In boxing , a weight class is a measurement weight range for boxers. The lower limit of a weight class is equal to the upper weight limit of the class below it. The top class, with no upper limit, is called heavyweight in professional boxing and super heavyweight in amateur boxing . A boxing match is usually scheduled for a fixed weight class, and each boxer's weight must not exceed the upper limit. Although professional boxers may fight above their weight class, an amateur boxer's weight must not fall below the lower limit. A nonstandard weight limit is called a catchweight .
28-647: The Val Barker Trophy is presented every four years to the most "outstanding boxer" at the Olympic Games . In theory, the award goes to the top " pound for pound " boxer in the Olympics. The winner is selected by a committee of International Boxing Association (amateur) (AIBA) officials. The trophy is named after British boxer Val Barker who won the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABA) heavyweight title in 1891, before becoming
56-712: A bronze medals, which was accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and implemented since the 1972 Summer Olympics . Losing semi-finalists from 1952 to 1968 were also retroactively awarded bronze medals after initially only receiving Olympic diplomas . At the 2012 Summer Olympics , women's boxing events were added to the programme for the first time. In 2016, the IBA allowed professional boxers to compete in Olympic events, previously being limited to amateur or state-funded boxers, for
84-732: A limit of 210 lb; the IBA's cruiserweight limit is 190 lb. When the (amateur) International Boxing Association (AIBA) was founded in 1946 to govern amateur boxing, it metricated the weight class limits by rounding them to the nearest kilogram . Subsequent alterations as outlined in the boxing at the Summer Olympics article; these have introduced further discrepancies between amateur and professional class limits and names. The lower weight classes are to be adjusted in September 2010, to establish an absolute minimum weight for adult boxers. Amateur weight classes also specify
112-541: Is called a catchweight . A catchweight may be agreed to for an individual bout—sometimes even for a championship bout—but championships are awarded only at the standard weight classes. For example, when Manny Pacquiao fought Antonio Margarito at a catch-weight of 150 lb (68 kg), the World Boxing Council sanctioned this as a title fight for jr. middleweight, whose limit is 154 lb (70 kg). This table gives names and limits recognised by
140-442: Is not currently recognized by any other bodies. The date is that since which a continuous world title has been recognised by a major sanctioning body; some classes had earlier champions recognised intermittently or by minor bodies. One current weight class with only minor recognition is " super cruiserweight "; widely used as an informal descriptor, it is a formal weight class of the lightly regarded International Boxing Association at
168-402: Is said to be better " pound for pound " than another if he is considered superior with due regard for their difference in weight. Theoretical comparisons of the merits of boxers in different weight classes are a popular topic for boxing fans, with a similar speculative appeal to comparing sports figures from different eras; in both cases, the competitors would never face each other in reality. In
196-597: The 1988 Games ). In the 2016 Games , two Val Barker Trophies were presented for the first time, one for men and one for women; women's boxing made its Olympic debut at the previous Games in 2012 . The inaugural female winner was middleweight Claressa Shields who became the first American boxer to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals when she defeated Dutch boxer Nouchka Fontijn in Rio de Janeiro. American boxers lead with six trophies, followed by Kazakhstani boxers with three awards and Russian boxers with two awards (one for
224-456: The 2012 Summer Olympics , women's boxing is part of the program. Boxing made its first appearance at the 1904 Summer Olympics as a men's event. Due to few competitors at the time, only North American boxers competed for this edition. Since the 1908 Olympics, boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games besides the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm , because Swedish law banned
252-507: The 2016 Summer Olympics , male athletes no longer have to wear protective headgear in competition, due to a ruling by the AIBA and the IOC that it contributes to greater concussion risk. Female athletes will continue to wear the headgear, due to "lack of data" on the effectiveness of it on women. Also from 2016 onwards, the "10-point must" scoring system was used. The following table is ranked by
280-586: The International Boxing Association instituted significant changes to the format. The World Series of Boxing , AIBA's pro team league which started in 2010, already enabled team members to retain 2012 Olympic eligibility. The newer AIBA Pro Boxing Tournament, consisting of boxers who sign 5-year contracts with AIBA and compete on pro cards leading up to the tournament, also provides a pathway for new pros to retain their Olympic eligibility and retain ties with national committees. From
308-662: The National Sporting Club of London , and those contained in the 1920 Walker Law which established the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC). After the split in the 1960s between the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the World Boxing Council (WBC), the divisions were narrowed, creating more champions simultaneously, and making it easier for fighters to move between different weight divisions. Among
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#1732772854946336-402: The minimum weight (which the same as the maximum weight of the next highest class). For safety reasons, fighters cannot fight at a higher weight. This also meant that even the heaviest weight class has a limit, albeit a lower bound. The lower limit for "heavyweight" was established in 1948 at 81 kg. When a new limit of 91+ kg was established in 1984, the name "heavyweight" was kept by
364-407: The 81+ kg class, and the 91+ kg class was named "super heavyweight", a name not currently used in professional boxing. Classes are as follows: At the Olympics, each weight class is a separate single-elimination tournament awarding one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in each weight class. The event format is geared so that the finals of all represented weight classes are held over
