Weight Class

Best fight of '06 - Liakhovich v. Brewster (April 1)

Boxing does not have much of a following these days but the potential for greatness is always there. I firmly believe that a great boxing match is the most exciting spectacle to watch in all of sport. The problem is that the 'great boxing match' is an extreme rarity. Most bouts are duds. And the heavyweight ranks, the glamour division, are miserable. Body builders with little boxing skill who tire early and hang on each other like drunken fraternity brothers.

There are 17 boxing divisions. I had no idea there were so many. It seems strange to me that they have so many low-weight divisions, separated by only 3-5 lbs. 10 divisions exist for men that weigh under 140 lbs. Seriously, do you even know a grown man that weighs less than a buck-40?

On the other hand, the heavyweight division includes any fighter that weighs in over 201 lbs. This is a gigantic weight range. A 205 lb man has no business fighting a 275 lb man. And as time goes on, men are only getting bigger. Muhammad Ali weighed in at 210 lbs in his prime. Lennox Lewis weighed 247 lbs. That is a serious mismatch.

This is how they break down by weight. Included are the best/most recognizable fighters in each division:

Heavyweights – 201 and up (Chris Byrd, Hasim Rahman, Wladimir Klitschko)

Cruiserweights – up to 200 lbs (O’Neil Bell)

Light Heavyweights – 175 lbs (Antonio Tarver, Glen Johnson, Roy Jones Jr. (washed up))

Super Middleweights – 168 lbs (Joe Calzaghe, Mikkel Kessler)

Middleweights – 160 lbs (Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright, Bernard Hopkins)

Junior Middleweights – 154 lbs (Roman Karmazin, Shayne Mosley, Ricardo Mayorga, Oscar De La Hoya)

Welterweights – 147 lbs (Carlos Baldomir, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Arturo Gatti)

Junior Welterweights – 140 lbs (Ricky Hatton – ESPN.com 2005 fighter of the year)

Lightweights – 135 lbs (Jose Luis Castilo, Diego ‘Chico’ Castillo)

Junior Lightweights – 130 lbs (Manny Pacquiao)

Featherweights – 126 lbs (Chris John)

Junior Featherweights – 122 lbs (Israel Vazquez)

Bantamweights – 118 lbs (Rafael Marquez)

Junior Bantamweights – 115 lbs (Martin Castillo)

Flyweights – 112 lbs (Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (60-2))

Junior Flyweights/Strawweights – 108 and 105 lbs (Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon)