Super cruiserweight

Last updated

Super cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.

Contents

Class description

Super cruiserweights, also called Junior Heavyweights, have been described as being in the gray 'zone' of 190 to 210 pounds by the IBA for world title purposes. The so-called categorization has gone as high in weight in description as 210 to 250 pounds by others. There is no general consensus on the upper and lower weight limits. This division encompasses what most governing bodies consider to be heavier cruiserweight fighters, or lighter heavyweights. It was introduced because of the growing number of heavyweights who are well in excess of their division's minimum (200 lbs) and the likelihood of mismatches between men who are considerably different in size, but are both "heavyweights". [1]

Neither BoxRec or nor any major sanctioning body currently recognizes this division officially, although the minor International Boxing Association does have a champion and produces rankings.

In 2020, the World Boxing Council introduced the bridgerweight division, which has similar weight limits to those used in super cruiserweight fights. In 2023, the World Boxing Association introduced a "Bridgerweight" division with the same weight limits as the WBC's bridgerweight division. [2]

Division fight

Few famed fighters have fought for or are even aware of the so-called super cruiserweight title. The most famous fighter to have fought in the mystery division was James Toney. Former middleweight and super middleweight world champion Toney fought for the IBA super-cruiserweight title in 2001. Toney won the title by a second-round knockout over journeyman Saul Montana, but never defended it. [3] Instead, he moved back down to the regular cruiserweight division, and won a world title there two years later. [4]

Former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion Bobby Czyz won the vacant WBU world super cruiserweight title by stopping previously undefeated Richard Jackson in the sixth round in 1995. Czyz never defended that championship, opting to fight as a heavyweight instead. [5]

Former heavyweight contender Orlin Norris won the vacant IBA Super Cruiserweight title by decisioning Adolfo Washington over 12 rounds in Michigan in 1998, and defended it by 12-round decision over former WBA World Cruiserweight champion Nate Miller in Louisiana later the same year. Two-time EBU European cruiserweight champion Vincenzo Cantatore, who unsuccessfully challenged for the vacant WBC world cruiserweight title in 2002 and for the WBO world cruiserweight title in 2005, won the vacant WBU world super cruiserweight title in 1998 and defended it three times before returning to the cruiserweight division. [6] The late Greenland born Tue Bjorn Thomsen of Denmark, a heavyweight southpaw, won the vacant IBC Super Cruiserweight title by decisioning Nate Miller in Denmark in 2000 over 12 rounds. Thomsen defended the title by 12-round decision over Rob Calloway in 2001. [7] Calloway had won the vacant IBA title in 2000 with a TKO-1 over Troy Weida but, after winning four non-title heavyweight bouts, challenged for Thomsen's title rather than defend the IBA belt. [8]

BJ Flores, who would later challenge for world and interim world titles as a cruiserweight and as a heavyweight, won the IBA World super cruiserweight title by unanimously outpointing defending champion Patrick Nwamu over 12 rounds in 2007. [9] Nwamu had won the vacant IBA title in 2006 at New York's famed Madison Square Garden and was make his first defense. [10]

Rather than fight in this division, many fighters are often considered to be between cruiserweight and heavyweight in categorization, such as former cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion David Haye, who had to lose weight to fight in the cruiserweight division, while his natural body weight, while over 200 pounds, makes him considered by some experts to be somewhat small in weight for the modern heavyweight he subsequently fought in successfully.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Toney</span> American boxer (born 1968)

James Nathaniel Toney is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1993, the IBF super middleweight title from 1993 to 1994, and the IBF cruiserweight title in 2003. Toney also challenged twice for a world heavyweight title in 2005 and 2006, and was victorious the first time but was later stripped due to a failed drug test. Overall, he competed in fifteen world title fights across four weight classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heavyweight</span> Weight class in combat sports

Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.

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.

Mike McCallum is a Jamaican former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1997. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBA super welterweight title from 1984 to 1988, the WBA middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and the WBC light heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Dawson</span> American boxer

Chad Dawson is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2019. He held multiple world championships at light heavyweight, and was one of the most highly regarded boxers in that weight class between 2006 and 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomasz Adamek</span> Polish boxer

Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the IBF and The Ring magazine cruiserweight titles from 2008 to 2009. He also held the IBO cruiserweight title in 2007, and challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2011. BoxRec ranks Adamek as the third greatest Polish boxer of all time, pound for pound. He is the first Polish boxer to win The Ring title.

