Boxing Weight Class Names

WHERE ARE THE NAMES OF THE BOXING WEIGHT CLASSES DERIVED FROM?

Have you ever wondered why some of the boxing weight classes have seemingly weird and random names? So have we, therefore we decided to carry out some research to find out why. Once opening this can of worms it became clear that it is unclear, nobody seems to have scratched this itch and there are no clear cut answers as to who and why names such as welterweight became so ingrained in the noble art. Not satisfied with closing the case, we collated as many facts and assumptions as we could muster in order to offer the most likely reasons that the sport we love has its own accepted language.

 

The initial sign of categorization seems rather logical and although it is unknown at what exact point little fellas got sick of big men beating them up, it is understandable that in a sporting sense, a fairness leveller would one day arise. 

James Figg, a bare-knuckle fighter from a poor farming family in Thames Village, Oxfordshire, declared himself champion of England in 1719.

It made him probably the first heavyweight champion of the world when there were no weight divisions.

At 1.82m and weighing about 84kg, he was a rather big man for those days, but in the 21st century he would have been a cruiserweight or junior heavyweight.

When Figg fought, there were no weight classes. Only in 1746, a so-called lightweight division was introduced in England.

At the time, a fighter was considered to be a lightweight just because he was not a big man. Some sources mentioned a limit of the equivalent of 70kg and another at 76kg.

In old reports, mention was also made of medium-sized men who were called middleweights.

So far so good, it would seem the first signs of Division were a simple description of Big man-Heavyweight/Medium man-Middleweight/Small man-Lightweight. The next step is hard to pin point. When were the three categories above further segmented and which weights were focused on? It is here that we find the earliest finding of the term Welter.

LIGHTWEIGHTS UNIMPORTANT

The lightweights were not taken seriously. Most of their bouts were preliminaries before the big boys began fighting.

In 1792, there were also fighters who called themselves welters, a horseracing term that referred to a weight horses carried in handicap races. A weight of 10 stone (63.50kg) was reported.

Despite the likely existence of other weights, only fights between bigger men were recognised as championship bouts. But boxers were allowed to compete in them irrespective of their weight.

Now we have a glimpse of how the initial Framework began to take shape we can list our assumptions for each Division.....

 

HEAVWEIGHT (NO LIMIT)

Boxing’s heavyweight division was first created by Jack Broughton in 1738, with fighters weighing in at 160+ lbs. Since the division technically has no weight limit, boxers could theoretically weigh as much as they want and fight at heavyweight. The weight defining a boxer as Heavyweight has changed many times over the years narrowing the gap each time of the possibility of larger men fighting much smaller men. The term Heavyweight doesn’t need overthinking as it’s literally the heaviest weight a boxer can fight at.

 

CRUISERWEIGHT (200LBS)

The name cruiserweight comes from before the official belt was created and actually originates from naval terms. Cruisers are the second largest ships in a Western WWI era fleet behind Battleships. (so not including aircraft carriers). So because Cruiser Weights are the second largest weight class the name of the second largest ship was applied to the division. The boxing division could not have a name derived from the division above like many of the other boxing categories as the Cruiserweight division was created a lot later than the light heavyweight division.

 

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT (175LBS)

The light-heavyweight division was created in 1903, the brainchild of Chicago journalist Lou Houseman who was also a boxing manager and promoter. The Division came before Cruiserweight and was therefore named accordingly as it was the division directly below the Heavyweight division.

 

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT (168LBS)

This Division is an extension of the term Middleweight (see below).

 

MIDDLEWEIGHT (160LBS)

Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the during the bare-knuckle era. The first middleweight championship belt in that form would be awarded to Tom Chandler in 1867, after beating Dooney Harries. It is thought that the term was derived when it became acknowledged that larger men fighting smaller men could be dangerous and there was a natural split of Heavy, Middle and Small weights.

 

SUPER WELTERWEIGHT (154LBS)

This Division is an extension of the term Welterweight (see below).

