22% of Boxers are Gaining 10% of their Weight back from the Weigh In til Fight Night

[Eff Pandas]

Here at weight-cutting summit in LA with @_CSAC Andy Foster informing there is an “indisputable” medical issue from study of 750 boxers. 164 since ‘15 have gained more than 10 percent of weight from weigh-in to fight night.

This sh^t is nuts. And for sure a sport within a sport.

Apparently they are looking to find a way to stop this or lower the number of guys doing it in Cali today. CSAC's Andy Foster is a cat who's down for boxers/boxing like few other commissioners in the US that I'm aware of.

Anyone got any ideas or proposals that keep fighters as safe or safer, don't make things more dangerous & is reasonable without canceling fights on a days notice? LOL.

Not a easy task for them, but respect on them trying to figure it out.

Personally I still contend the healthiest, easiest way to get rid of all this bs is to kill the weight cutting/unnatural weight thing completely. I say when you get a boxing license you are determined to be a whateverweight fighter (or more to the point given a range of "healthy natural walking around weight" you can fight at) based on your natural body type, the healthiness of said body type (I'm pro-fat f#cks/obese boxers not being given a license to box at all as it makes the sport look like a joke & I don't believe most obese people to be fit to compete in a legitimate pro sport) & the use of various technology's we have like body fat percentages + gravity tests to determine hydration. Probably other things you could add onto those things, but I've not been following the upgrades made in the last 6+ months.

From there you just insure fighters stay within those "healthy weight" guidelines & fight others within their "healthy weight". If a guy excels at a weight & wishes to attempt to excel at a higher weight he can ask for special permission to be moved to a higher "healthy weight" range that includes the division above where he's allowed to fight now. If there are other changes made to a fighters weight that are deemed acceptedable he can ask for permission to move up or down in weight.

All in all people should be fighting at their natural weight & weighing in at their natural weight I say. Cut out all this fake bs about "making weight" that a guy is never gonna weigh on fight night. Its fake bs & f#cking stupid.

[aretrospective]

Yeah something needs to be done about this for sure. Stories of combat sport fighters having to be helped off the scales because they're so weak or cancelling fights because their bodies are shutting down, are a real disgrace. I follow boxing much more than MMA but certain reports I've read suggest MMA is even worse than boxing for weight-cutting.

It is bull**** as you said EP - for a fighter to "hit" a weight that they never in their life weigh, except again at the weigh-in for their next fight. You make some good suggestions for what the authorities could do. As with any change for the better there has to be an appetite for it. Sadly, as is often the case it will probably take a bad injury or death for anything to change. I also think a fighter's team has to take more responsibility and of course the fighters themselves, although the rewards on offer may mean more often than not they need protecting from themselves.

I read recently that Jamie McDonnell went from 118 to 143 pounds between weigh-in & fight night vs Inoue, which if accurate would represent over 20% of his body weight and is truly shocking. He then got banged out in the first round. He was obviously a big underdog in the fight anyway, but it was surprising to see him get put away so easily as he's usually such a tough & gritty fighter. There seemed to be not much in the tank at all. He has since said he's moving up, to at least 122 but possibly 126.

[boliodogs]

Nobody can order boxers to fight at a certain weight for their own good. That wouldn't work. I have follow boxing many years and I don't remember much if any problems with weight making or boxers gaining huge amounts of weight after the weigh in when the boxers weighed in about 8 hours before the fight. The trouble started when they changed the rules to weighing in about 32 hours before the fight. Then boxers started weighing in all weak, hungry and dry and gained back 10% or more of their body weight by fight time to try to outweigh their opponent in the ring. It's not healthy but they do it anyway. Some fans call them weight bullies but the are playing within today's rules and doing nothing wrong or illegal. What some fans don't understand is if they lose and then gain large amounts of weight they aren't bullying anybody and are actually harming themselves and increasing their chances of losing the fight.

[Eff Pandas]

Yeah something needs to be done about this for sure. Stories of combat sport fighters having to be helped off the scales because they're so weak or cancelling fights because their bodies are shutting down, are a real disgrace. I follow boxing much more than MMA but certain reports I've read suggest MMA is even worse than boxing for weight-cutting.

Yea I agree. A lot of MMA guys come from a wrestling background & wrestlers are notoriously aggressive with weight cuts. I'm sure they've shared tactics with their teammates from other combat sports. And now it seems like its a huge problem through out MMA.