Saúl "La Cobra" Montana is a Mexican former professional boxer. Montana is the former IBA, NABA, WBC Mundo Hispano, WBC Continental Americas Champion at Cruiserweight, NBA, and Mexican National Champion at Heavyweight. He also challenged once for the IBF cruiserweight title in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield</span> Boxing competition

Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as Finally, was a professional boxing match fought between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight championship on November 9, 1996, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The bout was Tyson's first defence of the WBA title that he had won from Bruce Seldon on September 7 of that year.

Óscar Andres Rivas Torres is a Colombian professional boxer. He held the WBC bridgerweight title from 2021 to 2023. He also challenged for the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title in 2019, and previously held the IBF International, WBC-NABF and WBO-NABO heavyweight titles. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2007 Pan American Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weight class (boxing)</span> Measurement weight range for boxers

In boxing, a weight class is a measurement weight range for boxers. The lower limit of a weight class is equal to the upper weight limit of the class below it. The top class, with no upper limit, is called heavyweight in professional boxing and super heavyweight in amateur boxing. A boxing match is usually scheduled for a fixed weight class, and each boxer's weight must not exceed the upper limit. Although professional boxers may fight above their weight class, an amateur boxer's weight must not fall below the lower limit. A nonstandard weight limit is called a catchweight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of boxing in the Philippines</span> Boxing history in the Philippines

The history of boxing in the Philippines is the history of boxing and the evolution and progress of the sport in the Philippines. In the Philippines, boxing is one of its most popular sports, together with basketball, due to the many accolades it has brought to the country, having produced 46 major world champions, one of the most in the world. Despite not having won a gold medal in boxing, the Philippines has had multiple Olympic standouts, with 0 out of its 18 total Olympic medals coming from boxing, along with some of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. Filipino greats like Pancho Villa and Flash Elorde are members of the two highly respected boxing hall of fames – International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) and World Boxing Hall of Fame (WBHF) thus, giving the Philippines the most number of Boxing Hall of Famers outside the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mairis Briedis</span> Latvian boxer (born 1985)

Mairis Briedis is a former Latvian professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2024. He was a three-time cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF and Ring titles from 2020 to 2022; the WBC title from 2017 to 2018; and the WBO title in 2019. Upon winning the WBC title in 2017, he became the first Latvian to hold a world boxing title. He was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2017.

Zhang Junlong is a Chinese professional boxer who held the WBA Oceania heavyweight title between 2016 and 2017.

Junior Ilunga Makabu is a Congolese-South African professional boxer. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2020 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ruiz vs. James Toney</span> Boxing competition

John Ruiz vs. James Toney was a professional boxing match contested on April 30, 2005, for the WBA heavyweight championship.

Saul Farah is a Bolivian professional boxer. He is the Bolivian national former Heavyweight boxing champion, having won the title by knocking out 1-0 Romualdo Rivera in the first round on March 13, 2010. He defended the national title 15 times successfully, before losing it on his 16th defense. His nickname is "El Fenix Asesino".

Anthony Perez was an American boxing referee and judge of Puerto Rican descent. During his career, he refereed many major boxing fights and participated in a number of boxing related documentaries.

Bridgerweight also known as Super cruiserweight is a weight class in professional boxing used by the World Boxing Council (WBC) since 2020 and the World Boxing Association (WBA) since 2023. The division is for boxers weighing between 200 pounds and 224 pounds. The weight is named after six-year-old American Bridger Walker, who saved his four-year-old sister from a stray dog in July 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firuza Sharipova</span> Female boxer from Kazakhstan

Firuza Sharipova is a Kazakhstani professional boxer who held the WIBA lightweight title in 2019. As of December 2021, she is ranked number two in the world by the WBA.

References

  1. ↑ "Not Found". Boxinginsider.com. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  2. ↑ "WBA joins WBC in creating 18th weight class". ESPN.com. 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  3. ↑ "Guinn - Toney, Byrd - Williamson, Marquez - Mabuza: Oct 1 fight preview". Eastsideboxing.com. 2005-09-20. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  4. ↑ "Vassiliy Jirov vs. James Toney - Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  5. ↑ "BoxRec: Bobby Czyz".
  6. ↑ "BoxRec: Vincenzo Cantatore".
  7. ↑ "Tue Bjorn Thomsen - Boxer". boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-30.
  8. ↑ "BoxRec: Rob Calloway".
  9. ↑ "BoxRec: BJ Flores".
  10. ↑ "BoxRec: Patrick Nwamu".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.