Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. This reduces the exclusion of smaller athletes in sports where physical size gives a significant advantage. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports, especially combat sports (such as boxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts).
The existence of weight divisions gives rise to the practice of weight cutting. It is generally considered an advantage to be the largest individual in a weight division, therefore some athletes will work hard to lose weight through dieting and dehydration prior to weigh-ins to meet the required weight class.
Two alternatives exist to formal weight classes: catch weight and openweight.
In general, the lightest class is called "Mini Flyweight" and is just 105 lb or under, and the heaviest is called "Super Heavyweight", which is 220.1 lb and over.
Famous quotes containing the words weight and/or class:
“You will trail across the rocks
and wash them with your salt,
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you will thunder along the cliff
break retreat get fresh strength
gather and pour weight upon the beach.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“In verity ... we are the poor. This humanity we would claim for ourselves is the legacy, not only of the Enlightenment, but of the thousands and thousands of European peasants and poor townspeople who came here bringing their humanity and their sufferings with them. It is the absence of a stable upper class that is responsible for much of the vulgarity of the American scene. Should we blush before the visitor for this deficiency?”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)