Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. 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.Brazilian jiu-jitsu has an equivalent Rooster weight.
Boxing
Bantamweight is a class in boxing for boxers who weigh above 115 pounds (52.2 kg) and up to 118 pounds (53.5 kg).
Professional
History
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.
Current world champions
| Sanctioning body | Reign began | Champion | Record | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBA | Vacant | |||
| WBC | Vacant | |||
| IBF | Vacant | |||
| WBO | May 13, 2023 | Jason Moloney | 26-2-0 (2 KO) | 1 |
Current The Ring world rankings
As of April 29, 2023.
Keys:
- C Current The Ring world champion
| Rank | Name | Record | Title(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | vacant | ||
| 1 | Emmanuel Rodríguez | 21–2–0–1 (13 KO) | |
| 2 | Jason Moloney | 25–2 (19 KO) | |
| 3 | Nonito Donaire | 42–7 (28 KO) | |
| 4 | Vincent Astrolabio | 18–3 (13 KO) | |
| 5 | Alejandro Santiago | 27–3–5 (14 KO) | |
| 6 | Gary Antonio Russell | 19–1–0–1 (12 KO) | |
| 7 | Paul Butler | 34–3 (15 KO) | |
| 8 | Takuma Inoue | 18–1 (4 KO) | WBA |
| 9 | Ryosuke Nishida | 7–0 (1 KO) | |
| 10 | Keita Kurihara | 17–7–1 (15 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 | |
| 2. | Veeraphol Sahaprom | 6 years, 3 months, 17 days | WBC | 14 | 11 | |
| 3. | Orlando Canizales | 6 years, 3 months, 16 days | IBF | 16 | 15 | |
| 4. | Shinsuke Yamanaka | 5 years, 9 months, 9 days | WBC | 12 | 11 | |
| 5. | Tim Austin | 5 years, 6 months, 26 days | IBF | 9 | 9 | |
| 6. | Hozumi Hasegawa | 5 years, 14 days | WBC | 10 | 10 | |
| 7. | Panama Al Brown | 4 years, 9 months, 28 days | NYSAC, NBA, IBU | 10 | 8 | |
| 8. | Eder Jofre | 4 years, 6 months | NBA, WBA, WBC | 8 | 8 | |
| 9. | Manuel Ortiz | 4 years, 4 months, 29 days | World | 15 | 11 |
- Active Title Reign
- Reign has ended
Amateur
Only one boxer has ever held the Olympic and World Amateur bantamweight titles simultaneously, Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba, who managed the feat twice in 2001 and 2005.
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
In MMA, bantamweight is 126–135 pounds (57.2–61.2 kg).
Current champions
These tables were last updated in May 2023.
| Organization | Reign began | Champion | Record | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | ||||
| UFC | Mar 6, 2021 | Aljamain Sterling | 23–3 (3KO 8SUB) | 3 |
| Bellator | May 7, 2021 | Sergio Pettis | 22–5 (4KO 4SUB) | 1 |
| Rizin FF | N/A |
 Vacant
|
N/A | N/A |
| ONE Championship | February, 2023 | Fabrício Andrade< | 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 | July 30, 2022 | Amanda Nunes | 22–5 (13KO 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.