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Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2014) |
Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
In professional boxing, the division is above 168 pounds (76 kg) and up to 175 pounds (79 kg), falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight.
The light heavyweight class has produced some of boxing's greatest champions: Bernard Hopkins (who, upon becoming champion, broke the record for oldest man to win a world title), Tommy Loughran, Billy Conn, Joey Maxim, Archie Moore, Michael Moorer, Bob Foster, Ann Wolfe, Michael Spinks, Dariusz Michalczewski, Roy Jones Jr., Sergey Kovalev and Zsolt Erdei.
Many light heavyweight champions unsuccessfully challenged for the heavyweight crown until Michael Spinks became the first reigning light heavyweight champion to win the heavyweight championship. Bob Fitzsimmons captured the light heavyweight championship after losing his heavyweight championship. Two all-time great heavyweight champions, Ezzard Charles and Floyd Patterson, started out as light heavyweights. Charles defeated Archie Moore and Joey Maxim several times in non-title bouts before becoming heavyweight champion and Patterson lost an eight-round decision to Joey Maxim before becoming heavyweight champion himself. Evander Holyfield successfully moved up from the light heavyweight division to the cruiserweight division and eventually the heavyweight division and became undisputed champion of the latter two.
| Sanctioning body | Reign began | Champion | Record | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBA | September 18, 2017 | Dmitry Bivol | 22–0 (11 KO) | 11 |
| WBC | October 18, 2019 | Artur Beterbiev | 20–0 (20 KO) | 5 |
| IBF | November 11, 2017 | Artur Beterbiev | 20–0 (20 KO) | 8 |
| WBO | June 18, 2022 | Artur Beterbiev | 20–0 (20 KO) | 2 |
As of July 6, 2024 [1]
Keys:
| Rank | Name | Record (W–L–D) | Title(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | vacant | ||
| 1 | Artur Beterbiev | 20–0 (20 KO) | IBF, WBC, WBO |
| 2 | Dmitry Bivol | 23–0 (12 KO) | WBA |
| 3 | David Benavidez | 29–0 (24 KO) | |
| 4 | Joshua Buatsi | 18–0 (13 KO) | |
| 5 | Anthony Yarde | 22–3 (21 KO) | |
| 6 | Callum Smith | 29–2 (21 KO) | |
| 7 | Albert Ramírez | 18–0 (15 KO) | |
| 8 | Oleksandr Gvozdyk | 20–2 (16 KO) | |
| 9 | Willy Hutchinson | 18–1 (13 KO) | |
| 10 | Dan Azeez | 20–1–1 (13 KO) |
As of 24 May 2022 [update] [2]
| Rank | Name | Record (W–L–D) | Points | Title(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dmitry Bivol | 20–0 (11 KO) | 591.9 | WBA |
| 2 | Artur Beterbiev | 18–0 (18 KO) | 194.0 | WBC, IBF, WBO |
| 3 | Callum Smith | 28–1 (20 KO) | 188.5 | |
| 4 | Gilberto Ramirez | 43–0 (29 KO) | 144.2 | |
| 5 | Joe Smith Jr. | 28–3 (22 KO) | 127.2 | |
| 6 | Maxim Vlasov | 46–4 (26 KO) | 70.65 | |
| 7 | Jean Pascal | 36–6–1 (20 KO) | 63.58 | |
| 8 | Marcus Browne | 24–2 (16 KO) | 58.90 | |
| 9 | Joshua Buatsi | 15–0 (13 KO) | 38.34 | |
| 10 | Sullivan Barrera | 22–4 (14 KO) | 29.16 | |
Below is a list of longest reigning light heavyweight 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. | Archie Moore | 9 years, 4 months, 24 days | NYSAC, NBA | 9 | 7 | [3] [4] |
| 2. | Dariusz Michalczewski | 9 years, 1 months, 8 days | IBF, WBA, WBO | 23 | 20 | [5] |
| 3. | Gus Lesnevich | 7 years, 2 months, 2 days | NYSAC, NBA | 5 | 3 | [6] |
| 4. | Dmitry Bivol | 6 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 3 days | WBA | 12 | 12 | [7] |
| 5. | Artur Beterbiev | 6 years and 10 months | IBF, WBC, WBO | 8 | 8 | [8] |
| 6. | Bob Foster | 6 years, 0 months, 23 days | WBC, WBA | 14 | 13 | [9] |
| 7. | Zsolt Erdei | 5 years, 9 months, 27 days | WBO | 11 | 10 | [10] |
| 8. | Adonis Stevenson | 5 years, 5 months, 24 days | WBC | 9 | 9 | [11] |
| 9. | Charles Williams | 5 years, 4 months, 21 days | IBF | 8 | 8 | [12] |
| 10. | Roy Jones Jr. | 5 years, 2 months, 25 days | WBC, IBF, WBA (Super) | 11 | 11 | [13] |
| 11. | Virgil Hill | 4 years, 9 months, 15 days | WBA | 10 | 10 | [14] |
| 12. | Maxie Rosenbloom | 4 years, 4 months, 22 days | NYSAC, NBA | 7 | 6 | [15] |
| 13. | Michael Spinks | 4 years, 2 months, 3 days | IBF, WBA, WBC | 10 | 10 | [16] |
| 14. | Battling Levinsky | 3 years, 11 months, 19 days | World | 1 | 1 | [17] [18] |
| 15. | Victor Galindez | 3 years, 9 months, 8 days | WBA | 10 | 7 | [19] [20] |
In amateur boxing, light heavyweight is a weight division above 165 pounds (75 kg) and up to 178 pounds (81 kg), falling between middleweight and heavyweight.
