| Middleweight |
Article Index for Middleweight |
Information AboutMiddleweight |
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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 1867 . 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 (73 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 middleweight champion, Jermain Taylor , won a controversial split decision victory in July 2005, upsetting the defending champion, Bernard Hopkins , who had held the title since 1995. Taylor solidified his claim to the middleweight title by again defeating Hopkins in a December 2005 rematch, this time by another controversial, but unanimous decision. Some notable middleweights have been:
OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS
PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONS |
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