 

WELTERWEIGHT (147LBS)

Several sources suggest that it originates with the verb "to welt" -- that is, "to beat severely."

However, a more commonly and accepted theory places the origin of the term Welter along with an old horseracing term that referred to a weight horses carried in handicap races.

 

SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT (140LBS)

Also known as Light-welterweight was originally founded around the 1920s and later became more recognised in the 1950s. This was named as such because the division is an extension of the term Lightweight, a category created before Super-Lightweight. 

 

LIGHTWEIGHT (135LBS)

The lightweight division was initially created in 1738 by Jack Broughton for any fighter whose weight was less than 160 pounds (72.6 kg or 11 stone 6 lbs). Under the London Prize Ring Rules of 1838, the weight class ranged from 130-150 pounds. In 1889, the Amateur Boxing Association of England Ltd (ABA) established the limit as 140 pounds (63.5 kg or 10 stone) and in 1909 London's National Sporting Club (NSC) modified the limit as 135 pounds (61.2 kg or 9 stone 9 lbs). It would appear that the lightweight division was the first split from Heavyweight and the name had been thought up because it is simply, the opposite to Heavyweight.

 

SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT (130LBS)

Super Featherweight was originally founded around the 1920s and later became more recognised in the 1960s. This was named as such because the division came later than Featherweight and is named simply as an extension of the term Featherweight.

 

FEATHERWEIGHT (126LBS)

In horse racing, the term 'featherweight' refers to a horse that is carrying an exceptionally light weight. This can impact the horse's performance and may affect the race outcome. It would appear that the Boxing Division name derives from here.

 

 

SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT (122LBS)

Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight was first recognised in the 1920’s but has little use until the late 70’s.This was named as such as the division came later than bantamweight, meaning the term is simply an extension of the Bantamweight name. 

 

BANTAMWEIGHT (118LBS)

Much like welterweight, bantamweight is a weight classification where the name doesn't obviously speak for itself. The word bantam is derived from bantam chickens. Any small variety of fowl, especially chickens are called bantams. A bantam is about one-fifth to one-quarter of the size of the standard breed, but they exhibit all the characteristics of the standard breed.

The intention of the word "bantam" would most likely lean towards Merriam-Webster's primary noun definition, "a person of diminutive stature and often combative disposition."

Looking a little deeper, we also must consider Webster's secondary definition of bantam, via a Javanese etymology: "any of numerous small domestic fowls that are often miniatures of members of the standard breeds."

Yes, that means we might also call bantamweight chickenweight. Or roosterweight, if you like.

 

 SUPER FLYWEIGHT (115LBS)

 This Division is an extension of the term Flyweight (see below).

 

FLYWEIGHT (112LBS)

Before 1909, anyone below featherweight was considered a bantamweight, regardless of how small the boxer. Inevitably work would go on to improve the categories of the smaller weights and make the divisions fairer considering the lower weights and smaller percentages between weight. Little as been spoken about in relation to where the term Flyweight originated but one can assume the thought process....

A small guy with inevitable agility buzzing around the ring with lightening speed similar to a Fly.

 

LIGHT FLYWEIGHT (108LBS)

This Division is an extension of the term Flyweight (see above).

 

MINIMUMWEIGHT (105LBS)

Professional boxing competition is divided into weight divisions in order to provide a more “level playing field.” Any boxer weighing 105lbs or less can compete in and is classified as a minimum weight. Also called Strawweight by some boxing organisations.

Term Minimumweight isn't too hard to understand, it's simply the lowest Category.

 

SUMMARY

As you can see, Heavyweight, Middleweight and Lightweight were a simple early creation. Light heavy and Minimum Weight are easy to understand as are the Divisions that have close links to the Category immediately above or below such as the ones beginning with Light or Super. After this we were left with Cruiser, Welter, Feather, Bantam and Fly. Two appeared to have links to Horseracing Terms, one was named after a ship and the others were named after small animals or insects. 

 

Thank you for reading

 

Scott Taylor