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 (no relation to the more famous heavyweight Jack Dempsey).
Current world champions
{| class="wikitable"
!Sanctioning Body
!Reign Began
!Champion
!Record
!Defenses
|-
|WBA
|March 9, 2023
|Erislandy Lara
|32–3–3 (19 KO)
|align=center|3
|-
|WBC
|May 7, 2024
|Carlos Adames
|24–1–1 (18 KO)
|align=center|2
|-
|IBF
|
|
|
|
|-
|WBO
|August 26, 2022
|Janibek Alimkhanuly
|17–0 (12 KO)
|align=center|4
|}
Current world rankings
The Ring
As of May 30, 2026.
Keys:
: Current The Ring world champion
{| class="wikitable"
!Rank
!Name
!Record
!Title(s)
|-
|bgcolor=gold|C
|
|
|
|-
|1
|Carlos Adames
|25–1–1 (18 KO)
|WBC
|-
|2
|Yoenlis Hernández
|10–0 (9 KO)
|
|-
|3
|Erislandy Lara
|32–3–3 (19 KO)
|WBA
|-
|4
|Troy Isley
|15–0 (5 KO)
|
|-
|5
|Etinosa Oliha
|22–0 (9 KO)
|
|-
|6
|Aaron Mckenna
|20–0 (10 KO)
|
|-
|7
|Amari Jones
|15–0 (13 KO)
|
|-
|8
|Chris Eubank Jr.
|35–4 (25 KO)
|
|-
|9
|Jesus Ramos
|24–1 (19 KO)
|WBC (Interim)
|-
|10
|Denzel Bentley
|22–3–1 (18 KO)
|WBO (Interim)
|}
BoxRec
As of , .
{| class="wikitable"
!Rank
!Name
!Record
!Title(s)
|-
|1
|Erislandy Lara
|32–3–3 (19 KO)
|WBA
|-
|2
|Carlos Adames
|25–1–1 (18 KO)
|WBC
|-
|3
|Jesus Ramos
|24–1 (19 KO)
|WBC (Interim)
|-
|4
|Chris Eubank Jr
|35–4 (25 KO)
|
|-
|5
|Callum Walsh
|16–0 (11 KO)
|
|-
|6
|Michael Zerafa
|34–5 (1) (22 KO)
|
|-
|7
|Shane Mosley Jr.
|23–5 (13 KO)
|
|-
|8
|Andreas Katzourakis
|17–0 (11 KO)
|
|-
|9
|Amari Jones
|17–0 (15 KO)
|
|-
|10
|Vito Mielnicki Jr.
|23–1 (13 KO)
|
|}
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.
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!Rank
!Name
!Title Reign
!Title Recognition
!Successful Defenses
!Beaten opponents
!Fights
|-
| 1. || Bernard Hopkins || data-sort-value="" | 10 years, 2 months, 18 days || IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO || align="center" | 20 || align="center" | 17 ||
|-
| 2. || Tommy Ryan || data-sort-value="" | 8 years, 7 months, 4 days || World || align="center" |6 || align="center" |6 ||
|-
| 3. || Gennady Golovkin || data-sort-value="" | 8 years, 1 months, 1 day || WBA (Super), IBF, WBC || align="center" | 20 || align="center" | 19 ||
|-
| 4. || Tony Zale || data-sort-value="" | 6 years, 11 months, 24 days || NBA (current WBA) || align="center" | 4 || align="center" | 4 ||
|-
| 5. || Carlos Monzón || data-sort-value="" | 6 years, 9 months, 9 days || WBA, WBC || align="center" | 14 || align="center" | 11 ||
|-
| 6. || Marvelous Marvin Hagler || data-sort-value="" | 6 years, 7 months, 10 days || WBC, WBA, IBF || align="center" | 12 || align="center" | 10 ||
|-
| 7. || Nonpareil Jack Dempsey || data-sort-value="" | 6 years, 6 months, 15 days || World || align="center" | 2 || align="center" | 2 ||
|-
| 8. || Felix Sturm || data-sort-value="" | 5 years, 4 months, 4 days || WBA || align="center" | 12|| align="center" | 10 ||
|-
| 9. || Jermall Charlo || data-sort-value="data-sort-value="" | || WBC || style="text-align:center;"| 4 || style="text-align:center;"| 4 ||
|-
|10. || Demetrius Andrade || data-sort-value="" | 3 years, 10 month, 12 days || WBO || align="center" | 5 || align="center" | 5 ||
|-
|11. || Bob Fitzsimmons || data-sort-value="" | 3 years, 8 months, 12 days || World || align="center" | 1 || align="center" | 1 ||
|-
|12. || Arthur Abraham || data-sort-value="" | 3 years, 7 months, 2 days || IBF || align="center" | 10 || align="center" | 10 ||
|}
: Active Title Reign
: Reign has ended
Amateur
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:
- 2020:
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).
- In Bellator Kickboxing promotion, a middleweight division is up to 85 kg (187 lb).
- 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 (77.5 kg) to 185 lb (84 kg).
Anderson Silva is considered to be the greatest Middleweight MMA fighter of all time.
Taekwondo
{| class="wikitable"
!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
|
|-
|}