The Ugly Truth: Weight Classes Are An ABSOLUTE FARCE.

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

Comp problems

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

Still Comp problems.

[Mike Tyson77]

It damages the sport competitively. It robs us of the best fights. When you have so many extra weight classes, and then so many "belts" (wba, wbc, wbo, wbu, ibf, nabf, etc)... it's all bull****.

That's what I was agreeing with. We need fewer weight classes.

[Welter_Skelter]

I was watching the Pacquiao-Barrera card closely this weekend. While watching, I took particular notice of the fighters' weights. The following are actual fight-night weights. Not the fake "weigh-in" weights.

Panchito Bojado was 159 on fight night, and Steve Forbes was 156. For a (supposedly) Junior Welterweight bout.

Antonio Davis was 140 for a featherweight bout.

Marco Antonio Barrera was 138 for his SFW bout.

MANNY PACQUIAO WAS 144 POUNDS COMPLETELY RIPPED.

Now, we have all known for awhile that the weigh-in procedures need to change. But the weigh-in for a big fight has become (appropriately) another marketing event, and it is hard to do that on fight day. At least for a big PPV fight.

Further, Arturo Gatti was 159 lbs and destroyed Gamache. Miguel Cotto was often in the high 150's, and Ricky Hatton has stated that he likes to be 154 on fight night for his JWW bouts, and he was closer to 160 for Collazo.

For their weight-disputed fight at lightweight, Castillo and Corrales were 148 amd 149, respectively.

Joshua Clottey has been nearly 170 pounds on fight night. Oscar Delahoya was 166 pounds for 'The World Awaits'.

I think the pound-for-pound rankings are CLEANER when guys are actually fighting people their own size. For example, nobody thinks it is "unfair" for Mayweather to fight Baldomir & Delahoya who outweigh him by nearly 20 pounds. But the perception would be that it would be "unfair" for PBF to fight Pacquiao, a man four pounds his junior. If Pac can fight a guy six pounds lower, why not four pounds higher? Nahmean?

On Dec 8th, Ricky Hatton will outweigh FMJ by six to eight pounds. The same advantage that Floyd would have on Steven Luevano, WBO titlist @ 126.

Zab Judah is 150 on fight night. He can slide down to 140 and make a rematch with Witter, or a "Battle for Brooklyn" with Malignaggi. He is too small for Cintron and Margarito, etc.

Bernard Hopkins played a "weight game" by having a lower weigh-in than Oscar. In truth, Hop turned pro at LHW and now admits that he was stripping himself for years to make middleweight.

Personally, I don't care what division a guy fights at. I use the true number of fight-night weights to determine who can and should be fighting each other. Would it be "fair" for PBF to dry out on fight week and to go dominate a bunch of lightweights?

I would prefer to have "day of" weigh-ins, or at least get rid of all the "junior thises" and "super thats". Go back to the classic divisions: 126, 135, 147, 160, 175, Cruiser, and heavy. You will notice that I added in Cruiser. Because I do not feel that it would be "fair" for Bernard Hopkins to decide to move up in weight, and have to go fight Shannon Briggs or Wlad. The new heavies are too damn big. 175 to 250++ is just too big a jump.

As a FAN of Heavyweight Boxing.. None fo what you are saying matters.. It's routine for HW's to out weigh eachother ..sometimes as much as 80lbs..
Size matters alot less than some people like to harp on about..
The smaller Guy should theoreticaly have more speed.. The shorther guy better balance and leverage in close..
SO there are adavantages all around the board for BOTH fighters..regarding size

[Drunken Cat]

Here's the thing.. I've boxed in the amateurs, but i didnt cut much weight..

However, I wrestled from 8-18, and I know about weight cutting very well. If there are weigh ins, there is weight cutting, its a simple fact. People see a 15 pound difference, and they think its a huge deal.. its not. I use to routinely cut between 10-15 pounds every single week during highschool wrestling season. Its a little ****ed up, but it is very widespread. Now, imagine that you're a professional fighter.. ofcourse you're going to do whatever you legally and reasonablly (one hopes) can to put yourself in the best situation to win the fight. That includes draining 15 pounds of water weight before the weigh in. Moreover, if you don't do this, you're opponent still will, and you'll simply end up fighting bigger guys. Ofcourse, there are disadvantages involved with weight cutting, but not as much as fighting at higher weight. Its a bit ****ed, but its reality, pure and simple.

Also, 15 pounds isn't as much as people think. If a guy is cutting from HW to MW, ala James Toney, thats pretty ****ed up, yes. But routine weight cutting is fairly reasonable.. a bit unhealthy, but not a huge advantage by any means.. its more of an ordinary part of such sports.

Also, if you're in good shape and you're body is accustomed to losing the weight, you can sweat of pounds fairly easily. There comes a point where you simply dry up and cant lose the extra weight.. hence fighters losing titles on the scales. But for the most part, 10-15 pounds, or whatever, is not that much. Just some thoughts from an experienced weight cutter. Its a horrible thing to put yourself through, from a comfort standpoint, but its not something that's likely to go away.

Hope this is coherent, I just got home from the bars and am kinda faded.

[kamicazze]

mayeb get them to keep 5 pounds within the limit on fight night or something because lets face it theyre just not gunna keep the weight down if they need heir energy! just compromise

[Bogler]

You are a great thinker. Cong****.

what can i say, ur agenda in this thread isn't really what it is. it's to worship pbf

[Drunken Cat]

mayeb get them to keep 5 pounds within the limit on fight night or something because lets face it theyre just not gunna keep the weight down if they need heir energy! just compromise

The thing is, then you'd need 2 official weigh ins. And what if a dude just chugged a bottle of water and has a belly full of food, and hasn't pissed and **** yet?? The timing of the 2nd weigh in would be problematic, especially because guys surely have different routines and eat at different times on fight day. I think same day weigh ins are a deterrent to severe weight cutting, but recquiring a fighter to be low the day of the fight and then to try and quickly rehydrate makes for problematic results. The commissions do not want policies that result in fighters not being energized and in peak condition at fight time.

[DIOS DOMINICANO]

As a FAN of Heavyweight Boxing.. None fo what you are saying matters.. It's routine for HW's to out weigh eachother ..sometimes as much as 80lbs..
Size matters alot less than some people like to harp on about..
The smaller Guy should theoreticaly have more speed.. The shorther guy better balance and leverage in close..
SO there are adavantages all around the board for BOTH fighters..regarding size

I understand what you are saying. But it isn't "routine" for Heavies to vary by more than 20 or 25 lbs. It is quite rare that you see a weight difference of more than 25 pounds (about 10%) among heavies.

I wrestled for a long time. And weight classes are much fewer than in boxing.

[AntonTheMeh]

I Made A Thread A Couple Days Ago About Modifying The Weight Divisions Separating Each Of The Original 8 Weight Divisions By 15 Pounds.i Think They Could Help Boxing If They Did.take A Couple Of Pounds Here And There Who Knows.