Boxing Weight Classes
Every sanctioned professional boxing division from strawweight to heavyweight, with weight limits, a description of the division, and the current top-ranked fighter.
Heavyweight
No upper limit. Boxing's glamour division. From Ali and Frazier to Lewis, Klitschko, Fury, Usyk, and Joshua — the biggest men and biggest fights in the sport.
Current top-ranked: Oleksandr Usyk
Cruiserweight
200 lb / 90.7 kg. Bridge division created in the late 70s between light heavyweight and heavyweight — now one of the most active tournaments in the sport.
Light Heavyweight
175 lb / 79.4 kg. Historically boxing's "smart" division — Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins, and now Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Super Middleweight
168 lb / 76.2 kg. A relatively young division, currently the sport's highest-profile weight class thanks to Saul "Canelo" Álvarez.
Middleweight
160 lb / 72.6 kg. The classic bruising division, home to Marvin Hagler, Bernard Hopkins, Sergio Martinez, and Gennady Golovkin.
Super Welterweight
Junior middleweight — 154 lb / 69.9 kg. A crossroads division where welterweights coming up meet middleweights coming down.
Welterweight
147 lb / 66.7 kg. Boxing's marquee division for decades — Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, and now the next generation.
Super Lightweight
Junior welterweight — 140 lb / 63.5 kg. Fast, physical, and a common landing spot for lightweights adding size.
Lightweight
135 lb / 61.2 kg. Historically boxing's "glamour division" for smaller men and one of the deepest talent pools on the current schedule.
Super Featherweight
Junior lightweight — 130 lb / 59 kg. A high-turnover, high-action division that consistently produces action fight of the year candidates.
Featherweight
126 lb / 57.2 kg. One of the sport's most storied classes, running from Willie Pep and Alexis Argüello through Prince Naseem Hamed to today.
Super Bantamweight
Also called junior featherweight — 122 lb / 55.3 kg. Fast, technical division; frequent home to boxing's pound-for-pound top ten.
Bantamweight
118 lb / 53.5 kg. Historically a Latin American stronghold, currently unified for the first time in the modern era.
Super Flyweight
115 lb / 52.2 kg. Junior bantamweight. Home of the modern "super-fly" era, featuring Roman Gonzalez's peak and the Naoya Inoue coronation.
Flyweight
112 lb / 50.8 kg. One of boxing's oldest sanctioned classes, currently one of the deepest thanks to the emergence of Japanese and British talent.
Light Flyweight
Junior flyweight — 108 lb / 49 kg. A quick, high-output division with a long lineage of fast-handed Mexican and Filipino champions.
Strawweight
47.63 kg / 105 lb.
FAQ
- How many weight classes are there in boxing?
- Modern professional boxing recognises 17 sanctioned weight classes from minimumweight (105 lb) up to heavyweight (no upper limit). The most recent addition is bridgerweight, created by the WBC in 2020 to sit between cruiserweight and heavyweight.
- What is the difference between "junior" and "super" weight classes?
- They mean the same thing. Divisions between the traditional eight classes are labelled "junior [heavier class]" (e.g. junior welterweight) by the IBF and WBA, and "super [lighter class]" (e.g. super lightweight) by the WBC. Both refer to the same 140 lb limit.
- What is the heaviest boxing weight class?
- Heavyweight has no upper limit. A fighter is heavyweight from 200 lb (WBC bridgerweight starts at 200 lb and ends at 224 lb) or from 224 lb depending on the sanctioning body's framework.
- What is the lightest boxing weight class?
- Minimumweight, also called strawweight, at 105 lb (47.6 kg). It is the lowest sanctioned professional division.
- How is a fighter's weight class determined?
- By the official weigh-in the day before the fight. A boxer contracts to compete at a specific weight limit; missing weight typically means they forfeit any title on the line and can face a percentage fine of the purse. Same-day rehydration means most fighters step into the ring several pounds above the contracted limit.