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- minimumweight, 105 pounds (48 kg)
- light flyweight, 108 pounds (49 kg)
- flyweight, 112 pounds (51 kg)
- super flyweight, 115 pounds (52 kg)
- bantamweight, 118 pounds (53.5 kg)
- super bantamweight, 122 pounds (55 kg)
- featherweight, 126 pounds (57 kg)
- super featherweight, 130 pounds (59 kg)
- lightweight, 135 pounds (61 kg)
- super lightweight, 140 pounds (63.5 kg)
- welterweight, 147 pounds (67 kg)
- super welterweight, 154 pounds (70 kg)
- middleweight, 160 pounds (72.5 kg)
- super middleweight, 168 pounds (76 kg)
- light heavyweight, 175 pounds (79 kg)
- cruiserweight, 200 pounds (91 kg)
- heavyweight, unlimited
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Bare in mind that I am not even talking about the scam of weight draining. -
Would make a lot more sense at 5lb weight differences in the lower classes.
Flyweight 105lb
Super Flyweight 110lb
Bantamweight 115lb
Super Bantamweight 120lb
Featherweight 125lb
Super Featherweight 130lb
Lightweight 135lb
Just drop the name of Minimumweight and start with Flyweight instead. Cleaner and more room between the weight classes.Comment
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Both yes and no. Part of it's an anachronism... a throwback to the old divisional weights that chose to split the weighclasses according to / close the old British Imperial measurements of of Stones and Lbs where 1 stone = 14Lbs, (why many classes are multiples of 7Lbs or 14Lbs) from various piecemeal efforts at structuring the sport from Broughton (1738) through the London Prize Ring Rules of 1860, Queensbury and the NSC and the Walker Law and NYSAC onwards.
https://www.proboxing-fans.com/boxin...sions-history/
And updated for the Queensbury Rules of 1865/7
Then codified by the National Sporting Club in London
When the US started taking over as the main driver of the sport New York enacted the Walker Law in 1920 (which also founded the NYSAC) and largely took over the rules and weighclasses standardised by the NSC.but also made a few modifications and moved even further away from the standard Imperial 14Lb / 7Lb increments - although these origins can still be seen clearly in the medial divisions 140 (10st), 147 (10.5st)., 154 (11st) 168 (12 st) and 175 (12.5 st) as well as Fly (8 stone) and Feather (9 stone)
The 160Lb split might be based on a convenience rounding 1Lb away from the 11.5 stone (161Lb) but also represents the split used by the original Broughton Rules of 1738 which allowed for only Heavyweight (160Lbs plus) and lightweight (under 160)Heavyweight 200+ lbs (+90.71 kg) 160+ lbs (+72.57 kg) in 1738 by Broughton's Rules; 175+ lbs (+79.37 kg) in 1920 by Walker Law; 190+ (+86.18 kg) lbs in 1979 and finally 200+ lbs (+90.71 kg) Light heavyweight 168–175 lbs (76.20 - 79.37 kg) 175 lbs (79.37 kg) in 1909 by National Sporting Club of London (NSC) Middleweight 154–160 lbs (69.85 - 72.57 kg) Fights dating back to 1840s; established officially at 160 lbs (72.57 kg) in 1909 by NSC Welterweight 140–147 lbs (63.50 - 66.67 kg) 145 lbs (65.77 kg) in 1889; established officially at 147 lbs (66.67 kg) in 1909 by NSC Lightweight 130–135 lbs (58.96 - 61.23 kg) 160 lbs (72.57 kg) in 1738 by Broughton's Rules; 140 lbs (63.50 kg) in 1889; established officially at 135 lbs (61.23 kg) in 1909 by NSC Featherweight 122–126 lbs (55.33 - 57.15 kg) 118 lbs (53.52 kg) in 1860 by London Prize Ring Rules; 110 lbs (49.89 kg) and 115 (47.62 kg) lbs in 1889; Official at 126 lbs (57.15 kg) in 1909 by NSC Bantamweight 115–118 lbs (52.16 - 53.52 kg) 105 lbs (47.62 kg) in 1860 by London Prize Ring Rules; 116 lbs (52.61 kg) in 1898; 118 lbs (53.52 kg) in 1909 by NSC; Official at 118 lbs (53.52 kg) in 1920 by Walker Law Flyweight 108–112 lbs (48.98 - 50.80 kg) 112 lbs (50.80 kg) in 1909 by NSC and standardized in 1920 by Walker Law[11]
The intermediary divisions have been added piecemeal since, and although they ain't always consistent there is a good argument for having the lower divisions closer togethjer on the basis of making the division based on percentage bodyweight rather than absolute numbers, ie, a 110Lb man is 10% heavier than a 100Lb man but a 170Lb man is only 6% heavier than a 160Lb man. I do believe the small classes are too close together and that there are too many of em, but I think maybe a system based moire acurately on % bodfyweight increments could kinda work - say 5% at 100Lb s would give 105, 110, 116, 122, 128, 134, 141, 148, 155, 163, 171, 180, 189, 198, 208, 218 for 17 divisions. Little tweaking and rounding I reckon something like that could work (assuming you ain't just gonna like get with the times and go metric). That's based on a 5% (ie x1.05) difference between divisions, but you could go higher (say 1.06 or 1.08) if you wanted fewer divisions, or lower (say 1.04) if you wanted more.
