Super middleweight

Super middleweight is a weight class in combat sports.

In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers weigh above 160 pounds (73 kg) and up to 168 pounds (76 kg). The class first appeared in 1967.

Joe Calzaghe and Sven Ottke jointly hold the record for most consecutive title defenses in this division, with 21 defenses of the WBO and IBF titles respectively.

There was interest in a division between middleweight and light heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s. A few states briefly recognized a "Junior Light Heavyweight" division at 167 pounds (76 kg) and the fringe World Athletic Association (WAA) later inaugurated a "super middleweight" division at 168 pounds (76 kg). On April 3, 1967, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Don Fullmer, a brother of former world middleweight champion Gene Fullmer, won the first version by stopping previously unbeaten Joe Hopkins in six rounds. He never defended it. On November 25, 1974, in Columbus, Ohio, Billy Douglas, the father of future world heavyweight champion James "Buster" Douglas, halted Danny Brewer in two rounds to win the Ohio Commission's version of the world junior light heavyweight title. He too never made a defense of the title. Then, on April 3, 1982, in Denver, Colorado, Jerry "Wimpy" Halstead stopped Ron Brown in six rounds to win the WAA's inaugural super middleweight title bout. Halstead made one defense, knocking out Darren Encline in one round on May 29, 1982, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Following that fight, Halstead moved up to the light heavyweight class and eventually campaigned as a heavyweight. The media and most commissions did not recognize Fullmer's, Douglas', or Halstead's titles. Nor did they recognize the division during this period.

The current super middleweight division traces its beginning to 1984, when Murray Sutherland defeated Ernie Singletary for the International Boxing Federation version of the title. The World Boxing Association created its version of the super middleweight title when reigning Lineal champion Chong Pal Park defeated Jesus Gallardo in 1987 (Park had been IBF champion before relinquishing the title to fight for the inaugural WBA version). The World Boxing Council crowned its first champion in 1988 when Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Donny Lalonde in a fight that was also for its version of the light heavyweight title.

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