History

The featherweight class began about 1860, during the bareknuckle era of boxing. The first formal weight limit was established at 118 pounds during the 1880s, but was lowered to 110 pounds in 1889.

When George Dixon won the American version of the featherweight championship with a victory over Cal McCarthy in 1890, the limit was set at 115 pounds. After Dixon won the world title in 1892, his manager raised it to 120 pounds because Dixon had reached that weight. The present limit of 126 pounds was established in 1920.

The lists below include generally recognized champions, as well as champions of the National Boxing Association/World Boxing Association (NBA/WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Organization (WBO) and International Boxing Federation (IBF).

Some other champions recognized by New York (NY), Great Britain (GBR), Europe and the European Boxing Union (EBU) are also included, if they seemed to be genuine claimants and/or later won recognition from an international body.

Only those bouts are included in which the championship changed hands or the championships of two or more governing bodies was unified.

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