By Jake Donovan
It's widely agreed upon that undefeated strawweight Ivan Calderon will face an uphill battle this weekend when he moves up to face the world's best and biggest junior flyweight in Hugo Cazares.
But never before this past weekend did anyone truly realize just how much Calderon would be forced to overcome. Or perhaps how much Cazares is willing to sacrifice.
A 7-day safety check pre-fight weigh-in was held last weekend for both fighters, in accordance with the rules the Puerto Rico Boxing Commission. According to the rule, initially implemented by the World Boxing Council but since adopted by several boxing commissions, fighters competing in a world title fight must weigh no more than 5% of the contracted weight 7 days prior to the fight.
Calderon, who campaigned at the 105-lb limit his entire career, weighed in at 111 lb, well within the 5% acceptable limit ( 113.4) for the 108-lb. division. Cazares not only missed the mark; at 121 lb, his weight exceeded even the 10% limit reserved for the 30-day checkpoint. To put such weight difference in proper perspective, the equivalent would be flyweight titlist Nonito Donaire fighting junior featherweight king Israel Vazquez.
Already giving away 6" in height, Calderon is now realistically giving away 10 lb. of natural body weight heading into what is easily the biggest fight of both fighters' careers.
A slick southpaw boxer, Calderon possessed minimal power at strawweight, with just 6 KO's in 28 professional fights. A mere three have come since March 2002, with 16 bouts going the distance including his last – a shaky split decision against fringe contender Roberto Barrera in the latter's native Colombia.
In Cazares, he faces the polar opposite. At 5'6", the Mexican is huge for a junior flyweight; in fact bigger than most bantamweights, where he probably belongs (a move to flyweight is already being considered for his immediate future). Since losing back to back fights, Cazares has won 16 straight (including a 4-0 record in Puerto Rico). Thirteen of his wins in that stretch have come inside the distance including his last five.
Cazares' last bout was perhaps on his biggest stage, appearing in Las Vegas on the eve of the highest grossing fight in boxing history in Floyd Mayweather-Oscar de la Hoya. Cazares enjoyed the additional exposure, fighting in front of a full house, and more importantly in this day and age, a full media section. He gave everyone plenty to write about, tearing through Wilfrido Valdez in the 2 nd round of their televised Telefutura main event.
One could question why, in addition to all of the disadvantages on paper, Calderon would willingly concede one more at the scales. Perhaps a more appropriate question is why there are rules in place if nobody is willing to enforce them.
The concept of the 30-day and 7-day pre-fight weigh-ins is to ensure that fighters are training efficiently, and not waiting until the week of the fight to cut massive amounts of weight. But much like many of today's traffic laws, the rules are merely enforced when it's financially convenient rather than reinforced as valid safety concerns that should be adhered to.
All that was released from news of Cazares' inability to make the 7-day pre-fight limit was an apology from "El Increible" and excuses of the fluctuation being due to inconvenient travel means. Having jumped on the scale moments after arriving in Puerto Rico on a delayed flight, Team Cazares insists the increase is a mere aberration, that weight won't be an issue come Friday, the day of the official weigh-in.
The members of the Puerto Rico boxing commission were unavailable for comment at the time of this article, but their actions speak loud enough. More so, they are in line with every other commission; the next one to cancel a fight or even act when a fighter exceeds the tolerated limit 7 days or 30 days prior to a title fight will be the first.
The last time the issue was addressed was when Jose Luis Castillo failed to make weight for his scheduled rubber match with the late Diego " Chico" Corrales last June. Castillo twice failed to make the contracted weight of 135 lb, never coming closer than within 4 lb of the limit. The incident was a repeat of what took place eight months prior. That night, Corrales agreed to a same-day weigh-in, disallowing Castillo to weigh any heavier than 147. Castillo won by brutal knockout that night. Corrales wasn't interested in history repeating itself, and instead opted to cancel the fight altogether, claiming his health would be at risk.
What everyone failed to realize was that it was Castillo who was at major risk. He was chastised for not starving himself enough to make weight for the highly anticipated rubber match. Corrales and promoter Gary Shaw filed lawsuits. Members of Team Corrales took the moral high ground, chastising Castillo for cheating the boxing public. Even former BWAA president Bernard Fernandez joined in on the nonsense, ridiculously (though satirically) accusing Castillo of not passing on extra helpings of Mexican cuisines.
The major point everyone overlooked: Castillo's health, which only became of concern this year after looking used up in his 4 th-round TKO loss to Ricky Hatton this past June.
The reason: we expected of Castillo what we expect of every fighter in this era – to cut massive amounts of weight prior to a prize fight.
"Boxing matches are not supposed to be about making weight," notes Dr. Margaret Goodman, a former chairperson of the NSAC Medical Advisory board and longtime advocate of fighter safety, in fact one of the few true advocates in the sport today. "They're supposed to be about entering the ring in the best possible physical condition, giving yourself the best chance of winning a prize fight, and avoiding or being able to absorb punishment without putting yourself at immediate risk.
"We've seen in the past that we're only asking for trouble when fights are conducted under such conditions. We don't need any fancy studies to say that it's unfair to the fighter."
We can instead use recent examples in high profile bouts, or at least fights significant to the state of their respective division.
Edison Miranda headed into his May middleweight elimination bout with undefeated, murderous punching Kelly Pavlik struggling mightily to shrink-wrap his chiseled frame into 160 lb armor. The WBC sent a press release a week before the fight, claiming both were within the 5% margin, which would be 168 lb. Yet insiders insisted that as recent as two days prior to the weigh-in, Miranda was still 167 lb, meaning if the 7-day check was accurate, he managed to only lose one pound in the next few days.
