Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. 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 1897. 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 of the same name). Dempsey knocked out Fulljames on July 30, 1884.

In the modern era, middleweight means that the fighter's official weight does not exceed 160 pounds (72.64 kg). (In practice, however, since weigh-ins take place usually 24 hours before the actual fight, many fighters show up at the actual ringside weighing more.)

The current linear middleweight champion is Sergio Martinez who won the title by defeating former champion Kelly Pavlik by unanimous decision on April 17, 2010. He has 5 successful title defenses under his belt.

Olympic championsEdit

• 1904 –  Charles Mayer (USA)
• 1908 – 22x20px John Douglas (GBR)
• 1920 – 22x20px Harry Mallin (GBR)
• 1924 – 22x20px Harry Mallin (GBR)
• 1928 – 22x20px Piero Toscani (ITA)
• 1932 –  Carmen Barth (USA)
• 1936 – 22x20px Jean Despeaux (FRA)
• 1948 – 22x20px László Papp (HUN)
• 1952 –  Floyd Patterson (USA)
• 1956 – 22x20px Gennadiy Shatkov (URS)
• 1960 –  Eddie Crook, Jr. (USA)
• 1964 – 22x20px Valeriy Popenchenko (URS)
• 1968 – 22x20px Chris Finnegan (GBR)
• 1972 – 22x20px Vyacheslav Lemeshev (URS)
• 1976 –  Michael Spinks (USA)
• 1980 – 22x20px José Gómez (CUB)
• 1984 – 22x20px Shin Joon-Sup (KOR)
• 1988 – 22x20px Henry Maske (GDR)
• 1992 – 22x20px Ariel Hernández (CUB)
• 1996 – 22x20px Ariel Hernández (CUB)
• 2000 – 22x20px Jorge Gutiérrez (CUB)
• 2004 – 22x20px Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov (RUS)
• 2008 – 22x20px James DeGale (GBR)
• 2012 – 22x20px Ryota Murata (JPN)

Professional ChampionsEdit

Current championsEdit

Sanctioning Body	Reign Began	Champion	Record	Defenses
WBA	October 14, 2010	22x20px Gennady Golovkin	38-0-1 (34 KO)	19
WBC	September 15, 2012	22x20px Gennady Golovkin	37-0 (34 KO)	7
IBF	May 7, 2011	22x20px Gennady Golovkin	37-0 (34 KO)	4
WBO	October 20, 2012	Billy Joe Saunders	28-0 (20 KO)	3

• List of middleweight boxing champions

Longest reigning middleweight champions Edit

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) does not apply.

	Name	Title Reign	Title Recognition	Successful Defenses
1.	Bernard Hopkins	10 years, 2 months, 18 days	IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO	20
2.	Carlos Monzon	6 years, 9 months, 9 days	WBA, WBC	14
3.	Marvin Hagler	6 years, 7 months, 10 days	WBC, WBA, IBF	12
4.	Felix Sturm	5 years, 4 months, 4 days	WBA (Super)	12
5.	Arthur Abraham	3 years, 10 months, 14 days	IBF	10

TaekwondoEdit