That huge jump from LHW to cruiser is simply a reflection of the fact that it was felt necessary to bridge the gap between the original light heavy division and the unlimited division that was filling up with ever bigger guys, but bear in mind was started at 190 (in 1979) and not moved up to 200Lbs until 2003. It does represent and absurd size increase given the relatively small 7Lbish increments between the medial divisions immediately below but in fact the 15Lbs from LHW to the original Cruiser was in keeping with the 14Lb (1 stone) gaps between many of the original divisions.
Anyways. Yeah. Gotta leave it for now, but yes, too many divisions, too many straps and more opportunities for making money for everyone but also not merely some designed in scam but also a simple reflection of the piecemmeal and unco-ordinated development of the sport with the different Governing bodies and sanctioning porgs over the course of 150 years or so all trying their own things to improve and / or standardise the sport without any clear plan or oversight.Ain't really a buff of Boxing history though so maybe speak to one of the history dudes to get a more accurate or complete explanation... dunno if this is up your street Marchegiano ?1884 Unlimited Heavyweight Heavyweight Heavyweight Heavyweight Heavyweight Heavyweight 2020 224 lb 101.61 kg 16 st 0 – Bridgerweight – – – – 1980 200 lb 90.72 kg 14 st 4 Cruiserweight Cruiserweight Cruiserweight Junior heavyweight Cruiserweight Cruiserweight 1913 175 lb 79.38 kg 12 st 7 Light heavyweight Light heavyweight Light heavyweight Light heavyweight Light heavyweight Light heavyweight 1984 168 lb 76.2 kg 12 st Super middleweight Super middleweight Super middleweight Super middleweight Super middleweight Super middleweight 1884 160 lb 72.57 kg 11 st 6 Middleweight Middleweight Middleweight Middleweight Middleweight Middleweight 1962 154 lb 69.85 kg 11 st Super welterweight Super welterweight Junior middleweight Junior middleweight Super welterweight Junior middleweight 1914 147 lb 66.68 kg 10 st 7 Welterweight Welterweight Welterweight Welterweight Welterweight Welterweight 1959 140 lb 63.5 kg 10 st Super lightweight Super lightweight Junior welterweight Junior welterweight Super lightweight Junior welterweight 1886 135 lb 61.23 kg 9 st 9 Lightweight Lightweight Lightweight Lightweight Lightweight Lightweight 1959 130 lb 58.97 kg 9 st 4 Super featherweight Super featherweight Junior lightweight Junior lightweight Super featherweight Junior lightweight 1889 126 lb 57.15 kg 9 st Featherweight Featherweight Featherweight Featherweight Featherweight Featherweight 1976 122 lb 55.34 kg 8 st 10 Super bantamweight Super bantamweight Junior featherweight Junior featherweight Super bantamweight Junior featherweight 1894 118 lb 53.52 kg 8 st 6 Bantamweight Bantamweight Bantamweight Bantamweight Bantamweight Bantamweight 1980 115 lb 52.16 kg 8 st 3 Super flyweight Super flyweight Junior bantamweight Junior bantamweight Super flyweight Junior bantamweight 1911 112 lb 50.8 kg 8 st Flyweight Flyweight Flyweight Flyweight Flyweight Flyweight 1975 108 lb 48.99 kg 7 st 10 Light flyweight Light flyweight Junior flyweight Junior flyweight Light flyweight Junior flyweight 1987 105 lb 47.63 kg 7 st 7 Minimumweight Minimumweight Mini flyweight Mini flyweight Minimumweight Strawweight 2007 102 lb 46.27 kg 7 st 4 Light minimumweight Atomweight Atomweight Atomweight – – Comment
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It's about percentages, not bare lbs.
10lb from Cruiser to Heavy might seem like nothing. But 10lb at the lower weights is an almost 10% weight increase.Comment
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Myself I think the weightclasses need a full restructuring, but the traditions and history of the sport carries it's own inertia and is also part of it's appeal so I'd be surprised to see a major move away from what we got now.Comment
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Years ago when I wrestled the middle weight classes were the ones closes to each other (usually 4-5lb increments from 125 to 145. There were some bigger jumps at lighter (9lbs from 103 to 112) and heavier (from 189 to HW which had a 275lb max).
I think the idea was that there weren't as many kids at the extremes of the weights. The new weight classes seem to have addressed these issues. Boxing could certainly do it but as Koba pointed out, it's hard to change tradition and inertia especially when there are so many decentralized governing bodies.Comment
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