On the day of the weigh-in, Miranda limped to the scale, his mouth bone-dry and unable to formulate enough saliva to spit. He was still 2 lb over, and forced to somehow sweat out the remaining weight. By the time Miranda finally made weight, he was so weak that promoter Leon Margoules had to assist him in exiting the FedEx Forum.
None of this is to say that Pavlik wouldn't have won the fight regardless; my money was on the bald-headed cat from Youngstown, OH the moment the fight was signed. But Miranda certainly didn't give himself a chance, training to make 160 rather than training to enter the ring in the best possible physical condition.
Pavlik won the fight by brutal seventh round knockout, and is now challenging for the middleweight title next month. Miranda apparently learned his lesson, having recently announced that he will return in October, campaigning in the super middleweight division.
Former undefeated flyweight Lorenzo Parra developed a reputation as a road warrior, having won six straight bouts in his opponents' respective backyards. It began with his defeating 1996 Olympian Eric Morel in Puerto Rico. His 2005 campaign warranted Fighter of the Year consideration, having defeated two top Japanese flyweights in Japan and former undefeated 2000 Olympian Brahim Asloum in France.
When the year ended, so did Parra's good fortunes. 2006 was stuck on the disabled list before returning to the ring this past March against Takefumi Sakata, whom he had already twice bested – both times in Sakata's native Japan. The third fight also took place in the Land of the Rising Sun. Only this bout wouldn't quite end the same way as the other two. Nor did it begin the same – Parra never came close to making the flyweight limit, clocking in nearly five pounds over the limit. A 7-day safety check (which is implemented by the WBA, whose version of the flyweight title was on the line) would've had Parra at no heavier 117.6 lb.
No explanation came about of how Parra only lost less than a pound between then and the weigh-in. Though of course, none was ever asked; Sakata dominated the lifeless Parra, stopping him in the third round. As far as everyone was concerned, the end justified the means. Parra lost his belt on the scales and then in the ring.
Justice served, right? Sure – when an alphabet title is on the line.
"The 30-day and 7-day safety checkpoints are terrific if properly utilized," says Dr. Goodman. "The problem is they're not. What's worse, they're only used for world title fights. We have kids coming through the ranks abusing their bodies, unmonitored because no title is on the line. We don't have a clue as to the overall deterioration of the body before a fighter makes it to the championship level. And that's in the event he even makes it that far.
"The claim for a need for day-before weigh-ins is that fighters weren't properly hydrating themselves back in the day. What was foolishly overlooked was the concept of fighters taking even more drastic measures to cut weight. It's now to the point where even the 24-hour period between the weigh-in and fight night isn't enough, because fighters have spent so long abusing their bodies in making it to that point."
The knee-jerk reaction always seems to be, come up with a new solution. What needs to be taken into greater consideration is sufficiently enforcing the rules that are already in place – and apply them across the board.
"It's such an easy problem to fix," Dr. Goodman insists, "but what people find easier is to sit back and do absolutely nothing. People would rather react to a tragedy rather than take a proactive approach. It shouldn't take a death to get people concerned. A fighter barely able to keep himself upright during something as routine as a weigh-in should set off a red flag."
If it's that much of an effort to step on a scale, just think how difficult it is to defend yourself in the ring on fight night.
"And that's the thing – can you imagine how much better today's fighters would be if they didn't torture themselves to make weight?
"We're to the point where pre-fight checks need to be done for all fights, not just at the top level. You can no longer compensate for these issues. Cutting weight may not affect your brain, but it does undoubtedly affect the way you perform, especially in something as brutal as a professional boxing match."
Unfortunately, such line of thinking isn't shared with those involved with this weekend's fight in Puerto Rico. No mention of what will happen to Cazares – financially or otherwise – for missing the mark, and by a lot. No explanation as to why they have such safety checkpoints if no ruling will be made in the event of an infraction. Instead, it's wait and see – or in this case, weight and see, with all eyes on Friday's weigh-in, an approach being taken by all, including the challenger.
"I don't care what he weighed (last Friday)," said Calderon upon hearing the news of his opponent outweighing him by 10 lb. "All I care about is what he weighs on Friday at the official weigh-in."
The WBO, whose junior flyweight belt is at stake (along with The Ring magazine 108 lb. title), expressed concern for Cazares' health upon hearing news of his weighing 121 lb last weekend, but walked sideways when approached on the subject of the potential aftermath, if any.
"Naturally, I don't believe it to be healthy to have to lose that much weight in less than a week," said WBO President Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel. "But the only weigh-in we sanction is the day-before weigh-in. The 7-day weigh-in was implemented by the Puerto Rico boxing commission, because they have to. We get involved if there's an issue at the sanctioned weigh-in, the day before the fight.
"If Cazares weighs in heavy at the official weigh-in, then it's up to Mr. Calderon as to whether or not he wants to proceed with the fight. Regardless of his decision, Hugo would lose his title on the scales."
Considering his methods for cutting weight, hopefully he doesn't lose more than that when he enters the ring this weekend. Though, naturally, the industry might wake up and react should it come to that.
ORDERING INFO
If you want to watch the fight, and don't live in Puerto Rico (or do but don't feel like making the trip to Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez), then your options are limited: either order through Dish Network PPV ($39.95), find a friend who has Dish Network and wants to order the fight, or go to a sports bar who plans on purchasing and airing the event.
For those that order, you will also get a good look at rising undefeated super featherweight prospect Roman "Rocky" Martinez, who takes on his toughest test to date when he faces once beaten Daniel Jimenez in the evening's co-feature.
For the record, both fighters weighed within the 5% limit of their contracted weight of 130 lb.
Jake Donovan is a former member of the BWAA. He is currently licensed as a manager, promoter and judge (ABC certified), and is a member of the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. He may be reached for questions and comments at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.
