3 years as an avid reader of this sub and finally something I can contribute to, unfortunately this tidbit may violate the rules for being too recent, And if a mod needs to remove my comment I apologize! Cruiser-weight (my old weight class) is one of the newest boxing divisions and has a maximum weight of 200 pounds under current WBO rules. It was introduced as a class between light heavy and heavyweight. Heavyweight has historically not had a weight maximum while light heavy has generally been set at around 180 (178 under current rules). Up until the late 70's cruiserweight was used merely as a catch weight because most heavyweight champions such as Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano were under 200 pounds, but as boxers got bigger the need for a new weight class became evident. In 1980 the WBC held the first cruiserweight title match and the inaugural professional cruiser belt holder was Marvin Camel. The name cruiserweight comes from before the official belt was created and actually originates from naval terms. Cruisers are the second largest ships in a Western WWI era fleet behind Battleships. (so not including aircraft carriers). So because Cruiser Weights are the second largest weight class the name of the second largest ship was applied to the division. This information and many other interesting bits of boxing history can be found in Boxing a Cultural History by Kasia Boddy.

With regards to bantamweight, bantam comes from bantam chickens, which are miniature varieties of chickens. Bantam chickens are 1/5 to 1/4 of the breed's standard size, but should exhibit the same characteristics. With regards to boxing/wrestling, bantamweight is heavier than a flyweight, but lighter than a featherweight. Ronda Rousey currently fights as a bantamweight.

Anyone know about Welterweight?