Professional boxing In
professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the
lightweight and
welterweight divisions, in which boxers weigh above 61.2kg or 135 pounds and up to 63.5 kg or 140 Ibs. The first champion of this weight class was
Pinky Mitchell in 1922, though he was only awarded his championship by a vote of the readers of the
Boxing Blade magazine. There was not widespread acceptance of this new weight division in its early years, and the
New York State Athletic Commission withdrew recognition of it in 1930. The
National Boxing Association continued to recognize it until its champion,
Barney Ross relinquished the title in 1935 to concentrate on regaining the
welterweight championship. A few commissions recognized bouts in the 1940s as being for the light welterweight title, but the modern beginnings of this championship date from 1959 when
Carlos Ortiz won the vacant title with a victory over
Kenny Lane. Both the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the World Boxing Council (WBC) recognized the same champions until 1967, when the WBC stripped
Paul Fuji of the title and matched
Pedro Adigue and Adolph Pruitt for their version of the championship. Adigue won a fifteen-round decision. The
International Boxing Federation (IBF) recognized
Aaron Pryor as its first champion in 1984.
Hector Camacho became the first
World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion with his victory against
Ray Mancini in 1989.
Current world champions Current world rankings The Ring As of January 31, 2026. Keys: : Current
The Ring world champion
BoxRec .
Amateur boxing In
amateur boxing, light welterweight is a weight class for fighters weighing up to 64
kilograms. For the
1952 Summer Olympics, the division was created when the span from 54 to 67 kg was changed from three weight classes (
featherweight,
lightweight, and
welterweight) to four. Perhaps the most famous amateur light welterweight champion is
Sugar Ray Leonard, who went on to an impressive professional career.
Olympic Champions •
1952 – •
1956 – •
1960 – •
1964 – •
1968 – •
1972 – •
1976 – •
1980 – •
1984 – •
1988 – •
1992 – •
1996 – •
2000 – •
2004 – •
2008 – •
2012 – •
2016 –
Notable fighters •
Saensak Muangsurin •
Saoul Mamby •
Tippy Larkin •
Aaron Pryor •
Carlos Morocho Hernández •
Antonio Cervantes •
Julio César Chávez •
Oscar De La Hoya •
Pernell Whitaker •
Kostya Tszyu •
Duilio Loi •
Eddie Perkins •
Erik Morales •
Ricky Hatton •
Manny Pacquiao •
Floyd Mayweather Jr. •
Amir Khan •
Juan Manuel Márquez •
Nicolino Locche •
Micky Ward •
Arturo Gatti •
Marijan Beneš •
Danny García •
Devon Alexander •
Ruslan Provodnikov •
Alexis Arguello •
Timothy Bradley •
Wilfred Benítez •
Miguel Cotto •
Terence Crawford •
Julius Indongo •
Paulie Malignaggi •
Junior Witter •
Josh Taylor ==Kickboxing==