Super Bantamweight (also known as junior featherweight) 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. In professional boxing, super bantamweight boxers weigh between 118 pounds (54 kg) and 122 pounds (55 kg).
in 1920s, boxing promoters attempted to establish this weight class, but only few sanctioning authorities recognized it. On September 21, 1922, Jack Wolf beat Joe Lynch at Madison Square Garden to be crowned champion. But shortly later, the weight class fell into disuse.
In the 1970s, the division was revived and in 1976, the WBC sanctioned the first title bout between Rigoberto Riasco and Waruinge Nakayama with Riasco being crowned as the champion after eight rounds. In 1977, Soo Hwan Hong beat Hector Carasquilla via knockout in three rounds to be crowned the first ever WBA champion. In 1983, Bobby Berna beat Seung-In Suh in the eleventh round to become the IBF champion.
Wayne McCullough, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Scott Quigg, Wilfredo Gómez, Lupe Pintor, Jeff Fenech, Fabrice Benichou, Daniel Zaragoza, Kennedy McKinney, Érik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao, Rafael Márquez, Toshiaki Nishioka, Carl Frampton, Bernard Dunne, Leo Santa Cruz and Israel Vázquez are the most noteworthy champions of this weight class. The record for thee longest title reign is held by Gomez which is for five years and ten months. The record for the most title defenses is also held by him at seventeen.
The following table lists the current champions of the division
Sanctioning body | Reign began | Champion | Record | Defenses |
WBA | January 30, 2020 | Murodjon Akhmadaliev | 11–0 (8 KO) | 2 |
WBC | November 27, 2021 | Stephen Fulton | 21–0 (8 KO) | 0 |
IBF | January 30, 2020 | Murodjon Akhmadaliev | 11–0 (8 KO) | 2 |
WBO | January 23, 2021 | Stephen Fulton | 21–0 (8 KO) | 1 |