Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, 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 ...

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 ...

Boxing

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

, super middleweight is contested between the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

and

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds (73 kg) and . The class first appeared in 1967.

History

1960s–1983

There was interest in a division between middleweight and light heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s. A few states briefly recognized a "Junior Light Heavyweight" division at and the fringe World Athletic Association (WAA) later inaugurated a "super middleweight" division at . On April 3, 1967, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Don Fullmer, a brother of former world middleweight champion

Gene Fullmer Lawrence Gene Fullmer (July 21, 1931 – April 27, 2015) was an American professional boxer and World Middleweight champion. Professional career Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout. His mana ...

, won the first version by stopping previously unbeaten Joe Hopkins in six rounds. He never defended it. On November 25, 1974, in Columbus, Ohio, Billy Douglas, the father of future world heavyweight champion James "Buster" Douglas, halted Danny Brewer in two rounds to win the Ohio Commission's version of the world junior light heavyweight title. He too never made a defense of the title. Then, on April 3, 1982, in Denver, Colorado, Jerry "Wimpy" Halstead stopped Ron Brown in six rounds to win the WAA's inaugural super middleweight title bout. Halstead made one defense, knocking out Darren Encline in one round on May 29, 1982, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Following that fight, Halstead moved up to the light heavyweight class and eventually campaigned as a heavyweight. The media and most commissions did not recognize Fullmer's, Douglas', or Halstead's titles. Nor did they recognize the division during this period.

1984–1989

The current super middleweight division traces its beginning to 1984, when

Murray Sutherland Murray Sutherland (born 10 April 1953 in Edinburgh) is a former Scottish boxer who fought in middleweight division. He was boxing's inaugural, lineal and first undisputed world Super-Middleweight champion, having won the inaugural IBF's versio ...

defeated Ernie Singletary for the

International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

version of the title. The

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

created its version of the super middleweight title when reigning ''Lineal'' champion

Chong Pal Park Chong-Pal Park (Hangul: 박종팔, Hanja: 朴鍾八; born 11 August 1958) is a South Korean former professional boxer who held the IBF super-middleweight title from 1984 to 1988 and the WBA super-middleweight title from 1987 to 1988. Professio ...

defeated Jesus Gallardo in 1987 (Park had been IBF champion before relinquishing the title to fight for the inaugural WBA version). The

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

crowned its first champion in 1988 when

Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professiona ...

defeated

Donny Lalonde Donny Lalonde (born March 12, 1960) is a retired professional boxer. His nickname is "Golden Boy," after the Golden Boy statue atop the Manitoba Legislative Building in his boxing home town of Winnipeg. Lalonde held the WBC Light Heavyweight C ...

in a fight that was also for its version of the light heavyweight title.

1990–2007

Since the early 1990s, there has been a highly competitive super middleweight division in Britain and Ireland, including the rivalry between

Nigel Benn Nigel Gregory Benn (born 22 January 1964) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 1996. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and the WBC super-middleweight ti ...

Chris Eubank Christopher Livingstone Eubank (born 8 August 1966) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1998. He held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995, and is ranked by BoxRec as the thir ...

, and

Michael Watson Michael Watson (born 15 March 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1991. He held the Commonwealth middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and challenged three times for a world title between 1990 and 1991. Wats ...

, which included two memorable fights and the tragic injury to Watson, followed by the emergence of

Steve Collins Stephen Collins (born 21 July 1964) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO m ...

, who defeated Benn and Eubank, before retiring and vacating the title, as well as the 10-year reign of

Joe Calzaghe Joseph William Calzaghe ( ; born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine ...

. In addition, fellow Brits

Richie Woodhall Richie Woodhall (born 17 April 1968) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2000. He held the WBC super-middleweight title from 1998 to 1999, as well as the Commonwealth middleweight title from 1992 to 1995, and th ...

and Robin Reid also held versions of the title between 1996–97 and 1997–98. During this decade, Americans

James Toney James Nathaniel Toney (born August 24, 1968) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to ...

and

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...

also reigned as champions. In 2007, two champions of the division, the undefeated Calzaghe and the likewise undefeated

Mikkel Kessler Mikkel Kessler (born 1 March 1979) is a Danish former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2013. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the WBA title three times between 2004 and 2013, and the WBC title twic ...

