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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.
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.
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