Separating boxers into divisions helps ensure fair fights. For example, a fighter who weighs more than 200 pounds has more force behind his punch, while a.

H.B., of Cahokia A: Until about 100 years ago, boxing could be a little like the Romans throwing the Christians up against the lions. With no standardized weight classes, bouts could produce serious mismatches, which were potentially dangerous for the smaller fighter and boring for the crowd. In 1823, for example, the “Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue” set the limit for a “light weight” at 12 stone (168 pounds) while “Sportsman’s Slang” had it at 11 stone (154 pounds). (The English adopted a stone as a weight of 14 pounds.) Until a standardized system could be developed, world and national titles were impossible. Because everybody loves a champion, boxing has seen weight-class inflation ever since, especially after the split of the and the in the early 1960s. Adding such words as “super,” “junior” and “light,” the number of divisions doubled as weight differences narrowed. In January 2015, the WBC, WBA and the International Boxing Federation (but not the ) agreed on the following 17 professional weight classes for men and their maximum poundage: Minimum weight (105), light flyweight (108), flyweight (112), super flyweight (115), bantamweight (118), super bantamweight (122), featherweight (126), super featherweight (130), lightweight (135), super lightweight (140), welterweight (147), super welterweight (154), middleweight (160), super middleweight (168), light heavyweight (175), cruiserweight (200) and heavyweight (unlimited).

But that’s for pro men only. Professional women duke it out in 13 similar classes, which are (as you might expect) generally 2 to 3 pounds lighter than the men with the heavyweight at anything over 189 (instead of 200). Inexplicably, however, middleweight women can range up to 165, 5 pounds heavier than the men. Also, women start out at a “pinweight” of up to 101 pounds. That still doesn’t cover everyone. Amateur boxing has 11 classes from light flyweight (106) to heavyweight (over 201).

In Rio, Olympic boxers will be competing in 10 classes this summer from light flyweight (roughly 108) to super heavyweight (200). Women, meanwhile, will be trading punches in just three categories: flyweight (112), lightweight (132) and middleweight (165). By comparison, mixed martial arts are like the wild, wild West when it comes to weight classes. Depending on which country is hosting the events, the number and maximum poundage of divisions can vary widely.

Russia’s M-1 Global has five, Japan’s Shooto has 10 and it’s apparently a free-for-all set by individual promoters in Great Britain. In 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Commission codified the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts with nine weight classes that generally increase by 10 pounds from flyweight (125) to super heavyweight (over 265). As you can see, the classes are generally considerably heavier than corresponding boxing classes. Women’s classes also vary by organization, although they are considerably lighter than men (atomweight and strawweight at 105 and 115) and they generally top out at 135 for bantamweight or welterweight. Saints row 3 download highly compressed. No heavyweights here. Similarly, kickboxing offers a confusing hodgepodge of classes, names and limits, depending on the sanctioning organization. Q: I’ve always been told that a Civil War general is responsible for prostitutes being called “hookers.” True?