, had a title unification fight which Calzaghe won by a unanimous decision to become the unified super middleweight champion of the world.

2008–present

At the end of the 2000s and start of the 2010s the division was one of the most active in boxing with the likes of

Lucian Bute Lucian Bute (born February 28, 1980) is a Romanian-Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2017. He held the International Boxing Federation, IBF super-middleweight title from 2007 to 2012, successfully making nine consecutiv ...

Andre Ward Andre Michael Ward (born February 23, 1984) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world titles in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), ...

Andre Dirrell Andre Dirrell (born September 7, 1983) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF interim super middleweight title from 2017 to 2018. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 2004 Olympics. His younger bro ...

Carl Froch Carl Martin Froch, (born 2 July 1977) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the W ...

Anthony Mundine Anthony Mundine Jr. (born 21 May 1975) is an Australian former professional boxer and rugby league footballer. In boxing he competed from 2000 to 2021, and held the WBA super-middleweight title twice between 2003 and 2008. He also held the I ...

Arthur Abraham Avetik Abrahamyan ( hy, Ավետիք Աբրահամյան; born 20 February 1980), best known as Arthur Abraham, is an Armenian-German former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight ...

Robert Stieglitz Sergey Shtikhlits (born 20 June 1981), best known as Robert Stieglitz, is a German former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He held the WBO super-middleweight title twice between 2009 and 2014, and the European light-heavywei ...

Sakio Bika Sakio Bika (born 18 April 1979) is a Cameroonian-born Australian professional boxer. He held the WBC super-middleweight title from 2013 to 2014, and previously the IBO super-middleweight title from 2008 to 2010. In 2015 he challenged once for ...

Allan Green Allan Lamar Green (born September 20, 1979) is an American professional boxer. He is a former NABO super middleweight champion, and has challenged for world titles at both super middleweight and light heavyweight. Amateur career Green had a ...

Jesse Brinkley Jesse Lee Brinkley (born November 14, 1976) is an American professional boxer. He challenged once for the IBF Super Middleweight title in 2010. Personal life Brinkley comes from the town of Yerington, Nevada, where he is an active hunter and ...

Librado Andrade Librado Andrade Ornelas (born September 2, 1978) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2013, and challenged three times for a super middleweight world title between 2007 and 2009. His brother Enrique Ornelas is also a ...

Edison Miranda Edison Miranda (born January 7, 1981) is a Colombian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2021. He challenged once each for the IBF middleweight and super middleweight world titles, and was considered to be one of the most danger ...

and

Jermain Taylor Jermain Taylor (born August 11, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He remains the most recent undisputed middleweight champion, having won the WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine, a ...

. This was showcased with Showtime's,

Super Six World Boxing Classic The Super Six World Boxing Classic was a professional boxing tournament organized by the Showtime television network in co-operation with Sauerland Event. The tournament was held from 2009 to 2011, with all fights being contested in the super mi ...

that sought out to find the best super middleweight in the world at the time. Andre Ward went on to defeat Carl Froch by unanimous decision and win the tournament in late 2011. On November 6, 2021,

Canelo Álvarez Santos Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez Barragán (; born 18 July 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He has won multiple world championships in four weight classes from light middleweight to light heavyweight, including unified titles in three of ...

became the first undisputed champion of the division.

Current world champions

Current world interim champions

Current world rankings

''The Ring''

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

BoxRec

Longest reigning world super middleweight champions

Below is a list of longest reigning super middleweight champions in boxing measured by the individual's longest reign. Career total time as champion (for multiple title reigns) does not apply. : Active reign : Reign has ended IBF Super Middleweight Champions
Retrieved on 28 December 2012.

Kickboxing

International Kickboxing Federation The International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) is a sanctioning body for kickboxing and Muay Thai based in the United States. The IKF sanctions and regulates all aspects of these sports from Semi Contact IKF Point Kickboxing (IKF/PKB)) to Full Co ...

(IKF) Super Middleweight (Pro & Amateur) 165.1 - 172 lb (75.1 - 78.2 kg)

Mixed martial arts

MMA 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 strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

, the Super middleweight division is from 186 lbs (84 kg) to 195 lb (88 kg).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Super Middleweight Boxing weight classes Kickboxing weight classes *