Middleweight

Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.

Boxing

Professional

In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above 154 lb (70 kg) and up to 160 lb (73 kg).

Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1867. Chandler won, becoming known as the American middleweight champion. The first middleweight fight with gloves may have been between George Fulljames and Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey (no relation to the more famous heavyweight Jack Dempsey).

Current world champions

Sanctioning Body	Reign Began	Champion	Record	Defenses
WBA	March 9, 2023	Erislandy Lara	31–3–3 (19 KO)	2
WBC	May 7, 2024	Carlos Adames	24–1–1 (18 KO)	2
IBF	October 14, 2023	Janibek Alimkhanuly	17–0 (12 KO)	2
WBO	August 26, 2022	Janibek Alimkhanuly^[1]	17–0 (12 KO)	4

Current world rankings

The Ring

As of August 11, 2025.^[2]

Keys:

C Current The Ring world champion

Rank	Name	Record	Title(s)
C	vacant
1	Janibek Alimkhanuly	17–0 (12 KO)	IBF, WBO
2	Carlos Adames	24–1–1 (18 KO)	WBC
3	Erislandy Lara	31–3–3 (19 KO)	WBA
4	Chris Eubank Jr.	35–3 (25 KO)
5	Yoenlis Hernández	8–0 (7 KO)
6	Troy Isley	15–0 (5 KO)
7	Etinosa Oliha	21–0 (9 KO)
8	Aaron McKenna	20–0 (10 KO)
9	Austin Williams	19–1 (13 KO)
10	Denzel Bentley	21–3–1 (17 KO)

BoxRec

As of September 4, 2025.^[3]

Rank	Name	Record	Points	Title(s)
1	Gennady Golovkin	42–2–1 (37 KO)	687.5
2	Jermall Charlo	34–0 (23 KO)	109.1
3	Erislandy Lara	31–3–3 (19 KO)	95.18	WBA
4	Chris Eubank Jr.	32–2 (23 KO)	95.07
5	Jaime Munguía	38–0 (30 KO)	91.67
6	Michael Zerafa	30–4 (19 KO)	54.77
7	Carlos Adames	24–1 (18 KO)	44.18
8	Sergiy Derevyanchenko	13–4 (10 KO)	43.24
9	Janibek Alimkhanuly	17–0 (12 KO)	30.81	WBO IBF
10	Ryōta Murata	16–3 (13 KO)	28.35

Longest reigning world middleweight champions

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

Rank	Name	Title Reign	Title Recognition	Successful Defenses	Beaten opponents	Fights
1.	Bernard Hopkins	10 years, 2 months, 18 days	IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO	20	17	^[4]
2.	Tommy Ryan	8 years, 7 months, 4 days	World	6	6	^[5]^[6]
3.	Gennady Golovkin	8 years, 1 months, 1 day	WBA (Super), IBF, WBC	18	14	^[7]
4.	Tony Zale	6 years, 11 months, 24 days	NBA (current WBA)	4	4	^[8]
5.	Carlos Monzón	6 years, 9 months, 9 days	WBA, WBC	14	11	^[9]^[10]
6.	Marvelous Marvin Hagler	6 years, 7 months, 10 days	WBC, WBA, IBF	12	10	^[11]
7.	Nonpareil Jack Dempsey	6 years, 6 months, 15 days	World	2	2	^[12]
8.	Felix Sturm	5 years, 4 months, 4 days	WBA	12	10
9.	Jermall Charlo	6 years, 2 months and 6 days	WBC	4	4	^[13]
10.	Demetrius Andrade	3 years, 10 month, 12 days	WBO	5	5	^[14]
11.	Bob Fitzsimmons	3 years, 8 months, 12 days	World	1	1	^[15]^[16]
12.	Arthur Abraham	3 years, 7 months, 2 days	IBF	10	10	^[17]

Active Title Reign

Reign has ended

Amateur

Olympic champions

Kickboxing

International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) Middleweight (Pro & Amateur) 159.1–165 lb. or 72.4–75 kg
In Glory promotion, a middleweight division is up to 85 kg (187 lb).^[18]
In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a middleweight division is up to 85 kg (187 lb).
In ONE Championship, the middleweight division limit is 93 kg (205 lb).

Bare-knuckle boxing

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

In Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the middleweight division has an upper limit of 175 lb (79 kg).
In BYB Extreme Fighting Series, the middleweight division has an upper limit of 160 lb (73 kg).
In BKB™, the middleweight division has an upper limit of 89 kg (196 lb).

Lethwei

The World Lethwei Championship recognizes the middleweight division with an upper limit of 75 kg (165 lb). In World Lethwei Championship, Naimjon Tuhtaboyev is the Middleweight Champion.

Mixed Martial Arts

In MMA, the middleweight division is from 171 lb (77.5 kg) to 185 lb (84 kg).

Anderson Silva is considered to be the greatest Middleweight MMA fighter of all time.^[19]

Taekwondo

Category	Men's	Women's	Competitions	Note
Middleweight	78–84 kg	67–72 kg	World Championships, Continental Championships, Asian Games	since 1999
Middleweight	76–83 kg	65–70 kg	World Championships, Continental Championships, Asian Games	until 1998
Middleweight	68–80 kg	57–67 kg	Olympic Games, Pan Am Games, All-Africa Games