Cruiserweight facts for kids
Cruiserweight is a special weight class in boxing. It's for boxers who are too big for the light heavyweight division but not quite big enough for the heavyweight division. Think of it as a middle ground! Boxers in this division weigh between 175 pounds and 200 pounds (about 79 to 91 kilograms).
The World Boxing Council (WBC) created this division in the late 1970s. They noticed that some fighters were in-between the existing weight classes. The cruiserweight division gave these boxers a fair place to compete. Many boxers who become champions in the cruiserweight division might later move up to fight in the heavyweight division.
Longest-Reigning Cruiserweight Champions
Being a champion in boxing is a huge achievement. Some champions hold onto their titles for a very long time. This section looks at the boxers who had the longest single "reign" as a cruiserweight champion. A reign is the period of time a boxer holds a championship title without losing it. We're not counting how many times they won the title back, just their longest continuous time as champion.
Here are some of the boxers who held their cruiserweight titles for the longest time:
- Johnny Nelson from the UK held his WBO title for over 7 years! He defended his title 13 times.
- Marco Huck from Germany was a WBO champion for almost 6 years. He also defended his title 13 times.
- Krzysztof Włodarczyk from Poland held the WBC title for over 4 years.
- Denis Lebedev from Russia and Guillermo Jones from Panama both held titles for over 4 years.
- Oleksandr Usyk from Ukraine held multiple titles (WBO, WBC, WBA, IBF) and defended them 6 times. He is known for becoming an undisputed champion in this division.
- Evander Holyfield from the USA held multiple titles for 2 years. He later became a famous heavyweight champion.
These boxers showed incredible skill and dedication to keep their championship belts for so long!