It is bull**** as you said EP - for a fighter to "hit" a weight that they never in their life weigh, except again at the weigh-in for their next fight. You make some good suggestions for what the authorities could do. As with any change for the better there has to be an appetite for it. Sadly, as is often the case it will probably take a bad injury or death for anything to change. I also think a fighter's team has to take more responsibility and of course the fighters themselves, although the rewards on offer may mean more often than not they need protecting from themselves.

Yea unfortunately I agree & have said similar in the past. Something really bad is going to need to happen to a person who's popular or a notable guy before change happens.

The MMA league ONE Championships had a guy die weight cutting a year or two ago & they altered how they do there weigh in greatly. That guy wasn't a big enough name to have impact beyond the league he was in doe.

I read recently that Jamie McDonnell went from 118 to 143 pounds between weigh-in & fight night vs Inoue, which if accurate would represent over 20% of his body weight and is truly shocking. He then got banged out in the first round. He was obviously a big underdog in the fight anyway, but it was surprising to see him get put away so easily as he's usually such a tough & gritty fighter. There seemed to be not much in the tank at all. He has since said he's moving up, to at least 122 but possibly 126.

Yea that is insanity.

[Eff Pandas]

Nobody can order boxers to fight at a certain weight for their own good. That wouldn't work.

Why not? To me commissions can order anything they want to keep your boxing license. And I say if they all required you to maintain a healthy natural weight upon weighing in the important thing that'd be happening on weigh in day would be dehydration & other more science-y tests to make sure you are fighting fit & didn't cut or gain weight too fast for your current fight.

I have follow boxing many years and I don't remember much if any problems with weight making or boxers gaining huge amounts of weight after the weigh in when the boxers weighed in about 8 hours before the fight.

More guys died back then. Its unhealthy to dry out the body, & more importantly the brain, before you are taking shots to the head. Thats why the changes got made in the first place cuz that method wasn't a good method.

[boliodogs]

Yeah something needs to be done about this for sure. Stories of combat sport fighters having to be helped off the scales because they're so weak or cancelling fights because their bodies are shutting down, are a real disgrace. I follow boxing much more than MMA but certain reports I've read suggest MMA is even worse than boxing for weight-cutting.

It is bull**** as you said EP - for a fighter to "hit" a weight that they never in their life weigh, except again at the weigh-in for their next fight. You make some good suggestions for what the authorities could do. As with any change for the better there has to be an appetite for it. Sadly, as is often the case it will probably take a bad injury or death for anything to change. I also think a fighter's team has to take more responsibility and of course the fighters themselves, although the rewards on offer may mean more often than not they need protecting from themselves.

I read recently that Jamie McDonnell went from 118 to 143 pounds between weigh-in & fight night vs Inoue, which if accurate would represent over 20% of his body weight and is truly shocking. He then got banged out in the first round. He was obviously a big underdog in the fight anyway, but it was surprising to see him get put away so easily as he's usually such a tough & gritty fighter. There seemed to be not much in the tank at all. He has since said he's moving up, to at least 122 but possibly 126.

I think the report of of Jamie gaining 25 pounds was an error or an exaggeration. The much weigh gain in that short of time is almost impossible. He would be waterlogged and have to slosh his way into the ring looking like he swallowed a water melon whole. sometimes they weigh the boxer striped down for the weigh in and then reweigh him on his way to the ring wearing shoes, trunks, foul protector and boxing gloves and they don't subtract what that stuff weighs.

[S7V7N]

This sh^t is nuts. And for sure a sport within a sport.

Apparently they are looking to find a way to stop this or lower the number of guys doing it in Cali today. CSAC's Andy Foster is a cat who's down for boxers/boxing like few other commissioners in the US that I'm aware of.

Anyone got any ideas or proposals that keep fighters as safe or safer, don't make things more dangerous & is reasonable without canceling fights on a days notice? LOL.

Not a easy task for them, but respect on them trying to figure it out.

Personally I still contend the healthiest, easiest way to get rid of all this bs is to kill the weight cutting/unnatural weight thing completely. I say when you get a boxing license you are determined to be a whateverweight fighter (or more to the point given a range of "healthy natural walking around weight" you can fight at) based on your natural body type, the healthiness of said body type (I'm pro-fat f#cks/obese boxers not being given a license to box at all as it makes the sport look like a joke & I don't believe most obese people to be fit to compete in a legitimate pro sport) & the use of various technology's we have like body fat percentages + gravity tests to determine hydration. Probably other things you could add onto those things, but I've not been following the upgrades made in the last 6+ months.

From there you just insure fighters stay within those "healthy weight" guidelines & fight others within their "healthy weight". If a guy excels at a weight & wishes to attempt to excel at a higher weight he can ask for special permission to be moved to a higher "healthy weight" range that includes the division above where he's allowed to fight now. If there are other changes made to a fighters weight that are deemed acceptedable he can ask for permission to move up or down in weight.

