Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
In professional boxing, the division is above 168lb and up to 175lb, falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight.
The light heavyweight class has produced some of boxing's greatest champions: Bernard Hopkins (who, upon becoming champion, broke the record for oldest man to win a world title), Tommy Loughran, Billy Conn, Joey Maxim, Archie Moore, Michael Moorer, Bob Foster, Ann Wolfe, Michael Spinks, Dariusz Michalczewski, Roy Jones Jr., Sergey Kovalev and Zsolt Erdei.
Many light heavyweight champions unsuccessfully challenged for the heavyweight crown until Michael Spinks became the first reigning light heavyweight champion to win the heavyweight championship. Bob Fitzsimmons captured the light heavyweight championship after losing his heavyweight championship. Two all-time great heavyweight champions, Ezzard Charles and Floyd Patterson, started out as light heavyweights. Charles defeated Archie Moore and Joey Maxim several times in non-title bouts before becoming heavyweight champion and Patterson lost an eight-round decision to Joey Maxim before becoming heavyweight champion himself. Evander Holyfield successfully moved up from the light heavyweight division to the cruiserweight division and eventually the heavyweight division and became undisputed champion of the latter two.
See main article: List of world light-heavyweight boxing champions.
| Sanctioning body | Reign began | Champion | Record | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBA | September 18, 2017 | Dmitry Bivol | 22–0 (11 KO) | 11 | |
| WBC | October 18, 2019 | Artur Beterbiev | 20–0 (20 KO) | 5 | |
| IBF | November 11, 2017 | Artur Beterbiev | 20–0 (20 KO) | 8 | |
| June 18, 2022 | Artur Beterbiev | 20–0 (20 KO) | 2 |
As of July 6, 2024[1]
Keys:
Current The Ring world champion
| Rank | Name | Record (W–L–D) | Title(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor=gold | C | |||
| 1 | Artur Beterbiev | 20–0 (20 KO) | IBF, WBC, WBO | |
| 2 | Dmitry Bivol | 23–0 (12 KO) | WBA | |
| 3 | David Benavidez | 29–0 (24 KO) | ||
| 4 | Joshua Buatsi | 18–0 (13 KO) | ||
| 5 | Anthony Yarde | 22–3 (21 KO) | ||
| 6 | Callum Smith | 29–2 (21 KO) | ||
| 7 | Albert Ramírez | 18–0 (15 KO) | ||
| 8 | Oleksandr Gvozdyk | 20–2 (16 KO) | ||
| 9 | Willy Hutchinson | 18–1 (13 KO) | ||
| 10 | Dan Azeez | 20–1–1 (13 KO) |
| Rank | Name | Record (W–L–D) | Points | Title(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dmitry Bivol | 20–0 (11 KO) | 591.9 | WBA |
| 2 | Artur Beterbiev | 18–0 (18 KO) | 194.0 | WBC, IBF, WBO |
| 3 | Callum Smith | 28–1 (20 KO) | 188.5 | |
| 4 | Gilberto Ramirez | 43–0 (29 KO) | 144.2 | |
| 5 | Joe Smith Jr. | 28–3 (22 KO) | 127.2 | |
| 6 | Maxim Vlasov | 46–4 (26 KO) | 70.65 | |
| 7 | Jean Pascal | 36–6–1 (20 KO) | 63.58 | |
| 8 | Marcus Browne | 24–2 (16 KO) | 58.90 | |
| 9 | Joshua Buatsi | 15–0 (13 KO) | 38.34 | |
| 10 | Sullivan Barrera | 22–4 (14 KO) | 29.16 | |
Below is a list of longest reigning light heavyweight 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. | 9 years, 4 months, 24 days | NYSAC, NBA | 9 | 7 | [3] [4] | ||
| 2. | 9 years, 1 months, 8 days | IBF, WBA, WBO | 23 | 20 | [5] | ||
| 3. | 7 years, 2 months, 2 days | NYSAC, NBA | 5 | 3 | [6] | ||
| 4. | data-sort-value="" | WBA | 11 | 11 | [7] | ||
| 5. | data-sort-value="" | IBF, WBC, WBO | 8 | 8 | [8] | ||
| 6. | 6 years, 0 months, 23 days | WBC, WBA | 14 | 13 | [9] | ||
| 7. | 5 years, 9 months, 27 days | WBO | 11 | 10 | [10] | ||
| 8. | 5 years, 5 months, 24 days | WBC | 9 | 9 | [11] | ||
| 9. | 5 years, 4 months, 21 days | IBF | 8 | 8 | [12] | ||
| 10. | 5 years, 2 months, 25 days | WBC, IBF, WBA (Super) | 11 | 11 | [13] | ||
| 11. | 4 years, 9 months, 15 days | WBA | 10 | 10 | [14] | ||
| 12. | 4 years, 4 months, 22 days | NYSAC, NBA | 7 | 6 | [15] | ||
| 13. | 4 years, 2 months, 3 days | IBF, WBA, WBC | 10 | 10 | [16] | ||
| 14. | 3 years, 11 months, 19 days | World | 1 | 1 | [17] [18] | ||
| 15. | 3 years, 9 months, 8 days | WBA | 10 | 7 | [19] [20] | ||
Active title reign
In amateur boxing, light heavyweight is a weight division above 165lb and up to 178lb, falling between middleweight and heavyweight.
The limit of light heavyweight generally differs among promotions in bare-knuckle boxing:
See main article: Light heavyweight (MMA). In MMA, the light heavyweight division is from 186 lb (84 kg) to 205 lb (93 kg).