Bantamweight
Bantamweight
Weight class in combat sports
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above 115 lb (52.2 kg) and up to 118 lb (53.5 kg). In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between 53 and 55 kilograms (117 and 121 lb). In MMA, bantamweight is 126–135 lb (57.2–61.2 kg).
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The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens.[1] Brazilian jiu-jitsu has an equivalent Rooster weight.
The first title fight with gloves was between Chappie Moran and Ray Lewis in 1889. At that time, the limit for this weight class was 110 pounds. In 1910, however, the British settled on a limit of 118.[2]
From 2018 to 2019, a 8 men tournament called World Boxing Super Series was held to find the best bantamweight in the world. The tournament was won by Naoya Inoue, who defeated Nonito Donaire in the final.
On December 13, 2022, Naoya Inoue became the first undisputed champion of the division in the four belt era.
Current world champions
| Sanctioning body | Reign began | Champion | Record | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBA | April 8, 2023 | Takuma Inoue | 20–1 (5 KO) | 2 |
| WBC | February 24, 2024 | Junto Nakatani | 27–0 (20 KO) | 0 |
| IBF | May 4, 2024 | Ryosuke Nishida | 9–0 (1 KO) | 0 |
| WBO | May 6, 2024 | Yoshiki Takei | 9–0 (8 KO) | 0 |
Current The Ring world rankings
As of May 5, 2024.[3]
Keys:
- C Current The Ring world champion
| Rank | Name | Record | Title(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | vacant | ||
| 1 | Junto Nakatani | 27–0 (20 KO) | WBC |
| 2 | Ryosuke Nishida | 9–0 (1 KO) | IBF |
| 3 | Takuma Inoue | 20–1 (5 KO) | WBA |
| 4 | Yoshiki Takei | 9–0 (8 KO) | WBO |
| 5 | Jason Moloney | 26–3 (19 KO) | |
| 6 | Emmanuel Rodríguez | 22–3–0–1 (13 KO) | |
| 7 | Vincent Astrolabio | 19–4 (14 KO) | |
| 8 | Alexandro Santiago | 28–4–5 (14 KO) | |
| 9 | Nonito Donaire | 42–8 (28 KO) | |
| 10 | Paul Butler | 36–3 (17 KO) |
Longest reigning world bantamweight champions
Below is a list of longest reigning bantamweight 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. | Anselmo Moreno | 6 years, 3 months, 26 days | WBA | 12 | 11 | [4] |
| 2. | Veeraphol Sahaprom | 6 years, 3 months, 17 days | WBC | 14 | 11 | [5] |
| 3. | Orlando Canizales | 6 years, 3 months, 16 days | IBF | 16 | 15 | [6] |
| 4. | Shinsuke Yamanaka | 5 years, 9 months, 9 days | WBC | 12 | 11 | [7] |
| 5. | Tim Austin | 5 years, 6 months, 26 days | IBF | 9 | 9 | [8] |
| 6. | Hozumi Hasegawa | 5 years, 14 days | WBC | 10 | 10 | [9] |
| 7. | Panama Al Brown | 4 years, 9 months, 28 days | NYSAC, NBA, IBU | 10 | 8 | [10][11] |
| 8. | Eder Jofre | 4 years, 6 months | NBA, WBA, WBC | 8 | 8 | [12] |
| 9. | Manuel Ortiz | 4 years, 4 months, 29 days | World | 15 | 11 | [13] |
- Active Title Reign
- Reign has ended
Lineal Champions
George Dixon (1890) Vacated
Jimmy Barry (1897-1899) Retired
- Terry McGovern (1899) Vacated
- Harry Harris (1901) Vacated
- Harry Forbes (1901-1903)
- Frankie Neil (1903-1904)
Joe Bowker (1904-1905) Vacated
- Jimmy Walsh (1905-1909)
- Jimmy Reagan (1909)
- Monte Attell (1909-1910)
- Frankie Conley (1910-1911)
- Johnny Coulon (1911-1914)
- Kid Williams (1914-1917)
- Pete Herman (1917-20)
- Joe Lynch (1920-21)
- Pete Herman (1921) (2)
- Johnny Buff (1921-1922)
- Joe Lynch (1922-1924)
- Abe Goldstein (1924)
- Eddie Martin (1924-1925)
- Charley Phil Rosenberg (1925-1927) Vacated
Al Brown (1931-1935)
Baltasar Sangchili (1935-1936)
- Tony Marino (1936)
Sixto Escobar (1936-1937)
- Harry Jeffra (1937-1938)
- Sixto Escobar (1938-1939) (2) Vacated
- Lou Salica (1940-1942)
- Manuel Ortiz (1942-1947)
- Harold Dade (1947)
- Manuel Ortiz (1947-1950)
Vic Toweel (1950-1952) South Africa
Jimmy Carruthers (1952-1954) Retired
Robert Cohen (1954-1956)
Mario D'agata (1956-1957)
