Bantamweight

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).

The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens.^[1] Brazilian jiu-jitsu has an equivalent Rooster weight.

Boxing

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

Main article: List of world bantamweight boxing champions

Sanctioning body	Reign began	Champion	Record	Defenses
WBA	October 13, 2024	Seiya Tsutsumi	12–0–3 (8 KO)	1
WBC	February 24, 2024	Junto Nakatani	30–0 (23 KO)	3
IBF	May 4, 2024	Ryosuke Nishida	10–0 (2 KO)	1
WBO	May 6, 2024	Yoshiki Takei	10–0 (8 KO)	1

Current The Ring world rankings

As of March 9, 2025.^[3]

Keys:

 C  Current The Ring world champion

Rank	Name	Record	Title(s)
C	vacant
1	Junto Nakatani	30–0 (23 KO)	WBC
2	Ryosuke Nishida	10–0 (2 KO)	IBF
3	Seiya Tsutsumi	12–0–3 (8 KO)	WBA
4	Yoshiki Takei	10–0 (8 KO)	WBO
5	Takuma Inoue	20–2 (5 KO)
6	Emmanuel Rodríguez	22–3–0–1 (13 KO)
7	Daigo Higa	21–3–2 (19 KO)
8	Tenshin Nasukawa	6–0 (2 KO)
9	Jason Moloney	27–4 (19 KO)
10	Jeyvier Cintrón	13–1–0–1 (6 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.	Naoya Inoue	4 years, 7 months, 13 days	WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO	8	7	[12]
9.	Eder Jofre	4 years, 6 months	NBA, WBA, WBC	8	8	[13]
10.	Manuel Ortiz	4 years, 4 months, 29 days	World	15	11	[14]

  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:

Kickboxing

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).

Bare-knuckle boxing

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).

Lethwei

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.

Mixed martial arts

Main article: Bantamweight (MMA)

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	September 14th, 2024	Merab Dvalishvili	18-4(3KO 1 SUB)	0
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	January 20, 2024	Raquel Pennington	16-8 (1KO 4SUB)	0
Invicta FC	January 18, 2023	Talita Bernardo	10-4 (6SUB)	0

Muay Thai

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

Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight.

See also

• Reigning boxing champions