Boxing’s Chaotic Weight Divisions: A Short History of How We Got to Where We Are

Published

4 years ago

November 15, 2020

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The World Boxing Council recently created a new weight division. It’s called Bridgerweight and it’s for boxers weighing not less than 201 or more than 224 pounds.

The news fomented a firestorm of criticism. There are already too many weight classes yelped the belligerents. Adding yet another compounded the insult.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman could have forestalled the backlash — nay, he could have actually inverted it – if he had simultaneously done away with a couple of the weight classes near the bottom end of the spectrum. That’s what the National Boxing Association did in 1921. Ah, but we are getting ahead of ourselves.

In the bare-knuckle days, there were basically only three weight classes: heavyweight, middleweight, and lightweight. However, the ceilings for the two lower weight classes were not standardized, opening the door to multiple title claimants.

This situation persisted as the sport entered the modern era. Before World War I, the weight limit for featherweights in the United States was generally conceded to be 122 whereas the norm in Great Britain was 126. Likewise, the Brits defined a lightweight as 135 pounds whereas the Yanks held tight to 133. Eventually, the British nomenclature prevailed.

The original three weight classes eventually increased to seven and then to eight with the introduction of the light heavyweight division in 1903. The architect was Lou Houseman, the sporting editor of the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper. Houseman managed Jack Root who had outgrown the middleweight class. When he matched Root against Kid McCoy, he billed it for the light heavyweight title. Fight writers were receptive and Root, who dominated McCoy en route to winning a 10-round decision, would enter the history books as the first light heavyweight champion.

An important development in the standardization of weight classes was the 1920 Antwerp Summer Olympics. Twelve nations sent boxers to these games, eight more than in 1908 when 32 of the 42 entrants — and all but one of the medal winners – were British. (There was no boxing at the 1912 games in Stockholm as the sport was outlawed in Sweden and the 1916 Olympiad was cancelled because of the war in Europe, so the 1920 games marked the return of boxing after a 12-year absence.)

The bouts at the 1920 Games were contested in eight weight divisions, up from five weight classes in 1908.

Flyweight (112)

Bantamweight (118)

Featherweight (126)

Lightweight (135)

Welterweight (147)

Middleweight (160)

Light heavyweight (175)

Heavyweight (176+)

These became the eight standard divisions, but it didn’t take long for a regulatory body to add new categories. The Walker Law of 1920, which had the effect of making New York the center of the boxing universe, included a provision for five additional weight classes: junior flyweight (109 pounds), junior bantamweight (118), junior featherweight (122), junior lightweight (130), and junior welterweight (140).

The first of these “junior” classes to make an appearance was the junior lightweight class. On Nov. 18, 1921, Tex Rickard presented a diamond-studded belt to Johnny Dundee after Dundee, the so-called Scotch Wop, defeated George “KO” Chaney at Madison Square Garden. (Chaney was disqualified in the fifth round for repeated low blows.)

On January 19, 1922, at the inaugural National Boxing Association convention in New Orleans, the junior lightweight and junior welterweight divisions were retained, but New York’s three other junior divisions were scrapped.

The sport already had a junior lightweight champion, Johnny Dundee, but New York hadn’t yet authorized a fight for the junior welterweight title so the NBA (the forerunner of the World Boxing Association, the first of the international governing bodies) got to go first. They bestowed the 140-pound title on Pinkey Mitchell, the less prominent of two fighting brothers from Milwaukee.

Strange but true. Mitchell was accorded this honor by winning an election, out-polling 19 other candidates in a survey conducted by the Boxing Blade, a Minneapolis boxing weekly. The magazine claimed that its readers returned more than 700,000 ballots. (Balderdash; boxing was big in those days, but it wasn’t quite that big.)

In due time, the junior lightweight title passed into the hands of Tod Morgan, a slick southpaw from Seattle. On Dec. 20, 1929, Morgan defended his belt against Benny Bass at Madison Square Garden. Bass knocked him out in the second round.

