Cruiserweight (boxing)

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.

Professional boxing

The current weight limit for the division is 200 pounds (90.7 kg; 14 st 4.0 lb). When originally established, the weight limit was 190 pounds (86.2 kg; 13 st 8.0 lb). The division was established in order to accommodate smaller heavyweight boxers who could not compete with the growing size of boxers in that division. While many great heavyweight champions (such as Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis) weighed around 190 pounds in their career, during the 1970s it became fairly standard that fit heavyweight boxers weighed at least 210 pounds (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb). It was felt by many boxing authorities that asking men weighing between 176 pounds (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb) and 190 pounds (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) to fight these larger men was unfair.

The WBC was the first boxing organization to recognize the cruiserweight division when it sanctioned a bout between Marvin Camel and Mate Parlov on December 8, 1979, for their version of the title. That fight was a draw, but in the rematch in March 1980 Camel won and became the first cruiserweight champion. In 1982 the World Boxing Association recognized Ossie Ocasio as their first cruiserweight champion when he defeated South African Robbie Williams (although at that time the WBA called the division "junior heavyweight"). The International Boxing Federation followed suit in 1983 when it matched former WBC champion Marvin Camel against Rick Sekorski for their inaugural title. Camel won and became the first IBF cruiserweight champion.

Several boxers moved up to heavyweight after winning world titles at cruiserweight. Evander Holyfield unified the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles to become undisputed champion, the first to do so, and then moved up to the heavyweight division in 1988. In 2006, the second man to become undisputed champion was O’Neil Bell, who was later stripped of the IBF title.

Other notable champions in the division have been Bobby Czyz, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Tomasz Adamek, Virgil Hill, Al Cole, Orlin Norris, James Toney, David Haye, Tony Bellew and Oleksandr Usyk.

Current world champions

Main article: List of world cruiserweight boxing champions

Sanctioning Body	Reign Began	Champion	Record	Defenses
WBA	May 31, 2019	Arsen Goulamirian	27–0 (18 KO)	2
WBC	February 26, 2023	Badou Jack	28–3–3 (17 KO)	0
IBF	July 2, 2022	Jai Opetaia	22–0 (17 KO)	0
WBO	March 20, 2021	Lawrence Okolie	18–0 (14 KO)	2

Current world rankings

The Ring

As of April 17, 2023.^[1]

Keys:

 C  Current The Ring world champion

Rank	Name	Record (W–L–D)	Title(s)
C	Jai Opetaia	22–0 (17 KO)	IBF
1	Lawrence Okolie	18–0 (14 KO)	WBO
2	Mairis Briedis	28–2 (20 KO)
3	Yuniel Dorticos	25–2 (23 KO)
4	Ilunga Makabu	29–2 (25 KO)	WBC
5	Thabiso Mchunu	23–6 (13 KO)
6	Alexei Papin	15–1 (14 KO)
7	Arsen Goulamirian	27–0 (18 KO)	WBA
8	Mateusz Masternak	47–5 (31 KO)
9	Richard Riakporhe	16–0 (12 KO)
10	Chris Billam-Smith	16–1 (11 KO)

BoxRec

As of April 17, 2023.^[2]

Rank	Name	Record (W–L–D)	Points	Title(s)
1	Mairis Briedis	28–1 (20 KO)	249.2	IBF
2	Ilunga Makabu	29–2 (25 KO)	140.4	WBC
3	Lawrence Okolie	18–0 (14 KO)	95.87	WBO
4	Yuniel Dorticos	24–2 (22 KO)	88.27
5	Thabiso Mchunu	23–5 (13 KO)	84.86
6	Arsen Goulamirian	26–0 (18 KO)	68.90	WBA
7	Michal Cieslak	20–1 (14 KO)	60.74
8	Krzysztof Glowacki	31–3 (19 KO)	32.71
9	Ryad Merhy	30–1 (25 KO)	30.14
10	Alexei Papin	13–1 (12 KO)	28.77

Longest reigning world cruiserweight champions

Below is a list of longest reigning cruiserweight 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.	Johnny Nelson	6 years, 5 months, 26 days	WBO	13	13	^[3]
2.	Marco Huck	5 years, 11 months, 17 days	WBO	13	10	^[4]
3.	Krzysztof Włodarczyk	4 years, 4 months, 12 days	WBC	6	5	^[5]
4.	Denis Lebedev	4 years, 1 month, 3 days	WBA, IBF	5	5	^[6]
4.	Guillermo Jones	4 years, 1 month, 3 days	WBA	2	2	^[7]
6.	Juan Carlos Gómez	3 years, 11 months, 29 days	WBC	10	10	^[8]
7.	Anaclet Wamba	3 years, 11 months, 17 days	WBC	7	7	^[9]
8.	Yoan Pablo Hernández	3 years, 11 months, 2 weeks and 5 days	IBF	4	4	^[10]
9.	Vassiliy Jirov	3 years, 10 months, 21 days	IBF	5	5	^[11]
10.	Arsen Goulamirian	3 years, 10 months, 2 weeks and 3 days	WBA	4	4	^[12]
11.	Jean-Marc Mormeck	3 years, 10 months, 15 days	WBA, WBC	4	4	^[13]
12.	Ilunga Makabu	3 years. 28 days	WBC	2	2	^[14]
13.	Ossie Ocasio	2 years, 9 months, 18 days	WBA	3	3	^[15]
14.	Oleksandr Usyk	2 years, 8 months, 29 days	WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO	6	6	^[16]
15.	Evander Holyfield	2 years	WBA, WBC, IBF	5	5	^[17]

  Active reign

  Reign has ended

^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Kickboxing

Main article: Kickboxing weight classes

In kickboxing, a cruiserweight fighter generally weighs between 82 kg (181 lb) and 88 kg (195 lb). However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. The International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) Cruiserweight (professional and amateur) division is 186.1 lb–195 lb or 84.6 kg–88.6 kg.

Bare-knuckle boxing

The limit of cruiserweight generally differs among promotions in bare-knuckle boxing:

• In Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the cruiserweight division has an upper limit of 205 lb (93 kg).
• The cruiserweight division has an upper limit of 102 kg (225 lb).

References

1. "The Ring ratings: cruiserweight". Retrieved 21 January 2023.
2. "BoxRec ratings: cruiserweight, active". Retrieved 31 December 2020.
3. "Professional boxing record: Johnny Nelson". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
4. "Professional boxing record: Marco Huck". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
5. "Professional boxing record: Krzysztof Włodarczyk". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
6. "Professional boxing record: Denis Lebedev". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
7. "Professional boxing record: Guillermo Jones". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
8. "Professional boxing record: Juan Carlos Gomez". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
9. "Professional boxing record: Anaclet Wamba". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
10. "Professional boxing record: Yoan Pablo Hernández". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
11. "Professional boxing record: Vassily Jirov". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
12. "Professional boxing record: Arsen Goulmirian". Retrieved 6 June 2021.
13. "Professional boxing record: Jean-Marc Mormeck". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
14. "Professional boxing record: Ilunga Makabu". Retrieved 5 February 2022.
15. "Professional boxing record: Ossie Ocasio". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
16. "Professional boxing record: Oleksandr Usyk". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
17. "Professional boxing record: Evander Holyfield". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
18. Cruiserweight Boxing News Website Retrieved on 6 December 2013.
19. Current Cruiserweight Ratings 2015-06-16 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 27 December 2012.
20. Cruiserweight Division Retrieved on 27 December 2012.
21. IBF Cruiserweight Champions Retrieved on 27 December 2012.
22. WBA Cruiserweight Champions Retrieved on 27 December 2012.