Heavyweight
| 1719 Sep 18 | Bare-knuckle English |
James Figg |
| 1810 | Bare-knuckle American |
Tom Molineaux |
| 1870 May 10 | Undisputed | Jem Mace |
| 1880 May 30 | World | Paddy Ryan |
| 1885 Aug 29 | Undisputed World | John L. Sullivan |
| 1889 Nov 11 | Commonwealth (British Empire) |
Peter Jackson |
| 1895 | British | Jem Smith |
| 1921 Jul 2 | NBA | Jack Dempsey |
| 1922 Jul 24 | NYSAC | Jack Dempsey |
| 1962 Sep 25 | WBA | Sonny Liston |
| 1963 Jul 22 | WBC | Sonny Liston |
| 1983 Dec 11 | IBF | Larry Holmes |
| 1989 May 6 | WBO | Francesco Damiani |
| 1992 Nov 14 | IBO | Pinklon Thomas |
- The maximum weight for this division is unlimited (201+ lbs, 91+ kg, 14 stone 4 lbs+).
- One of the traditional eight divisions.
History
The heavyweight division has its roots back as far as the 1720s with James Figg, but it was only with Jem Mace that the term "heavy weight" became prevalent. By the 1870s it probably covered all weights above 160/166 pounds.
1738 - First originated as 160 pounds plus (over 72.6 kg or 11 stone 6 lbs) by Jack Broughton
1889 - Established by the Amateur Boxing Association of England Ltd (ABA) as unlimited
1909 - Reaffirmed by London's National Sporting Club (NSC) as unlimited
(See also: 15 Feb 1909 Los Angeles Herald article re: "Plan to Revise Boxing Weights" in London: [1])
1920 - Changed by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) to 175 pounds plus (over 79.4 kg or 12½ stone)
1979 - Modified again by the World Boxing Council (WBC) (followed by the World Boxing Association (WBA) in 1982 and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) in 1983)
2004 - Again modified by the WBA, WBC and IBF to mean anything over 201 pounds.