Featherweight

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Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Boxing

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Professional boxing

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History

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A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of 126 pounds (57 kg). 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.[1]

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

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Main article: List of world featherweight boxing champions
Sanctioning Body Reign Began Champion Record Defenses
WBA June 1, 2024 Nick Ball 23–0–1 (13 KO) 3
WBC February 1, 2025 Stephen Fulton 23–1 (8 KO) 0
IBF August 10, 2024 Angelo Leo 26–1 (12 KO) 1
WBO December 9, 2023 Rafael Espinoza 27–0 (23 KO) 3

Current The Ring world rankings

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As of August 16, 2025.[2]

Keys:

 C  Current The Ring world champion
Rank Name Record Title(s)
C vacant
1 Rafael Espinoza 27–0 (23 KO) WBO
2 Angelo Leo 26–1 (12 KO) IBF
3 Nick Ball 23–0–1 (13 KO) WBA
4 Stephen Fulton 23–1 (8 KO) WBC
5 Luis Alberto Lopez 31–3 (18 KO)
6 Bruce Carrington 16–0 (9 KO)
7 Brandon Figueroa 26–2–1 (19 KO)
8 Mirco Cuello 16–0 (13 KO)
9 Robeisy Ramírez 14–3 (9 KO)
10 Nathaniel Collins 17–0–1 (8 KO)

Longest reigning world featherweight champions

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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.

Name Title reign Title recognition Successful defenses Beaten opponents Fights
1. Johnny Kilbane 11 years, 3 months, 24 days World/NYSAC 4 2 [3][4]
2. Chris John 10 years, 1 month, 5 days WBA 18 16 [5]
3. Abe Attell 8 years, 5 months, 19 days World 22 14 [6]
4. Eusebio Pedroza 7 years, 1 month, 23 days WBA 19 18 [7]
5. Gary Russell, Jr. 6 years, 9 month, 25 days WBC 5 5 [8]
6. Sandy Saddler 6 years, 4 months, 13 days World 4 3 [9][10]
7. Léo Santa Cruz 5 years, 10 months, 13 days WBA (Super) 5 5 [11]
8. Naseem Hamed 4 years, 11 months, 20 days WBO 15 15 [12]
9. George Dixon 4 years, 5 months World 4 4 [13][14]
10. Antonio Esparragoza 4 years, 27 days WBA 7 7 [15]
11. Davey Moore 4 years, 3 days World 5 4 [16]


Lineal Champions

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Olympic champions

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Men’s
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Pan American Champions

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Notable featherweights

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Kickboxing

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In kickboxing, a featherweight fighter generally weighs between 55 and 59 kg (121 and 130 lb). However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) featherweight division (professional and amateur) is between 122.1–127 lb (55.4–57.6 kg).

In Glory promotion, a featherweight division is up to 65 kg (143 lb).[17]

In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a featherweight division is up to 66 kg (146 lb).

In ONE Championship, the featherweight division limit is 70.3 kg (155 lb).

Bare-knuckle boxing

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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 (66 kg).
  • In BKB™, the featherweight division has an upper limit of 76 kg (168 lb).

Lethwei

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International Lethwei Federation Japan has a featherweight division with an upper limit of 65 kg (143 lb). 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 (126 lb).

Mixed Martial Arts

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Main article: Featherweight (MMA)

In MMA, within the UFC company and most other MMA companies the featherweight range is from 136 to 145 lb (62 to 66 kg).

Current champions

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These tables were last updated in July 2025.

Men:

Organization Reign Began Champion Record Defenses
UFC April 13, 2025 Australia Alexander Volkanovski 27-4 (13KO 3SUB) 0
Bellator MMA April 15, 2022 Brazil Patrício Pitbull 33–5 (11KO 12SUB) 1
ONE Championship August 26, 2022 China Tang Kai 15–2 (12KO 0SUB) 0
ACA July 22, 2022 Russia Alikhan Suleymanov 15–2 (1KO 10SUB) 0
Cage Warriors November 4, 2022 England Paul Hughes 9–1 (3KO 3SUB) 0
KSW December 18, 2021 France Salahdine Parnasse 21–2 (6KO 7SUB) 2
M-1 Global File:Flag placeholder.svg Vacant
AMC Fight Nights October 14, 2022 Russia Gleb Khabibulin 7–1–2 (4KO 3SUB) 0
Brave Combat Federation October 22, 2022 Russia Roman Bogatov 13–1 (1KO 5SUB) 0
Titan FC August 6, 2021 Jordan Ali al-Qaisi 12–5 (2KO 4SUB) 0
Legacy Fighting Alliance File:Flag placeholder.svg Vacant
Road FC December 18, 2022 South Korea Hae Jin Park 10–2 (1KO 4SUB) 0

Women:

Organization Reign Began Champion Record Defenses
Bellator MMA January 25, 2020 Brazil Cris Cyborg 29–2 (1) (20KO 1SUB) 4
UFC December 29, 2018 Brazil Amanda Nunes 21–5 (13KO 3SUB) 2
Invicta FC File:Flag placeholder.svg Vacant

See also

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References

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  17. ^ OFFICIAL GLORY RANKING Archived 2014-01-18 at the Wayback Machine
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