Featherweight

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

Boxing

Professional boxing

History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . 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.

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

Sanctioning BodyReign BeganChampionRecordDefensesWBAFebruary 7, 2026Brandon Figueroa27–2–1 (20 KO)0WBCJanuary 31, 2026Bruce Carrington18–0 (10 KO)1IBFAugust 10, 2024Angelo Leo26–1 (12 KO)1WBODecember 9, 2023Rafael Espinoza28–0 (24 KO)4

Current The Ring world rankings

As of August 16, 2025.

Keys: Current The Ring world champion

RankNameRecordTitle(s) C1Rafael Espinoza27–0 (23 KO)WBO2Angelo Leo26–1 (12 KO)IBF3Nick Ball23–1–1 (13 KO)4Stephen Fulton23–2 (8 KO)5Luis Alberto Lopez31–3 (18 KO)6Bruce Carrington17–0 (10 KO) WBC7Brandon Figueroa27–2–1 (19 KO)WBA8Mirco Cuello16–0 (13 KO)9Robeisy Ramírez14–3 (9 KO)10Nathaniel Collins17–1–1 (8 KO)

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

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

Olympic champions Men's

1904 – 1908 – 1920 – 1924 – 1928 – 1932 – 1936 – 1948 – 1952 – 1956 – 1960 – 1964 – 1968 – 1972 – 1976 – 1980 – 1984 – 1988 – 1992 – 1996 – 2000 – 2004 – 2008 – 2020 – 2024 –

Pan American Champions

1951 – Francisco Núñez (ARG) 1955 – Oswaldo Cañete (ARG) 1959 – Carlos Aro (ARG) 1963 – Rosemiro Mateus (BRA) 1967 – Miguel García (ARG) 1971 – Juan García (MEX) 1975 – Dave Armstrong (United States) 1979 – Bernard Taylor (United States) 1983 – Adolfo Horta (CUB) 1987 – Kelcie Banks (United States) 1991 – Arnaldo Mesa (CUB) 1995 – Arnaldo Mesa (CUB) 1999 – Yudel Johnson (CUB) 2003 – Likar Ramos Concha (COL) 2007 – 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 . However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) featherweight division (professional and amateur) is between .

In Glory promotion, a featherweight division is up to .OFFICIAL GLORY RANKING

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

In ONE Championship, the featherweight division limit is .

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 . In BKB™, the featherweight division has an upper limit of .

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

Mixed Martial Arts

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

Current champions These tables were last updated in July 2025.

Men: OrganizationReign BeganChampionRecordDefensesUFCApril 13, 2025 Alexander Volkanovski27-4 (13KO 3SUB)0Bellator MMAApril 15, 2022 Patrício Pitbull33–5 (11KO 12SUB)1ONE ChampionshipAugust 26, 2022 Tang Kai15–2 (12KO 0SUB)0ACAJuly 22, 2022 Alikhan Suleymanov15–2 (1KO 10SUB)0Cage WarriorsNovember 4, 2022 Paul Hughes9–1 (3KO 3SUB)0KSWDecember 18, 2021 Salahdine Parnasse21–2 (6KO 7SUB)2M-1 Global VacantAMC Fight NightsOctober 14, 2022 Gleb Khabibulin7–1–2 (4KO 3SUB)0Brave Combat FederationOctober 22, 2022 Roman Bogatov13–1 (1KO 5SUB)0Titan FCAugust 6, 2021 Ali al-Qaisi12–5 (2KO 4SUB)0Legacy Fighting Alliance VacantRoad FCDecember 18, 2022 Hae Jin Park10–2 (1KO 4SUB)0

Women: OrganizationReign BeganChampionRecordDefensesBellator MMAJanuary 25, 2020 Cris Cyborg29–2 (1) (20KO 1SUB)4UFCDecember 29, 2018 Amanda Nunes21–5 (13KO 3SUB)2Invicta FC Vacant

See also Boxing weight classes Reigning boxing champions

References