392-501: The Olympics , there is a limit of one boxer per country per weight class. A boxer may fight different bouts at different weight classes. The trend for professionals is to move up to a higher class as they age, with muscle mass and bone density increasing over time. Winning titles at multiple weight classes to become a "multiple champion" is considered a major achievement. In amateur boxing, bouts are much shorter and much more frequent, and boxers fight at their "natural" weight. One boxer
420-546: The Soviet Union and one for Russia). Boxing at the Summer Olympics Boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since its introduction to the program at the 1904 Summer Olympics , except for the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm , because Swedish law banned the sport at the time. The 2008 Summer Olympics were the final games with boxing as a male only event. Since
448-671: The early nineteenth century, there were no standard weight classes. In 1823, the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue said the limit for a "light weight" was 12 stone (168 lb, 76.2 kg) while Sportsman's Slang the same year gave 11 stone (154 lb, 69.9 kg) as the limit. Size mismatches were dangerous for the smaller boxer and unsatisfying for the spectators. National and world titles could only become recognised if standard weight classes were agreed upon. Important sets of weight classes were those specified in 1909 by
476-424: The first time. The boxing competition is organized as a set of tournaments, one for each weight class . The number of weight classes has changed over the years (currently 7 for men and 6 for women), and the definition of each class has changed several times, as shown in the following table. Until 1936, weights were measured in pounds , and from 1948 onwards, weights were measured in kilograms. On 23 March 2013,
504-528: The four widely regarded sanctioning bodies ( World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization (WBO)); the label used in Boxrec.com 's data; and by the magazines The Ring and Boxing News . Bridgerweight has been recognised by the WBC since November 2020, and WBA since December 2023 under the "super cruiserweight" label, but
532-454: The interim through dehydration by vigorous exercise in a steam room . If the excess weight is too great, the effort expended trying to "make weight" will make the boxer unfit for the fight itself. In such cases the fight may be cancelled with the over-weight boxer sanctioned or the fight may proceed as a catchweight non-title fight. The International Boxing Federation (IBF) has a unique weigh-in policy in title fights. In addition to making
560-496: The last two days of the competition, entrants that fail to win on the penultimate day being the Bronze medal recipients with the finals deciding Gold and Silver on the final day, all of the bouts are scheduled in ascending order of weight with the super heavyweight final last of all. Each weight class conducts preliminary and qualification bouts, for all represented classes where the number of entrants requires multiple match-ups before
588-410: The martial arts at the time. Until 1948, losing semi-finalists competed in a match for a bronze medal. However, in 1950 the International Boxing Association (IBA) decided to discontinue the bronze medal match as the short time interval between the semi-finals and the third-place match allowed limited time for competitors to recover. In 1970, the IBA proposed for both losing semi-finalists to receive
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#1732772854946616-670: The most prominent and widely recognized weight divisions in boxing. Manny Pacquiao has won world championships in the greatest number of the glamour divisions, winning championships in the flyweight, featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions. The newcomer weight divisions or "tweener divisions", mostly recognized with either a "super", "light", or "junior" in front of their names, took many years to be fully recognized as legitimate weight divisions in boxing. Manny Pacquiao has won world championships in four of these divisions; super bantamweight, super featherweight, light welterweight, and light middleweight. A nonstandard weight limit
644-406: The number of golds, then silvers, then bronzes. Until 1948, losing semi-finalists held a bronze medal playoff ; since 1952, both losing semi-finalists have received bronze medals. Boxing weight classes A boxer who is over the weight limit may strip naked to make the weight if the excess is minimal; otherwise, in a professional bout, one can try again later, typically after losing weight in
672-488: The professional bodies, the names of the new divisions are not standardized between different sanctioning bodies, although the cutoff weights are. These weights are specified in pounds , reflecting the historic dominance of Britain (and, later, the United States) in the sport. Boxing has its own "Original Eight" weight divisions, also known as the "traditional", "classic", or "glamour" divisions. These divisions are
700-408: The second weigh-in is still mandatory, but since there is no upper weight limit in that class, a boxer can only be sanctioned for failing to submit to the weigh-in. An amateur boxer must make the weight at the initial weigh-in; there is no opportunity to try again later. Boxers who fail to make their projected weights are eliminated from their bouts. There is a "general weigh-in" before the start of
728-578: The secretary of the AIBA between 1926 and 1929. The inaugural recipient of the Val Barker Trophy was American flyweight Louis Laurie who won bronze at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He is one of just three boxers who did not win gold at the same Olympics in which they were presented with the trophy, the others being Kenyan featherweight Philip Waruinge (bronze at the 1968 Games ) and American light middleweight Roy Jones Jr. (silver at
756-406: The tournament and a "daily weigh-in" on the morning of each of a fighter's bouts. At the general weigh-in, the fighter must be between the weight class's upper and lower limits; at the daily weigh-in only the upper limit is enforced. A fighter outside the limit at the initial weigh-in may be allowed to fight in a different class if there is space in the tournament. At major events such as boxing at
784-492: The weight at the official weigh-in the day before the fight, the boxers are required to submit to a weight check on the morning of the fight. During this later weigh-in, the fighter must weigh no more than 10 pounds (4.5 kg) above the weight limit for the fight. If a boxer skips the morning weigh-in, or fails to make weight at that time, the fight can still proceed, but the IBF title will not be at stake. In heavyweight title fights,
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