SHARE
Bantamweight is a weight class in professional boxing. Weight classes are categories in which competition is divided into to match competitors of the same size against each other. The word bantam is derived from bantam chickens. Any small variety of fowl, especially chickens are called bantams. A bantam is about one-fifth to one-quarter of the size of the standard breed, but they exhibit all the characteristics of the standard breed.
In boxing, the range of the weight for a boxer to fall under the bantamweight category is above 115 pounds (52.2 kg) and up to 118 pounds (53.5 kg). In 1889, the first bout for the bantamweight title was between Chappie Moran and Ray Lewis. The limit, at that time, for the bantamweight weight class was 110 pounds. However, in 1910, the British settled on a limit of 118.
Below is a table of current bantamweight champions of the different sanctioning bodies:
| Sanctioning body | Reign began | Champion | Record | Defenses |
| WBA (Super) | October 21, 2017 | Ryan Burnett | 18-0-0 (9 KO) | 0 |
| WBA (Regular) | May 31, 2014 | Jamie McDonnell | 29-2-1-1 (13 KO) | 7 |
| WBC | Vacant | |||
| IBF | Vacant | |||
| WBO | April 22, 2017 | Zolani Tete | 26-3-0 (21 KO) | 1 |