Benny Bass was nicknamed the “Little Fish” and this fight had the distinct aroma of rotten fish.

In the lobby of the Garden as the preliminaries were going on, bookies were quoting 6/1 odds on the challenger, a price that made no sense considering the reputations of the two fighters. The New York State Athletic Commission, which was then chaired by future U.S. Postmaster General James A. Farley, reacted by abolishing the junior lightweight division and for good measure, expunging all the other “junior” divisions as well.

The ruling did not impact any of the NYSAC-certified title-holders other than Bass as the commission hadn’t yet authorized any title fights in the three lowest junior classes and the junior lightweight title was vacant, having been abandoned by Johnny Dundee who went to win the more prestigious featherweight belt.

So, now we were back to only “8’ weight classes in New York whose boxing commission exerted considerable sway on the national scene when Massachusetts and Pennsylvania became aligned with it.

The junior lightweight class became dormant during the early years of the Depression and wasn’t revived until 1949 when the NBA sanctioned a match between Sandy Saddler and Orlando Zulueta for the vacant belt. Saddler, who had lost the featherweight title in his second meeting with Willie Pep, outpointed Zulueta in a dull 10-round fight at Cleveland to claim the vacant title.

The NBA junior welterweight class went dormant in 1946 when Tippy Larkin abandoned the belt because he could no longer make the weight. It was revived in 1959. Carlos Ortiz began a new line of junior welterweight title-holders when he stopped Kenny Lane on cuts. By then the NBA had morphed into the World Boxing Association.

The New York commission refused to sanction the Ortiz-Lane match as a world title fight although the bout was held at Madison Square Garden, but eventually relented. It mattered greatly that Carlos Ortiz was a New Yorker. A Puerto Rican by birth, he resided in the Bronx. But by then it really made no difference whether New York recognized the junior welterweight division or not. In terms of national influence, the Empire State no longer had much clout.

Over the years, there has been pressure to raise the weight limits of the standard weight classes. This was considered preferable to cluttering up the landscape with more divisions.

In 1946, the NBA, at their annual convention, considered a motion to raise the limit of each weight class from 3-5 pounds. The flyweight division, for example, would go from 112 to 115; the middleweight division from 160 to 165. The motion was prodded by a Harvard study that showed that the school’s freshmen, on average, weighed 10 pounds more than their counterparts in 1892.

The motion never advanced to the voting stage, and this would be true again in 1953 after a government study revealed that the average American man of draft age was 10 pounds heavier than the average American soldier in World War I.

Prior to this, there was talk of raising the light heavyweight limit from 175 to 185 pounds. The impetus was Billy Conn’s feeble effort in his highly-anticipated rematch with Joe Louis. Conn came in at 182, twenty-five pounds less than the Brown Bomber. In theory, the match would not have been approved if the ceiling for light heavyweights had been set at 185 pounds.

Needless to say, none of these campaigns to raise the limits of the various weight classes succeeded. The weights of the eight classic divisions haven’t been disturbed in well over 100 years, notwithstanding the fact that people in most parts of the world and particularly in the Westernized world have, on average, become bigger, both taller and heavier.

Amateur boxing hasn’t been as hidebound. That’s a story for another day.

To be continued…….

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Arne K. Lang

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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Published

1 day ago

December 21, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.

The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.

Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.

The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.

An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.

Moses Itauma

Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.

His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.

Photo (c): Mark Robinson

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10^th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.

Bohachuk-Davis

In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.

Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.

Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.

Fisher-Allen

In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.

Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.

In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.

He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Other Bouts of Note

In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.

A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.

In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.

McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.

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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.

The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.

Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.

The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.

That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.

The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)

Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)

Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.

Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).

Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.

The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.

Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.

Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.

We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”

The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.

Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.

Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.

Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.

There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.

It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.

Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.

At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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