Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Brazilian jiu-jitsu has an equivalent Rooster weight.
Boxing
The first gloved world title fight in this division was fought between George Dixon and Nunc Wallace on June 27, 1890, with Dixon winning and thus becoming the inaugural world bantamweight champion. At the time, the limit for this weight class was 110 pounds. In 1910, however, the British settled on a limit of 118.
From 2018 to 2019, an eight-man tournament called the World Boxing Super Series was held to determine the best bantamweight in the world. The tournament was won by Naoya Inoue, who defeated Nonito Donaire in the final.
On December 13, 2022, Naoya Inoue became the first undisputed champion of the division in the four-belt era.
Current world champions
{| class="wikitable"
!Sanctioning body
!Reign began
!Champion
!Record
!Defenses
|-
|WBA
|Dec 1, 2025
|Seiya Tsutsumi
|12–0–3 (8 KO)
|align=center|2
|-
|WBC
|November 24, 2025
|Takuma Inoue
|21–2 (5 KO)
|align=center|1
|-
|IBF
|December 13, 2025
|José Salas
|17–0 (11 KO)
|align=center|0
|-
|WBO
|May 6, 2024
|Christian Medina
|26–4 (19 KO)
|align=center|1
|}
Current The Ring world rankings
As of September 24, 2025.
Keys:
: Current The Ring world champion
{| class="wikitable"
!Rank
!Name
!Record
!Title(s)
|-
|bgcolor=gold|C
|
|
|
|-
|1
|Seiya Tsutsumi
|12–0–3 (8 KO)
|
|-
|2
|Christian Medina
|26–4 (19 KO)
|WBO
|-
|3
|Ryosuke Nishida
|10–1 (2 KO)
|
|-
|4
|Takuma Inoue
|20–2 (5 KO)
|
|-
|5
|Daigo Higa
|21–3–3 (19 KO)
|
|-
|6
|Antonio Vargas
|19–1–1–1 (11 KO)
|WBA
|-
|7
|Yoshiki Takei
|11–1 (9 KO)
|
|-
|8
|Tenshin Nasukawa
|7–0 (2 KO)
|
|-
|9
|Jason Moloney
|27–4 (19 KO)
|
|-
|10
|Jeyvier Cintrón
|13–1–0–1 (6 KO)
|
|}
Longest reigning world bantamweight champions
Below is a list of longest reigning bantamweight champions in boxing measured by the individual's longest reign. Career total time as champion (for multiple time champions) does not apply.
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!!! Name !!Title reign !! Title recognition !! Successful defenses !! Beaten opponents !! Fights
|-
| 1. || Anselmo Moreno || 6 years, 3 months, 26 days || WBA || align="center"| 12 || align="center"| 11 ||
|-
| 2. || Veeraphol Sahaprom || 6 years, 3 months, 17 days || WBC || align="center"| 14 || align="center"| 11 ||
|-
| 3. || Orlando Canizales || 6 years, 3 months, 16 days || IBF || align="center"| 16 || align="center"| 15 ||
|-
| 4. || Shinsuke Yamanaka || 5 years, 9 months, 9 days || WBC || align="center"| 12 || align="center"| 11 ||
|-
| 5. || Tim Austin || 5 years, 6 months, 26 days || IBF || align="center"| 9 || align="center"| 9 ||
|-
| 6. || Hozumi Hasegawa || 5 years, 14 days || WBC || align="center"| 10 || align="center"| 10 ||
|-
| 7. || Panama Al Brown || 4 years, 9 months, 28 days || NYSAC, NBA, IBU || align="center"| 10 || align="center"| 8 ||
|-
| 8. || Naoya Inoue || 4 years, 7 months, 13 days || WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO || align="center"| 8 || align="center"| 7 ||
|-
| 9. || Eder Jofre || 4 years, 6 months || NBA, WBA, WBC || align="center"| 8 || align="center"| 8 ||
|-
| 10. || Manuel Ortiz || 4 years, 4 months, 29 days || World || align="center"| 15 || align="center"| 11 ||
|}
: Active Title Reign
: Reign has ended
Lineal Champions
- George Dixon (1890) Vacated
- Jimmy Barry (1897–1899) Retired
- Terry McGovern (1899) Vacated
- Harry Harris (1901) Vacated
- Harry Forbes (1901–1903)
- Frankie Neil (1903–1904)
- Joe Bowker (1904–1905) Vacated
- Jimmy Walsh (1905–1909)
- Jimmy Reagan (1909)
- Monte Attell (1909–1910)
- Frankie Conley (1910–1911)
- Johnny Coulon (1911–1914)
- Kid Williams (1914–1917)
- Pete Herman (1917–20)
- Joe Lynch (1920-21)
- Pete Herman (1921) (2)
- Johnny Buff (1921-1922)
- Joe Lynch (1922-1924)
- Abe Goldstein (1924)
- Eddie Martin (1924-1925)
