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A Betting Guide to the Welterweight Division
When you think of the welterweight division, you tend to think of the American dominance, in recent years both Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford have dominated the division, both these men being American and this is the weight division where the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr, Shawn Porter, Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley have also all held the belts in recent years, all of which are American fighters.
Although in more recent times, it has not been as dominating as it was in the past, Manny Pacquiao bucked the trend; the Filipino is the current WBA champion and a former two-time WBO champion. The likes of Yordenis Ugás (Cuba), Eimantas Stanionis (Lithuania), and Lewis Crocker (GB) have all been champions in recent years.
When you look at the weight division north of this one, the Super Welterweight, also known as the Light Middleweight division. The WBC belt has been held by an American since 2013; however, their dominance is not what it once was. The German, Abass Baraou, holds the WBA belt, whilst Bakhram Murtazaliev holds the IBF. American Sebastian Fundora has held the WBO belt since 2024.
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The History of the Welterweight Division
This weight division is open to weights of 140-147 lbs and is one of the original eight 'Glamour' divisions. The light welterweight division was introduced in 1920 and formally recognised in 1959.
Whilst the Americans currently reign the division, the three longest-reigning champions all come from south of the border. Puerto Rican Félix Trinidad tops the list, having held the IBF title for over six years and eight months. He made fifteen successful defences of his title before giving up the belt when moving up to light-middleweight.
Mexican Antonio Margarito is next on the list. He held the WBO title for over five years and three months, making a total of seven successful defences before losing it to Paul Williams. He did later go on to reclaim the belt with a victory over Miguel Cotta.
Cuban José Nápoles is third on the list, he held both the WBA & WBC titles and made a total of eleven successful defences of those titles, it was late in his career that he picked up the title with that happening in his 65th bout and retained the belts in his next three fights before losing them, he then won them back and retained then eleven times before losing the John Stracey which was his final fight in 1976.
Longest Reigning Welterweight Champions
- Felix Trinidad - 6 years, 8 months, 14 days (IBF)
- Antonio Margarito - 5 years, 3 months, 28 days (WBO)
- José Nápoles - 4 years, 6 months, 2 days (WBA, WBC)
- Errol Spence Jnr - 4 years, 3 months, 15 days (IBF, WBC)
- Floyd Mayweather Jr - 4 years, 1 month, 18 days (WBC)
Champions & Rankings
Below you can see the current rankings and champions for each division.
Contributor Information
Experienced betting expert Andy Powell provides you with the most up-to-date and insightful boxing content on this page.
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