Minimumweight

Minimumweight, also known as strawweight or mini flyweight, is a weight class in combat sports.

In professional boxing, boxers in the minimumweight division may weigh no more than 105 pounds (48 kg). This is a relatively new weight category for professionals, first inaugurated by the major boxing sanctioning bodies between 1987 and 1990. Ricardo López holds the record for most consecutive title defenses at this division, with 21 defenses of the WBC title.

The minimumweight division was originally introduced in 1968 for the Summer Olympic Games under the name light flyweight. However the division was not recognized by any of the four most widely regarded sanctioning bodies until the International Boxing Federation (IBF) in June 1987 when Kyung-Yun Lee knocked out Masaharu Kawakami to become the inaugural champion.

The division was then later recognized by the World Boxing Council (WBC) in October 1987, the World Boxing Association (WBA) in January 1988, and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) in August 1989, while Ring magazine did not begin ranking minimumweights until 1997 under the name strawweights and has yet to name a champion in their rankings.

Historically the weight class has been dominated by Latin Americans and Asians with only a limited amount of success coming from other nationalities.

Late 1980s (1987-1989)

In the early years of the division, fighters such as Napa Kiatwanchai found success defending the WBC belt. Including early wins over a young up-and-coming Hiroki Ioka who later found success at light flyweight, flyweight, and super flyweight.

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