How do pro fighters make weight when they walk around more than 10 pounds above ?

[Cotto Rules]

I heard that a serious fighter like Shane Mosley walks around 160 pounds, and that a fatty like Hatton walks around 180 pounds. Mayweather and Hopkins fight most of the time at their normal weight.

How can that be possible ?

Mosley: 160 pounds to 147
Hatton: 180 pounds to 140
Vargas: 200 pounds to 164
Winky Wright: 190 pounds to 154

It's very hard to get to this weight especially for Mosley and Wright who are not fat guys.
What kind of training do they use? Are steroids a part of it ?

[mathed]

I have wondered that myself. I wonder if they just spend like the first week or 2 of training camp running like 5 miles everyday to trim off the at so to speak?

[Mersey]

In Calzaghes book, he says he didn't eat a few days before the fight and it killed him to make weight.

[WhoreUs]

it's water weight.

generally boxers can lose about 10% of their weight through dehydrating themselves.

wrestlers are known to dehydrate more than that. sometimes cutting 20-30 lbs.

[MANGLER]

Fighters I've talked to say it's more about diet than trainin as far as makin weight goes. A stricter diet during trainin camp coupled wit roadwork, sparrin, etc, trims em down to proper fightin shape easily. This provided of course their walk around weight ain't ridiculously above their division limit for weigh ins. 10 lbs is supposedly easy to shred for well trained fighters from what I've heard.

[Phirsole]

Arthur Abraham mentioned, he usually "scratches 80kgs", or about 179 lbs. For a fight ne needs to go down below 160 lbs at MW. That is the main reason he goes down to SMW.

[larry x]

10 pounds aint hard to lose in a 6-8 week training camp...but 40 pounds=wow

[Squirrel]

10lbs is easy to lose during a training camp.

The average person with a clean diet and moderate exercise can lose 2lbs a week healthily, so in an 8 week period they could lose 16lbs. Take into account how much more work boxers put in than the average person: rounds and roudns of sparring, bag work, mitts, a few miles run every morning etc; it's so much easier for them, barring a few fighters (massive guys for their division, those that really blow up between fights etc) they can probably eat a lot more than you think.

Calzaghe's fasting sounds to me as either an excuse or (more likely) a less informed/professional training regime (courtesy of enzo).

[hookoutofhell]

i know that tim bradley fasts for the first 5 days of a training camp and judging from what iv heard it seems as though dieting and nutrition is more important than actually training.

calzaghe would not eat for a few days to make SMW and eubank ate nothing for 5 days once to make SMW.

[Left2body]

it's water weight.

generally boxers can lose about 10% of their weight through dehydrating themselves.

wrestlers are known to dehydrate more than that. sometimes cutting 20-30 lbs.

It is more percentage based than straight pounds. But generally a person walking around has more excess fat than a person in peak form.

So a guy like Cotto or Mosley can cut weight through diet and excercise probably to about mid-150's. You can relatively safely lose 8-9% of your body weight through partial dehydration or as we use to say drying out or dry weight.

So thats 12lbs off right their and presto they make weight and just rehydrate via drinks and IV's for the next few hours.

Where it gets dangerous is when you are trying dry out 11-12% or more of your body weight. It puts strain on your kidneys (I know a kid that had slight kidney failure from cutting weight).

P.S. I wrestled D-1 but in HS I would go from about 210lbs-215lbs (creatine and powerlifting) to about 173 by the time the Cities came along.