Featherweight

Boxing

Professional boxing

History

A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of 126 lb. 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.{{cite book

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 champions

Main article: List of world featherweight boxing champions

Current ''The Ring'' world rankings

As of August 16, 2025.

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.

Lineal Champions

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

Olympic champions

Men's

• 1904 – Oliver Kirk
• 1908 – Richard Gunn
• 1920 – Paul Fritsch
• 1924 – Jackie Fields
• 1928 – Bep van Klaveren
• 1932 – Carmelo Robledo
• 1936 – Oscar Casanovas
• 1948 – Ernesto Formenti
• 1952 – Jan Zachara
• 1956 – Vladimir Safronov
• 1960 – Francesco Musso
• 1964 – Stanislav Stepashkin
• 1968 – Antonio Roldán
• 1972 – Boris Kuznetsov
• 1976 – Ángel Herrera
• 1980 – Rudi Fink
• 1984 – Meldrick Taylor
• 1988 – Giovanni Parisi
• 1992 – Andreas Tews
• 1996 – Somluck Kamsing
• 2000 – Bekzat Sattarkhanov
• 2004 – Alexei Tichtchenko
• 2008 – Vasiliy Lomachenko
• 2020 – Albert Batyrgaziev
• 2024 – Abdumalik Khalokov

Pan American Champions

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

Notable featherweights

• Everett Backer “Baker”
• Alexis Argüello
• Henry Armstrong
• Abe Attell
• Marco Antonio Barrera
• Kid Chocolate
• Luisito Espinosa
• Wilfredo Gómez
• Wilfredo Vázquez
• Naseem Hamed
• Paul Ingle
• Chris 'The Dragon' John
• Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson
• Kevin Kelley
• Derrick Gainer
• Kina Malpartida
• Juan Manuel Márquez
• Barry McGuigan
• Érik Morales
• Azumah Nelson
• Manny Pacquiao
• Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire
• Tommy Paul
• Willie Pep
• Sandy Saddler
• Calvin Grove
• Vicente Saldivar
• Salvador Sánchez
• Orlando Salido
• Miguel Ángel García
• Juan Manuel López
• Yuriorkis Gamboa
• Jeff Fenech
• Vasiliy Lomachenko

Kickboxing

In kickboxing, a featherweight fighter generally weighs between 55 and. However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) featherweight division (professional and amateur) is between 122.1 -.

In Glory promotion, a featherweight division is up to 65 kg.

In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a featherweight division is up to 66 kg.

In ONE Championship, the featherweight division limit is 70.3 kg.

Bare-knuckle boxing

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 145 lb.
• In BKB™, the featherweight division has an upper limit of 76 kg.

Lethwei

International Lethwei Federation Japan has a featherweight division with an upper limit of 65 kg. 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 57 kg.

Mixed Martial Arts

Main article: Featherweight (MMA)

In MMA, within the UFC company and most other MMA companies the featherweight range is from 136 to.

Current champions

These tables were last updated in July 2025.

Men:

Women:

References

References

1. "The Ring ratings: featherweight".
2. "Professional boxing record: Johnny Kilbane".
3. "Johnny Kilbane, p. 172". [[International Boxing Hall Of Fame]].
4. "Professional boxing record: Chris John".
5. "Professional boxing record: Abe Attell".
6. "Eusebio Pedrosa, p. 668". [[International Boxing Hall Of Fame]].
7. "Professional boxing record: Gary Allen Russell Jr.".
8. "Professional boxing record: Sandy Saddler".
9. "Sandy Saddler, p. 720". [[International Boxing Hall Of Fame]].
10. "Professional boxing record: Léo Santa Cruz".
11. "Professional boxing record: Naseem Hamed".
12. "Professional boxing record: George Dixon".
13. "George Dixon, p. 118". [[International Boxing Hall Of Fame]].
14. "Professional boxing record: Antonio Esparragoza".
15. "Professional boxing record: Davey Moore".
16. [http://www.gloryworldseries.com/en/fighters/rankings/fw OFFICIAL GLORY RANKING] {{webarchive. link. (2014-01-18)