- Charley Phil Rosenberg (1925-1927) Vacated
- Al Brown (1931-1935)
- Baltasar Sangchili (1935-1936)
- Tony Marino (1936)
- Sixto Escobar (1936-1937)
- Harry Jeffra (1937-1938)
- Sixto Escobar (1938-1939) (2) Vacated
- Lou Salica (1940-1942)
- Manuel Ortiz (1942-1947)
- Harold Dade (1947)
- Manuel Ortiz (1947-1950)
- Vic Toweel (1950-1952) South Africa
- Jimmy Carruthers (1952-1954) Retired
- Robert Cohen (1954-1956)
- Mario D'agata (1956-1957)
- Alphonse Halimi (1957-1959)
- Jose Becerra (1959-1960) Retired
- Eder Jofre (1961-1965)
- Masahiko Harada (1965-1968)
- Lionel Rose (1968-1969)
- Ruben Olivares (1969-1970)
- Jesus Castillo (1970-1971)
- Ruben Olivares (1971-1972) (2)
- Rafael Herrera (1972)
- Enrique Pinder (1972-1973)
- Romeo Anaya (1973)
- Arnold Taylor (1973-1974)
- Soo-Hwan Hong (1974-1975)
- Alfonso Zamora (1975-1977)
- Jorge Luján (1977-1980)
- Julian Solis (1980)
- Jeff Chandler (1980-1984)
- Richard Sandoval (1984-1986)
- Jose Canizales (1986)
- Bernardo Piñango (1986-1987) Vacated
- Naoya Inoue (2022-2023) Vacated
Olympic Champions
- 1904:
- 1908:
- 1920:
- 1924:
- 1928:
- 1932:
- 1936:
- 1948:
- 1952:
- 1956:
- 1960:
- 1964:
- 1968:
- 1972:
- 1976:
- 1980:
- 1984:
- 1988:
- 1992:
- 1996:
- 2000:
- 2004:
- 2008:
- 2012:
- 2016:
World Champions
- 1974: Wilfredo Gómez (PUR)
- 1978: Adolfo Horta (CUB)
- 1982: Floyd Favors (USA)
- 1986: Sung-Kil Moon (KOR)
- 1989: Enrique Carrión (CUB)
- 1991: Serafim Todorov (BUL)
- 1993: Aleksandar Khristov (BUL)
- 1995: Raimkul Malakhbekov (RUS)
- 1997: Raimkul Malakhbekov (RUS)
- 1999: George Olteanu (ROU)
- 2001: Guillermo Rigondeaux (CUB)
- 2003: Aghasi Mammadov (AZE)
- 2005: Guillermo Rigondeaux (CUB)
- 2007: Sergey Vodopyanov (RUS)
- 2009: Detelin Dalakliev (BUL)
- 2011: Lázaro Álvarez (CUB)
- 2013: Javid Chalabiyev (AZE)
- 2015: Michael Conlan (IRL)
- 2017: Kairat Yeraliyev (KAZ)
- 2021: Tomoya Tsuboi (JPN)
Pan American Champions
- 1951: Ricardo Gonzales (ARG)
- 1955: Salvador Enriquez (VEN)
- 1959: Waldo Claudiano (BRA)
- 1963: Abel Almaraz (ARG)
- 1967: Juvencio Martínez (MEX)
- 1971: Pedro Flores (MEX)
- 1975: Orlando Martínez (CUB)
- 1979: Jackie Beard (USA)
- 1983: Manuel Vilchez (VEN)
- 1987: Manuel Martínez (CUB)
- 1991: Enrique Carrion (CUB)
- 1995: Juan Despaigne (CUB)
- 1999: Gerald Tucker (USA)
- 2003: Daniel Chyutin (CUB)
- 2007: Carlos Cuadras (MEX)
- 2011: Lázaro Álvarez (CUB)
European Champions
- 1924: Jean Ces
- 1925: Archie Rule
- 1927: Kurt Dalchow
- 1928: Vittorio Tamagnini
- 1930: János Széles
- 1932: Hans Ziglarski
- 1934: István Enekes
- 1937: Ulderico Sergo
- 1939: Ulderico Sergo
- <s>1942: </s> Arturo Paoletti
- 1947: László Bogacs
- 1949: Giovanni Zuddas
- 1951: Vincenzo dall'Osso
- 1953: Zenon Stefaniuk
- 1955: Zenon Stefaniuk
- 1957: Oleg Grigoryev
- 1959: Horst Rascher
- 1961: Sergey Sivko
- 1963: Oleg Grigoryev
- 1965: Oleg Grigoryev
- 1967: Nicolae Gîju
- 1969: Aurel Dumitrescu
- 1971: Tibor Badari
- 1973: Aldo Cosentino
- 1975: Viktor Rybakov
- 1977: Stefan Förster
- 1979: Nikolay Chrapzov
- 1981: Viktor Miroshnichenko
- 1983: Yuri Alexandrov
- 1985: Ljubiša Simić
- 1987: Aleksandar Khristov
- 1989: Serafim Todorov
- 1991: Serafim Todorov
- 1993: Raimkul Malakhbekov
- 1996: István Kovács
- 1998: Serhiy Danylchenko
- 2000: Agasi Agaguloglu
- 2002: Khavazhi Khatsigov
- 2004: Gennady Kovalev
- 2006: Ali Aliyev
- 2008: Luke Campbell
- 2010: Eduard Abzalimov
- 2011: Veaceslav Gojan
- 2013: John Joe Nevin
- 2015: Michael Conlan
- 2017: Peter McGrail
- 2019: Kurt Walker
- 2022:
Kickboxing
In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between 53 kg (116 lb) and 55 kg (120 lb). However, some governing bodies have slightly different classes. For example, the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) Bantamweight division (professional and amateur) is 117.1 lbs.–122 lbs. or 53.22 kg–55.45 kg.
