Featherweight is a

weight class Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports, especially combat sports (such as boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling). Altern ...

in the

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppon ...

s of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

, and

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

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 Ike Weir (February 5, 1867 – September 12, 1908) was an Irish boxer, credited with being the first man to take the Featherweight Championship of the World in a match against Frank Murphy on March 31, 1889 in Kouts, Indiana. The fight was bille ...

–Frank Murphy fight (one of the most famous fights of all time). 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 Orlando Salido Rivera (born November 16, 1980) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He is a multiple-time former world champion in two weight classes, having held the IBF featherweight title in 2010; the WBO fe ...

, Chris John, Juan Manuel López, Celestino Caballero,

Yuriorkis Gamboa Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano (born 23 December 1981) is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a former unified featherweight world champion, having held the WBA and IBF titles between 2009 and 2011, as well as the WBA interim championship in both th ...

Elio Rojas Elio Enai Rojas (born September 25, 1982) is a Dominican Republican professional boxer. Amateur Highlights 1999- Gold Medal in the Battle of Carabobo and Cheo Aponte Tournament. Elio Rojas solidified his status as a World Class Boxer in 2000 b ...

Israel Vazquez Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, Cristobal Cruz,

Rafael Márquez Rafael Márquez Álvarez (; born 13 February 1979) is a Mexican former professional footballer and current head coach of Spanish team Barcelona Atlètic. Nicknamed '' El Káiser'', he is regarded as the best defender in Mexico's history and o ...

Rocky Juarez Ricardo "Rocky" Juárez (born April 15, 1980) is an American former professional boxer. He is a former WBC Silver featherweight champion and a multiple-time world title challenger. Juarez was known over his career for his aggressive fighting styl ...

Steven Luevano Steven "Steve" Luevano (born March 3, 1981) is an American former professional boxer who held the World Boxing Organization, WBO featherweight title. He was trained by the former International Boxing Federation, IBF List of super featherweight bo ...

Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.. Retrieved 25 February 2016. He held multiple featherweight world championships, including the WBO ti ...

Marco Antonio Barrera Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia (born January 17, 1974) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBO junior featherweight title twice betwe ...

and

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Philip ...

Current world champions

Current ''The Ring'' world rankings

As of December 10, 2022. Keys: : Current '' The Ring'' world champion

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 (for multiple time champions) does not apply.

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 Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

. Following further adjustments, the

2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

will again feature men's featherweight and, for the first time, women's featherweight.

Olympic champions

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

– * 1908 – *

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

– *

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

– *

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

– *

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

– *

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

– *

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

– *

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

– *

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

– *

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

– *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

– *

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

– *

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

– *

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

– *

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

– *

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

– *

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

– *

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

– *

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

– *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

– *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

– *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

– *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

–

Pan American Champions

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

–

Francisco Núñez Francisco Núñez may refer to: * Francisco Núñez (conductor), American conductor and composer * Francisco Núñez (boxer), Argentine boxer * Francisco Núñez (politician), Spanish politician * Francisco Núñez Melián Francisco Núñez Mel ...

(

ARG Arg or ARG may refer to: Places *''Arg'' () means "citadel" in Persian, and may refer to: **Arg, Iran, a village in Fars Province, Iran **Arg (Kabul), presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan **Arg, South Khorasan, a village in South Khorasan P ...

) *

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

– Oswaldo Cañete (

) *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

– Carlos Aro (

) *

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

– Rosemiro Mateus (

BRA A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, or ; ), is a form-fitting undergarment that is primarily used to support and cover breasts. It can serve a range of other practical and aesthetic purposes, including enhancing or reducing the appea ...

) *

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

– Miguel García (

) *

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

– Juan García ( MEX) *

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

– Dave Armstrong (United States) *

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

–

Bernard Taylor Bernard Taylor may refer to: *Bernard Taylor (author) (born 1934), British horror and suspense author *Bernard Taylor, Baron Taylor of Mansfield (1895–1991), British coalminer and politician *Bernard Taylor (boxer) (born 1957), American boxer *Be ...

(United States) *

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

– Adolfo Horta (Cuba, CUB) *Boxing at the 1987 Pan American Games, 1987 – Kelcie Banks (United States) *Boxing at the 1991 Pan American Games, 1991 – Arnaldo Mesa (Cuba, CUB) *Boxing at the 1995 Pan American Games, 1995 – Arnaldo Mesa (Cuba, CUB) *Boxing at the 1999 Pan American Games, 1999 – Yudel Johnson Cedeno, Yudel Johnson (Cuba, CUB) *Boxing at the 2003 Pan American Games, 2003 – Likar Ramos Concha (Colombia, COL) *Boxing at the 2007 Pan American Games, 2007 – Idel Torriente (Cuba, CUB)

Notable featherweights

* Alexis Argüello * Henry Armstrong * Abe Attell *

* Kid Chocolate * Luisito Espinosa * Wilfredo Gómez * Wilfredo Vázquez *

* Paul Ingle * Chris John (boxer), Chris 'The Dragon' John * Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson * Kevin Kelley (boxer), Kevin Kelley *Derrick Gainer * Kina Malpartida * Juan Manuel Márquez * Barry McGuigan * Érik Morales * Azumah Nelson *

* Nonito Donaire, Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire * Tommy Paul * Willie Pep * Sandy Saddler * Calvin Grove * Vicente Saldivar * Salvador Sánchez *

* Miguel Ángel García (boxer), Miguel Ángel García * Juan Manuel López *

* Jeff Fenech * Vasiliy Lomachenko

Kickboxing

, a featherweight fighter generally weighs between . However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) featherweight division (professional and amateur) is between . In Glory (kickboxing), Glory promotion, a featherweight division is up to .OFFICIAL GLORY RANKING
In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a featherweight division is up to . In ONE Championship, the featherweight division limit is .

Lethwei

International Lethwei Federation Japan has a featherweight division with an upper limit of . 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 .

Mixed Martial Arts

In mixed martial arts, MMA, within the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC company and most other MMA companies the featherweight range is from .

Current champions

These tables were last updated in August 2020. Men: Women:

References

{{Boxing weight classes Boxing weight classes Kickboxing weight classes Taekwondo weight classes Wrestling weight classes Featherweight boxers, * Featherweight kickboxers, *