Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.
In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above 154lb and up to 160lb.
Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1867. Chandler won, becoming known as the American middleweight champion. The first middleweight fight with gloves may have been between George Fulljames and Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey (no relation to the more famous heavyweight Jack Dempsey).
See main article: List of world middleweight boxing champions.
| Sanctioning Body | Reign Began | Champion | Record | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBA | March 9, 2023 | Erislandy Lara | 31–3–3 (19 KO) | 2 | |
| WBC | May 7, 2024 | Carlos Adames | 23–1 (18 KO) | 1 | |
| IBF | October 14, 2023 | Janibek Alimkhanuly | 16–0 (11 KO) | 1 | |
| WBO | August 26, 2022 | Janibek Alimkhanuly[1] | 16–0 (11 KO) | 3 |
As of October 14, 2024.[2]
Keys:
Current The Ring world champion
| Rank | Name | Record | Title(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor=gold | C | |||
| 1 | Janibek Alimkhanuly | 16–0 (11 KO) | WBO, IBF | |
| 2 | Hamzah Sheeraz | 21–0 (17 KO) | ||
| 3 | Carlos Adames | 24–1 (18 KO) | WBC | |
| 4 | Erislandy Lara | 31–3–3 (19 KO) | WBA | |
| 5 | Chris Eubank Jr | 34–3 (25 KO) | ||
| 6 | Meiirim Nursultanov | 20–0 (11 KO) | ||
| 7 | Etinosa Oliha | 21–0 (9 KO) | ||
| 8 | Kyrone Davis | 19–3–1 (6 KO) | ||
| 9 | Troy Isley | 13–0 (5 KO) | ||
| 10 | Shane Mosley Jr. | 22–4 (12 KO) |
As of, .[3]
| Rank | Name | Record | Points | Title(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gennady Golovkin | 42–2–1 (37 KO) | 687.5 | ||
| 2 | Jermall Charlo | 32–0 (22 KO) | 109.1 | WBC | |
| 3 | Erislandy Lara | 28–3–3 (16 KO) | 95.18 | WBA | |
| 4 | Chris Eubank Jr. | 32–2 (23 KO) | 95.07 | ||
| 5 | Jaime Munguía | 38–0 (30 KO) | 91.67 | ||
| 6 | Michael Zerafa | 30–4 (19 KO) | 54.77 | ||
| 7 | Carlos Adames | 21–1 (16 KO) | 44.18 | ||
| 8 | Sergiy Derevyanchenko | 13–4 (10 KO) | 43.24 | ||
| 9 | Janibek Alimkhanuly | 14–0 (9 KO) | 30.81 | WBO IBF | |
| 10 | Ryōta Murata | 16–3 (13 KO) | 28.35 |
Below is a list of longest reigning middleweight champions in boxing measured by the individual's longest reign. Career total time as champion (for multiple time champions) is not counted.
| Rank | Name | Title Reign | Title Recognition | Successful Defenses | Beaten opponents | Fights | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | data-sort-value="" | 10 years, 2 months, 18 days | IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO | 20 | 17 | [4] | ||
| 2. | data-sort-value="" | 8 years, 7 months, 4 days | World | 6 | 6 | [5] [6] | ||
| 3. | data-sort-value="" | 8 years, 1 months, 1 day | WBA (Super), IBF, WBC | 22 | 19 | [7] | ||
| 4. | data-sort-value="" | 6 years, 11 months, 24 days | NBA (current WBA) | 4 | 4 | [8] | ||
| 5. | data-sort-value="" | 6 years, 9 months, 9 days | WBA, WBC | 14 | 11 | [9] [10] | ||
| 6. | data-sort-value="" | 6 years, 7 months, 10 days | WBC, WBA, IBF | 12 | 10 | [11] | ||
| 7. | data-sort-value="" | 6 years, 6 months, 15 days | World | 2 | 2 | [12] | ||
| 8. | data-sort-value="" | 5 years, 4 months, 4 days | WBA | 12 | 10 | |||
| 9. | data-sort-value="data-sort-value="" | WBC | 4 | 4 | [13] | |||
| 10. | data-sort-value="" | 3 years, 10 month, 12 days | WBO | 5 | 5 | [14] | ||
| 11. | data-sort-value="" | 3 years, 8 months, 12 days | World | 1 | 1 | [15] [16] | ||
| 12. | data-sort-value="" | 3 years, 7 months, 2 days | IBF | 10 | 10 | [17] |
Active Title Reign
Reign has ended
The limit for middleweight generally differs among promotions in bare-knuckle boxing:
The World Lethwei Championship recognizes the middleweight division with an upper limit of 75kg (165lb). In World Lethwei Championship, Naimjon Tuhtaboyev is the Middleweight Champion.
See main article: Middleweight (MMA). In MMA, the middleweight division is from 171 lb (77.5 kg) to 185 lb (84 kg).
Anderson Silva is considered to be the greatest Middleweight MMA fighter of all time.[19]
| Category | Men's | Women's | Competitions | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middleweight | 78–84 kg | 67–72 kg | since 1999 | |
| Middleweight | 76–83 kg | 65–70 kg | until 1998 | |
| Middleweight | 68–80 kg | 57–67 kg | Olympic Games, Pan Am Games, All-Africa Games | |