- Alphonse Halimi (1957-1959)
Jose Becerra (1959-1960) Retired
Eder Jofre (1961-1965)
Masahiko Harada (1965-1968)
- Lionel Rose (1968-1969)
- Ruben Olivares (1969-1970)
- Jesus Castillo (1970-1971)
- Ruben Olivares (1971-1972) (2)
- Rafael Herrera (1972)
- Enrique Pinder (1972-1973)
- Romeo Anaya (1973)
- Arnold Taylor (1973-1974)
Soo-Hwan Hong (1974-1975)
- Alfonso Zamora (1975-1977)
- Jorge Luján (1977-1980)
- Julian Solis (1980)
- Jeff Chandler (1980-1984)
- Richard Sandoval (1984-1986)
- Jose Canizales (1986)
Bernardo Piñango (1986-1987) Vacated
- Naoya Inoue (2022-2023) Vacated
Olympic Champions
- 1904:
Oliver Kirk (USA) - 1908:
Henry Thomas (GBR) - 1920:
Clarence Walker (RSA) - 1924: William Smith (RSA)
- 1928:
Vittorio Tamagnini (ITA) - 1932:
Horace Gwynne (CAN) - 1936: Ulderico Sergo (ITA)
- 1948:
Tibor Csík (HUN) - 1952:
Pentti Hämäläinen (FIN) - 1956:
Wolfgang Behrendt (EUA) - 1960:
Oleg Grigoryev (URS) - 1964:
Takao Sakurai (JPN) - 1968: Valeriy Sokolov (URS)
- 1972:
Orlando Martínez (CUB) - 1976:
Gu Yong-Ju (PRK) - 1980: Juan Hernández (CUB)
- 1984:
Maurizio Stecca (ITA) - 1988:
Kennedy McKinney (USA) - 1992: Joel Casamayor (CUB)
- 1996:
István Kovács (HUN) - 2000: Guillermo Rigondeaux (CUB)
- 2004: Guillermo Rigondeaux (CUB)
- 2008:
Enkhbatyn Badar-Uugan (MGL) - 2012: Luke Campbell (GBR)
- 2016: Robeisy Ramírez (CUB)
World Champions
- 1974: Wilfredo Gómez (PUR)
- 1978:
Adolfo Horta (CUB) - 1982: Floyd Favors (USA)
- 1986: Sung-Kil Moon (KOR)
- 1989: Enrique Carrión (CUB)
- 1991:
Serafim Todorov (BUL) - 1993: Aleksandar Khristov (BUL)
- 1995:
Raimkul Malakhbekov (RUS) - 1997: Raimkul Malakhbekov (RUS)
- 1999:
George Olteanu (ROU) - 2001: Guillermo Rigondeaux (CUB)
- 2003:
Aghasi Mammadov (AZE) - 2005: Guillermo Rigondeaux (CUB)
- 2007: Sergey Vodopyanov (RUS)
- 2009: Detelin Dalakliev (BUL)
- 2011: Lázaro Álvarez (CUB)
- 2013: Javid Chalabiyev (AZE)
- 2015:
Michael Conlan (IRL) - 2017:
Kairat Yeraliyev (KAZ) - 2021: Tomoya Tsuboi (JPN)
Pan American Champions
- 1951:
Ricardo Gonzales (ARG) - 1955: Salvador Enriquez (VEN)
- 1959: Waldo Claudiano (BRA)
- 1963: Abel Almaraz (ARG)
- 1967: Juvencio Martínez (MEX)
- 1971: Pedro Flores (MEX)
- 1975: Orlando Martínez (CUB)
- 1979: Jackie Beard (USA)
- 1983: Manuel Vilchez (VEN)
- 1987: Manuel Martínez (CUB)
- 1991: Enrique Carrion (CUB)
- 1995: Juan Despaigne (CUB)
- 1999: Gerald Tucker (USA)
- 2003: Daniel Chyutin (CUB)
- 2007: Carlos Cuadras (MEX)
- 2011: Lázaro Álvarez (CUB)
European Champions
- 1924: Jean Ces
- 1925:
Archie Rule - 1927:
Kurt Dalchow - 1928: Vittorio Tamagnini
- 1930:
János Széles - 1932: Hans Ziglarski
- 1934: István Enekes
- 1937: Ulderico Sergo
- 1939: Ulderico Sergo
1942:Arturo Paoletti- 1947: László Bogacs
- 1949: Giovanni Zuddas
- 1951: Vincenzo dall'Osso
- 1953:
Zenon Stefaniuk - 1955: Zenon Stefaniuk
- 1957:
Oleg Grigoryev - 1959: Horst Rascher
- 1961: Sergey Sivko
- 1963: Oleg Grigoryev
- 1965: Oleg Grigoryev
- 1967: Nicolae Gîju
- 1969: Aurel Dumitrescu
- 1971: Tibor Badari
- 1973: Aldo Cosentino
- 1975: Viktor Rybakov
- 1977:
Stefan Förster - 1979: Nikolay Chrapzov
- 1981: Viktor Miroshnichenko
- 1983: Yuri Alexandrov
- 1985:
Ljubiša Simić - 1987: Aleksandar Khristov
- 1989: Serafim Todorov
- 1991: Serafim Todorov
- 1993: Raimkul Malakhbekov
- 1996: István Kovács
- 1998:
Serhiy Danylchenko - 2000:
Agasi Agaguloglu - 2002:
Khavazhi Khatsigov - 2004: Gennady Kovalev
- 2006: Ali Aliyev
- 2008: Luke Campbell
- 2010: Eduard Abzalimov
- 2011:
Veaceslav Gojan - 2013: John Joe Nevin
- 2015: Michael Conlan
- 2017: Peter McGrail
- 2019: Kurt Walker
- 2022:
In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between 53 kg (116 lb) and 55 kg (120 lb). However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) Bantamweight division (professional and amateur) is 117.1 lbs.–122 lbs. or 53.22 kg–55.45 kg.
In ONE Championship, the bantamweight division limit is 65.8 kg (145 lb).
The bantamweight division limit generally differs among bare-knuckle boxing promotions:
- In Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the bantamweight division has an upper limit of 135 lb (61 kg).
- In BKB, the bantamweight division has an upper limit of 73 kg (161 lb).
In International Lethwei Federation Japan, the bantamweight division is up to 60 kg (130 lb). In International Lethwei Federation Japan, Yuta Hamamoto is the Bantamweight Champion.
The World Lethwei Championship recognizes the bantamweight division with an upper limit of 54 kg (119 lb). In World Lethwei Championship, Souris Manfredi is the Bantamweight Champion.
In MMA, bantamweight is usually 126–135 pounds (57.2–61.2 kg). In ONE Championship, the bantamweight division limit is 65.8 kg (145 lb). In Shooto, the limit is 56 kg (123.4 lb).
Current champions
These tables were last updated in May 2023.
| Organization | Reign began | Champion | Record | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | ||||
| UFC | Aug 19, 2023 | Sean O’Malley[14] | 18–1 (12KO 1SUB) | 1 |
| Bellator | May 7, 2021 | Sergio Pettis[15] | 22–5 (4KO 4SUB) | 1 |
| Rizin FF | N/A |  Vacant |
N/A | N/A |
| ONE Championship | February, 2023 | Fabrício Andrade<[16] | 9-2 (1) (5KO 2SUB 1NC) | 0 |
| AMC Fight Nights | October 14, 2022 | Sabit Zhusupov | 15-3 (1) (6KO 3SUB 1NC) | 0 |
| Cage Warriors | October 7, 2022 | Michele Martignoni | 8–1 (2) (2KO 3SUB 2NC) | 0 |
| ACA | March 26, 2022 | Oleg Borisov | 25–6 (12KO 1SUB) | 0 |
| Brave CF | November 11, 2022 | Brad Katona | 12–2 (1KO 3SUB) | 1 |
| Legacy Fighting Alliance | October 14, 2022 | Muin Gafurov | 18-4 (10KO 7SUB) | 0 |
| Women | ||||
| UFC | July 30, 2022 | Amanda Nunes | 22–5 (13KO 4SUB) | 0 |
| Invicta FC | January 18, 2023 | Talita Bernardo | 10-4 (6SUB) | 0 |
In Muay Thai, bantamweight is 115–118 pounds (52.2-53.5 kg). A notable Muai Thai bantamweight fighter is Randy Thong Phoun Phim.
Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight.
- Mullan, Harry (1996). The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing. London, England: Carlton Books. p. 178. ISBN 0-7858-0641-5.
- "The Ring Bantamweight Ratings". The Ring. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
- "Professional boxing record: Anselmo Moreno". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- "Professional boxing record: Veeraphol Sahaprom". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- "Orlando Canizales, p. 366" (pdf). The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall Of Fame Official Record Book. International Boxing Hall Of Fame. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- "Professional boxing record: Shinsuke Yamanaka". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- "Professional boxing record: Tim Austin". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- "Professional boxing record: Hozumi Hasegawa". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- "Professional boxing record: Panama Al Brown". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- "Panama Al Brown, p. 84" (pdf). The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall Of Fame Official Record Book. International Boxing Hall Of Fame. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- "Professional boxing record: Eder Jofre". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- "Manuel Ortiz, p. 648" (pdf). The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall Of Fame Official Record Book. International Boxing Hall Of Fame. Retrieved 26 May 2019.