Bridgerweight

Bridgerweight. A new weight category in boxing. What is it and who needs it? In this article we will discuss the latest innovation of Mauricio Suleiman. What is it and who needs it? In November of 2020, Mauricio Suleiman, president of the World Boxing Council, authorized the introduction of a new weight category “Bridgerweight”. The division is named after Bridger Walker, a young American who saved his sister from a dog attack. A 6-year-old boy protected his younger sister and, at the same time, took the damage on himself. 90 stitches were applied to his face.
The limit of the new division is from 200 to 224 pounds (from 90.7 kilograms to 101.6 kilograms). Thus, the limit of the first heavy division (Cruiserweight) remains the same from 175 to 200 pounds (from 79.4 kilograms to 90.7 kilograms), and the heavy division will start from 224 pounds and above (from 101.6 kilograms). Thus, in professional boxing, the number of weight categories increases from 17 to 18
At the time of November 2020, the idea of Mauricio Suleiman does not apply to the other three main versions (WBA, WBO and IBF). The heads of the sanctioning bodies did not support, but did not reject the idea of colleagues from the WBC. It is worth noting that in 2003, at the initiative of Jose Suleiman, Mauricio’s father and the then head of the WBC, the limit of the first heavy division was raised from 190 pounds to 200 pounds. At that time, the initiative was approved by representatives of other versions. According to the original idea of Mauricio Suleiman (February 2020), the limit of the first heavy division (Cruiserweight) was supposed to return to its previous value: up to 190 pounds. Whereas the new category, the so-called Bridgeweight, was supposed to be a limit from 190 to 224 pounds. In the future, Mauricio abandoned the idea of lowering the limit for Cruiserweight and left the idea of a new category in the range from 200 to 224 pounds.