In ONE Championship, the bantamweight division limit is .
Bare-knuckle boxing
The bantamweight division limit generally differs among bare-knuckle boxing promotions:
- In Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the bantamweight division has an upper limit of .
- In BKB, the bantamweight division has an upper limit of .
Lethwei
In International Lethwei Federation Japan, the bantamweight division is up to . In International Lethwei Federation Japan, Yuta Hamamoto is the Bantamweight Champion.
The World Lethwei Championship recognizes the bantamweight division with an upper limit of . In World Lethwei Championship, Souris Manfredi is the Bantamweight Champion.
Mixed martial arts
In MMA, bantamweight is usually 126–135 pounds (57.2–61.2 kg). In ONE Championship, the bantamweight division limit is . In Shooto, the limit is 56 kg (123.4 lb).
Current champions
These tables were last updated in December of 2025.
: Active title reign
: Active title reign (interim)
Men:
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;" |Organization
! style="width:20%;" |Reign Began
! style="width:28%;" |Champion
! style="width:20%;" |Record
! style="width:12%;" |Defenses
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|UFC
| December 6, 2025
| Petr Yan
|20-5-0 (7KO 1SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|ONE Championship
| December 6, 2025
| Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu
|14-3-0 (3KO 6SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Rizin FF
| September 29, 2024
| Naoki Inoue
| 20-4-0 (2KO 9SUB)
| align=center|2
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Absolute Championship Akhmat
| February 28, 2025
| Josiel Silva
|23-7-0 (12KO 2SUB)
| align=center|1
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Brave Combat Federation
| November 7, 2025
| Borislav Nikolić
|15-2-0 (6KO 8SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki
| January 25, 2025
| Sebastian Przybysz
|14-4-0 (1) (5KO 5SUB)
| align=center|1
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|CFFC
| July 18, 2025
| Sean Mora
|7-1-0 (1KO 2SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Cage Warriors
| November 25, 2023
| Liam Gittins
|13-5-0 (7KO 3SUB)
| align=center|2
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Pancrase
| December 24, 2023
| Tokitaka Nakanishi
|12-4-0 (1KO 5SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Jungle Fight
| June 24, 2023
| Tiago Pereira
|9-0-0 (3KO 3SUB)
| align=center|3
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Legacy Fighting Alliance
| November 14, 2025
| Artem Belakh
|11-2-0 (2KO 7SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Shooto
| September 21, 2025
| Kanata Nagai
|9-0-1 (3KO 1SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|Oktagon MMA
| N/A
| Vacant
|N/A
| align=center|N/A
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|DEEP
| March 29, 2024
| Ryuka Fukuda
|25-9-1 (12KO 1SUB)
| align=center|1
|}
Women:
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;" |Organization
! style="width:20%;" |Reign Began
! style="width:28%;" |Champion
! style="width:20%;" |Record
! style="width:12%;" |Defenses
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|UFC
| June 7, 2025
| Kayla Harrison
| align=center|19–1–0 (6KO 8SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Invicta FC
| December 13, 2024
| Jennifer Maia
| align=center| 23-10-0 (1) (4KO 5SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|CFFC
| July 18, 2025
| Emily Martins
| align=center| 4-1-0 (0KO 4SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|Deep Jewels
| N/A
| Vacant
|N/A
| align=center|N/A
|-
|Legacy Fighting Alliance
| N/A
| Vacant
|N/A
| align=center|N/A
|-
|Jungle Fight
| N/A
| Vacant
|N/A
| align=center|N/A
|-
|-bgcolor=#B2FFFF
|Oktagon MMA
| August 9, 2025
| Lucia Szabová
| align=center| 10-0-0 (3KO 5SUB)
| align=center|0
|-
|}
Muay Thai
In Muay Thai, bantamweight is 115–118 pounds (52.2-53.5 kg). A notable Muai Thai bantamweight fighter is Randy Thong Phoun Phim.
Wrestling
Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight.
See also
- Reigning boxing champions
References
External links
sv:Viktklass