Middleweight

Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.

Boxing

Professional

In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to.
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.

Current world champions

Sanctioning Body	Reign Began	Champion	Record	Defenses
WBA	March 9, 2023	Erislandy Lara	32–3–3	3
WBC	May 7, 2024	Carlos Adames	24–1–1	2
IBF	October 14, 2023	Janibek Alimkhanuly	17–0	2
WBO	August 26, 2022	Janibek Alimkhanuly	17–0	4

Current world rankings

''The Ring''

As of January 2, 2026.
Keys:

Rank	Name	Record	Title
C
1	Carlos Adames	24–1–1	WBC
2	Yoenlis Hernández	9–0
3	Erislandy Lara	32–3–3	WBA
4	Conor Benn	24–1
5	Troy Isley	15–0
6	Etinosa Oliha	22–0
7	Aaron McKenna	20–0
8	Austin Williams	19–1
9	Chris Eubank Jr	35–4
10	Jesus Ramos	24–1

BoxRec

As of,.

Rank	Name	Record	Points	Title
1	Gennady Golovkin	42–2–1	687.5
2	Jermall Charlo	34–0	109.1
3	Erislandy Lara	31–3–3	95.18	WBA
4	Chris Eubank Jr.	32–2	95.07
5	Jaime Munguía	38–0	91.67
6	Michael Zerafa	30–4	54.77
7	Carlos Adames	24–1	44.18
8	Sergiy Derevyanchenko	13–4	43.24
9	Janibek Alimkhanuly	17–0	30.81	WBO IBF
10	Ryōta Murata	16–3	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 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
2.	Tommy Ryan	8 years, 7 months, 4 days	World	6	6
3.	Gennady Golovkin	8 years, 1 months, 1 day	WBA, IBF, WBC	20	19
4.	Tony Zale	6 years, 11 months, 24 days	NBA	4	4
5.	Carlos Monzón	6 years, 9 months, 9 days	WBA, WBC	14	11
6.	Marvelous Marvin Hagler	6 years, 7 months, 10 days	WBC, WBA, IBF	12	10
7.	Nonpareil Jack Dempsey	6 years, 6 months, 15 days	World	2	2
8.	Felix Sturm	5 years, 4 months, 4 days	WBA	12	10
9.	Jermall Charlo		WBC	4	4
10.	Demetrius Andrade	3 years, 10 month, 12 days	WBO	5	5
11.	Bob Fitzsimmons	3 years, 8 months, 12 days	World	1	1
12.	Arthur Abraham	3 years, 7 months, 2 days	IBF	10	10

Amateur

Olympic champions

Kickboxing

International Kickboxing Federation Middleweight 159.1–165 lb. or 72.4–75 kg
In Glory promotion, a middleweight division is up to 85 kg.
In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a middleweight division is up to 85 kg.
In ONE Championship, the middleweight division limit is.

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.
In BYB Extreme Fighting Series, the middleweight division has an upper limit of.
In BKB™, the middleweight division has an upper limit of.

Lethwei

The World Lethwei Championship recognizes the middleweight division with an upper limit of. In World Lethwei Championship, Naimjon Tuhtaboyev is the Middleweight Champion.

Mixed Martial Arts

In MMA, the middleweight division is from 171 lb to 185 lb.
Anderson Silva is considered to be the greatest Middleweight MMA fighter of all time.