Eddie Eagan (USA)
Harry Mitchell (GBR)
Víctor Avendaño (ARG)
David Carstens (RSA)
Roger Michelot (FRA) George Hunter (RSA) Norvel Lee (USA) James Boyd (USA)
Muhammad Ali (USA)
Cosimo Pinto (ITA)
Danas Pozniakas (URS)
Mate Parlov (YUG) Leon Spinks (USA) Slobodan Kacar (YUG) Anton Josipović (YUG) Andrew Maynard (USA)
Torsten May (GER)
Vassiliy Jirov (KAZ)
Aleksandr Lebziak (RUS) Andre Ward (USA)
Zhang Xiaoping (CHN) Egor Mekhontsev (RUS)
Julio César La Cruz (CUB) Arlen López (CUB)The limit of light heavyweight generally differs among promotions in bare-knuckle boxing:
In MMA, the light heavyweight division is from 186 lb (84 kg) to 205 lb (93 kg).
Michael Spinks is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal heavyweight title from 1985 to 1988. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Leon Spinks was an American professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. In only his eighth professional fight, he won the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1978 after defeating Muhammad Ali in a split decision, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Spinks was later stripped of the WBC title for facing Ali in an unapproved rematch seven months later, which he lost by a unanimous decision.
Michael Lee Moorer is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He won a world championship on four occasions in two weight classes, having held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1988 to 1991; compiling 22 straight KOs in 22 fights and the WBO heavyweight title from 1992 to 1993; the unified WBA, IBF and lineal heavyweight titles in 1994; and regained the IBF heavyweight title again from 1996 to 1997 becoming a three-time heavyweight world champion.
Dariusz Tomasz Michalczewski is a Polish-German professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2005. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA, IBF, WBO and lineal light heavyweight titles between 1994 and 2003, and the WBO junior-heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995. Michalczewski is regarded by many as the greatest light-heavyweight boxer of all time.
Julio César González Ibarra was a Mexican professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2011, and held the WBO and lineal light heavyweight titles from 2003 to 2004.
Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
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. In MMA, bantamweight is 126–135 lb (57.2–61.2 kg).
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term welterweight was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the opponents. If used, welterweight is typically between lightweight and middleweight.
Marvin Johnson is an American former boxer who was a 3-time light-heavyweight champion of the world. As an amateur, Johnson fought in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, winning a bronze medal, and made his way up the professional ranks in the light heavyweight division soon thereafter. Johnson was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008 alongside Lennox Lewis and Pernell Whitaker. His nickname is "Pops".
Virgil Eugene Hill is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2007, and in 2015. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBA light heavyweight title twice, from 1987 to 1997; the IBF and lineal light heavyweight titles from 1996 to 1997; and the WBA cruiserweight title twice, from 2000 to 2002 and 2006 to 2007. As an amateur, Hill won a silver medal in the middleweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics. In 2013, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Cruiserweight, also referred to as junior heavyweight, is a weight class in professional boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, "light heavyweight" and "cruiserweight" were sometimes used interchangeably in the United Kingdom.
Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Zsolt Erdei is a Hungarian former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2014. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO and lineal light-heavyweight titles from 2004 to 2009, and the WBC cruiserweight title from 2009 to 2010. Erdei is the first boxer from Hungary to win world titles in two weight divisions. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 2000 Olympics. He also competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
In combat sports where champions are determined by challenge, the lineal championship in a weight class represents an intangible world title first held by the victor of a bout between top contenders in the division. A fighter who defeats the reigning champion in a match within the same weight class becomes the next lineal champion. In professional boxing, the lineal champion is informally known as "the man who beat the man."
Natalia Yurievna Ragozina, better known as Natascha Ragosina, is an undefeated retired Russian professional boxer who spent much of her career ranked as the top female super middleweight in the world.