Should The Minimum Weight Division Get Unified?
The minimum weight class in boxing doesn’t really get enough attention, like when do you see people talking about the minimum weights? There are four different champions in the weight class, three of the four are undefeated which is really interesting. Three of the four boxers also have a fight coming up but before we talk about if the division should be unified, let’s talk about the champions one by one.
Vic Saludar - WBO
Saludar is the current WBO minimum weight flyweight champion and has been champion since the summer of 2018. Saludar is scheduled to make his second title defence at the end of this month and has a record of 19 wins and 3 losses.
Carlos Licona - IBF
Carlos Licona is more of a outboxer and will take you to the distance but isn’t unknown to get a knockout victory. He is undefeated and became champion on the Wilder/Fury undercard and he defeated Mark Anthony Barriga who was undefeated at the time. Licona is scheduled to defend his IBF title next week.
Knockout CP Freshmart - WBA
Knockout CP Freshmart (Thammanoon Niyomtrong) is the current WBA minimumweight champion and has held the strap since the summer of 2016 and has defended the title 6 times with him defending the interim title 4 times. He is currently 19-0 and doesn’t really have a fight coming up with his most recent defence being in late November.
Wanheng Menayothin - WBC
Now. Let’s talk about Menayothin - the biggest name in minimum weight boxing and it’s not hard to see why, the man is 52-0! The 5’2 monster has only fought in Thailand. He has a fight upcoming on the first of March against former WBO minimum weight champion, Tatsuya Fukuhara in a fight which I’m looking forward to seeing.
Minimum weight boxing is the lowest male weight class and consists from literally nothing all the way to 105 pounds which is 48kg or 7.6 stone. It is one of the newest weight classes in boxing and was introduced in 1990. The most famous minimum weight boxer was a Mexican named Ricardo López and retired undefeated. He defended the WBC minimum weight title (also known as the mini flyweight title or the strawweight title) a record breaking 21 times - but here’s the thing, Menayothin has defended his championship 11 times and isn’t slowing down at the age of 33 - he could do it.
Now back to the question at hand, should the division be unified? Personally, I think it should. First of all, it would give the division more attention as there’s only one champion and the whole division is targeting the one man. It wouldn’t take anybody any effort to find out who the champion is instead of looking at four different champions.
The way I’d unify this division is a tournament. And who better to promote this tournament other than DAZN? This would give the weight class that much needed exposure and can really get itself into popularity - not mainstream, I don’t think the mini flyweight division will ever be news worthy like the heavyweights but it can surely be talked about between hardcore boxing fans instead of HARDCORE hardcore boxing fans who just live and breathe Sugar Ray Leonard tapes and quoting Muhammad Ali from morning to night while wearing their Oleksandr Usyk hat and their Leo Santa Cruz t-shirt. The boxing community would really benefit from the minimum weight class and considering there’s a boxer in the division who is 51-0 and NOBODY is even talking about it is scary.
Minimum weight boxing is the lowest male weight class and consists from literally nothing all the way to 105 pounds which is 48kg or 7.6 stone. It is one of the newest weight classes in boxing and was introduced in 1990. The most famous minimum weight boxer was a Mexican named Ricardo López and retired undefeated. He defended the WBC minimum weight title (also known as the mini flyweight title or the strawweight title) a record breaking 21 times - but here’s the thing, Menayothin has defended his championship 11 times and isn’t slowing down at the age of 33 - he could do it.
Now back to the question at hand, should the division be unified? Personally, I think it should. First of all, it would give the division more attention as there’s only one champion and the whole division is targeting the one man. It wouldn’t take anybody any effort to find out who the champion is instead of looking at four different champions.
The way I’d unify this division is a tournament. And who better to promote this tournament other than DAZN? This would give the weight class that much needed exposure and can really get itself into popularity - not mainstream, I don’t think the mini flyweight division will ever be news worthy like the heavyweights but it can surely be talked about between hardcore boxing fans instead of HARDCORE hardcore boxing fans who just live and breathe Sugar Ray Leonard tapes and quoting Muhammad Ali from morning to night while wearing their Oleksandr Usyk hat and their Leo Santa Cruz t-shirt. The boxing community would really benefit from the minimum weight class and considering there’s a boxer in the division who is 51-0 and NOBODY is even talking about it is scary.
