcie Banks (United States)
1991 – Template:Flagicon Arnaldo Mesa (CUB)
1995 – Template:Flagicon Arnaldo Mesa (CUB)
1999 – Template:Flagicon Yudel Johnson (CUB)
2003 – Template:Flagicon Likar Ramos Concha (COL)
2007 – Template:Flagicon Idel Torriente (CUB)

Template:Div col end

Notable featherweightsEdit

KickboxingEdit

In kickboxing, a featherweight fighter generally weighs between Template:Convert. However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) featherweight division (professional and amateur) is between Template:Convert.

In Glory promotion, a featherweight division is up to Template:Convert.<ref>OFFICIAL GLORY RANKING Template:Webarchive</ref>

In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a featherweight division is up to Template:Convert.

In ONE Championship, the featherweight division limit is Template:Convert.

Bare-knuckle boxingEdit

The limit for featherweight generally differs among promotions in bare-knuckle boxing:

In Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the featherweight division has an upper limit of Template:Convert.
In BKB™, the featherweight division has an upper limit of Template:Convert.

LethweiEdit

International Lethwei Federation Japan has a featherweight division with an upper limit of Template:Convert. In International Lethwei Federation Japan, Thar A Thae Ta Pwint is the Featherweight Champion.

In World Lethwei Championship, the featherweight division has an upper limit of Template:Convert.

Mixed Martial ArtsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In MMA, within the UFC company and most other MMA companies the featherweight range is from Template:Convert.

Current championsEdit

These tables were last updated in February 2024.

Men:

Organization	Reign Began	Champion	Record	Defenses
UFC	April 13, 2025	Template:FlagiconAlexander Volkanovski	27-4 (13KO 3SUB)	0
Bellator MMA	April 15, 2022	Template:Flagicon Patrício Pitbull	33–5 (11KO 12SUB)	1
ONE Championship	August 26, 2022	Template:Flagicon Tang Kai	15–2 (12KO 0SUB)	0
ACA	July 22, 2022	Template:Flagicon Alikhan Suleymanov	15–2 (1KO 10SUB)	0
Cage Warriors	November 4, 2022	Template:Flagicon Paul Hughes	9–1 (3KO 3SUB)	0
M-1 Global		Template:Flagicon Vacant
AMC Fight Nights	October 14, 2022	Template:Flagicon Gleb Khabibulin	7–1–2 (4KO 3SUB)	0
Brave Combat Federation	October 22, 2022	Template:Flagicon Roman Bogatov	13–1 (1KO 5SUB)	0
Titan FC	August 6, 2021	Template:Flagicon Ali al-Qaisi	12–5 (2KO 4SUB)	0
Legacy Fighting Alliance		Template:Flagicon Vacant
Road FC	December 18, 2022	Template:Flagicon Hae Jin Park	10–2 (1KO 4SUB)	0
KSW	December 18, 2021	Template:Flagicon Salahdine Parnasse	17–1–1 (2KO 6SUB)	1

Women:

Organization	Reign Began	Champion	Record	Defenses
Bellator MMA	January 25, 2020	Template:Flagicon Cris Cyborg	29–2 (1) (20KO 1SUB)	4
UFC	December 29, 2018	Template:Flagicon Amanda Nunes	21–5 (13KO 3SUB)	2
Invicta FC		Template:Flagicon Vacant

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

Template:Boxing weight classes