The featherweight boxing division is one of the weight classes in professional and amateur boxing. Featherweight boxers can weigh up to 126 lbs. when fighting within the division. If a boxer is fighter for a featherweight championship of any kind, the fighter must weigh 126 lbs. or less. The division beneath featherweight is super bantamweight, at 122 lbs. or less. The division above featherweight is super featherweight, at 130 lbs. or less.
Making Weight
Featherweight fighters are under severe constraints when it comes to making weight. If you are fighting for the division weight class championship, you cannot be over the 126 lb. weight limit at the weigh-in for the fight. The weigh-in takes place two days before the fight. If you are above the weight, you will have two hours to lose the weight. If you do not lose the weight, the fight loses its championship status and you may be subject to certain fines by the governing boxing association.
Mandatory Defense
A featherweight champion must defend his title within nine months of his last fight. If you do not defend the title within nine months, you will be stripped of the title and the two highest-ranked fighters within the division will fight for the championship. Other fight divisions have different time limits for mandatory defenses.
Making a Match
If the champion comes to an agreement to fight within nine months of winning the championship, it must be with another fighter ranked in the top 15 of the division. In the last month of the nine-month period, the fight division authorities will offer the champion the opportunity to fight one of two designated championship contenders. If the champion does not agree to fight one of those two contenders, he loses the featherweight title. A fighter who is not a champion can fight any fighter of any ranking within the division. However, his own ranking will go down if he fights boxers who are ranked significantly below him. So if the 25th-ranked featherweight is fighting the 75th-ranked fighter in the weight class, his ranking will dip because he is not boxing fighters of his caliber. Fighters who fight out of their weight class--go above weight and then come back down--are not penalized for doing so. Usually if a fighter goes above the weight, they are likely starting to outgrow the division and will not come back down
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