Featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of 126 pounds (57 kg). In the early days of the division, this limit fluctuated. The British have generally always recognized the limit at 126 pounds, but in America the weight limit was at first 114 pounds. An early champion, George Dixon, moved the limit to 120 and then 122 pounds. Finally, in 1920 the United States fixed the limit at 126 pounds.The 1860 fight between Nobby Clark and Jim Elliott is sometimes called the first featherweight championship. However, the division only gained wide acceptance in 1889 after the Ike Weir–Frank Murphy fight (one of the most famous fights of all time).
Since the end of the 2000s and early 2010s the featherweight division is one of the most active in boxing with fighters such as Orlando Salido, Chris John, Juan Manuel López, Celestino Caballero, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Elio Rojas, Israel Vazquez, Cristobal Cruz, Rafael Márquez, Rocky Juarez, Steven Luevano, Naseem Hamed, Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao.

Current world champions
Current The Ring world rankings
As of June 20, 2023.Keys:

 C  Current The Ring world champion

Longest reigning world featherweight champions
Below is a list of longest reigning featherweight champions in boxing measured by the individual's longest reign. Career total time as champion (for multiple time champions) does not apply.

Amateur boxing
In amateur boxing, the weight limit is 54 to 57 kilograms (119 to 126 lb) for women and 52 to 57 kilograms (115 to 126 lb) for men. To make room for the introduction of women's boxing to the Olympics in 2012, the men's featherweight class was dropped down one kilogram and became bantamweight. Following further adjustments, the 2020 Olympics will again feature men's featherweight and, for the first time, women's featherweight.

Olympic champions
Men’s
Pan American Champions
Notable featherweights
Everett Backer “Baker”
Alexis Argüello
Henry Armstrong
Abe Attell
Marco Antonio Barrera
Kid Chocolate
Luisito Espinosa
Wilfredo Gómez
Wilfredo Vázquez
Naseem Hamed
Paul Ingle
Chris 'The Dragon' John
Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson
Kevin Kelley
Derrick Gainer
Kina Malpartida
Juan Manuel Márquez
Barry McGuigan
Érik Morales
Azumah Nelson
Manny Pacquiao
Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire
Tommy Paul
Willie Pep
Sandy Saddler
Calvin Grove
Vicente Saldivar
Salvador Sánchez
Orlando Salido
Miguel Ángel García
Juan Manuel López
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Jeff Fenech
Vasiliy Lomachenko

Kickboxing
In kickboxing, a featherweight fighter generally weighs between 55 and 59 kg (121 and 130 lb). However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) featherweight division (professional and amateur) is between 122.1–127 lb (55.4–57.6 kg).
In Glory promotion, a featherweight division is up to 65 kg (143 lb).In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a featherweight division is up to 66 kg (146 lb).
In ONE Championship, the featherweight division limit is 70.3 kg (155 lb).

Bare-knuckle boxing
The limit for featherweight generally differs among promotions in bare-knuckle boxing:

In Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the featherweight division has an upper limit of 145 lb (66 kg).
In BKB™, the featherweight division has an upper limit of 76 kg (168 lb).

Lethwei
International Lethwei Federation Japan has a featherweight division with an upper limit of 65 kg (143 lb). In International Lethwei Federation Japan, Thar A Thae Ta Pwint is the Featherweight Champion.
In World Lethwei Championship, the featherweight division has an upper limit of 57 kg (126 lb).

Mixed Martial Arts
In MMA, within the UFC company and most other MMA companies the featherweight range is from 136 to 145 lb (62 to 66 kg).

Current champions
These tables were last updated in February 2023. 
Men: 

Women:

See also
Boxing weight classes
Reigning boxing champions


== References ==