All in all people should be fighting at their natural weight & weighing in at their natural weight I say. Cut out all this fake bs about "making weight" that a guy is never gonna weigh on fight night. Its fake bs & f#cking stupid.

The weight issue would be very hard to determine for fighters because muscle mass is not the same across all weights & fighters, neither is height. Look at Easter Jr. that stands 5"11 but fights at 135lbs. That's already 20lbs below the ideal weight for a male that tall. Even McDonnell that the previous poster brought up gaining 25lbs between bouts is still under his ideal weight as well.

We should let them fight at whatever weight they desire, the problems arise from the repetitive weight cutting. We could easily eliminate this by simply weighing the fighters throughout the year. That in itself would determine what weight classes are most suited for the individual (10-15% of walk around weight). An added benefit would be to give the fighters incentive to not balloon up & stay on a healthy eating plan throughout the year.

It's the same case with PED's & the CBP program for the WBC. This is why there are 30day & 7day weigh-ins, just like testing fighters ranked in the top 15 for them. However these programs are very shallow & only creates loopholes in the sport that many abuse. Why not weigh & test all fighters throughout the entire year? Because of the money involved? Or are these programs only window dressing to make it appear that they're trying to protect the integrity of the sport? Not all sanctioning bodies can agree on anything so it's really just a talking point until there is governing set up to protect everyone equally.

The boxers’ weight should be as follows:
(a) 30-day weigh-in: 4 weeks prior to the bout, the boxers’ weight should not exceed 10% of the weight limit for the bout; and
(b) 7-day weigh-in: 7 days prior to the bout, the boxers’ weight should not exceed 5% of the weight limit for the bout.

[Eff Pandas]

The weight issue would be very hard to determine for fighters because muscle mass is not the same across all weights & fighters, neither is height. Look at Easter Jr. that stands 5"11 but fights at 135lbs. That's already 20lbs below the ideal weight for a male that tall. Even McDonnell that the previous poster brought up gaining 25lbs between bouts is still under his ideal weight as well.

Shouldn't a specific guys muscle mass or height be part of coming up with a specific guys healthy natural walking around weight? I'd say yea.

Sure okay that BMI thing is kinda bs, but I believe a similar BMI type formula could be created to cover body types, muscle mass & any other unique aspects a fighter could have that could give us a healthy natural walking around weight for a specific guy.

We should let them fight at whatever weight they desire, the problems arise from the repetitive weight cutting.

Isn't that whats happening now? And thats a problem I think everyone accepts that. Certainly thats why these particular guys are having a summit in Cali today I know that much.

We could easily eliminate this by simply weighing the fighters throughout the year. That in itself would determine what weight classes are most suited for the individual (10-15% of walk around weight).

I think this would be needed myself. I just think you'd wanna do those urine gravity tests & other tests to insure a guy isn't dehydrating in the off season too to get down to a more favorable weight for him.

Not all sanctioning bodies can agree on anything so it's really just a talking point until there is governing set up to protect everyone equally.

I think there are commissions that are more legit than others already so if they start doing things & others catch on to it then its just a matter of time before w/e means that it spreads along the rest of the sport. Would obviously be better if there was a one minded power structure, but thats not what we have currently so it'd just have to work out slower.

This is about the safety of fighters & ultimatlely commissions can get as bad a rap as the sport if someone dies on their watch so it makes since for any respectable commission to decide on hardline rules with dealing with weigh cutting.

[.!WAR MIKEY!.]

Its fine the way it is.

You put same day weigh in, they die.

You try to regulate what weight they can walk around in, is unjust cause everyones body is different.

Hell even fight night weigh ins are unfair cause it just forces those boxer who body carries more liquids etc naturally to be drained longer which in return is just putting their health more at risk than the other fighter who body is different and doesn't carry as much liquids.

I always think studies like these are stupid, 20% of boxers put on 10% of their weight back on, lmfao okay well whats the number for 11% of the weight, 12% of the weight etc etc. Also they polled 750 boxers out of which 164 put on more than 10% of they weight back on but how many missed weight? how many moved up after? how many retired after? how many put 10% On every single time? People just making something out of nothing.

Reason this is only a issue is because I 100% believe the fanbase/peoples/team etc of the guy who lost to the bigger man starts crying about it etc etc and making it an issue. Theirs advantages and disadvantages to coming in light or coming in heavy.

Truth is right now we have the best system in place, theirs always gonna be those on the extreme end of both side of the spectrum etc etc its just the way it is, just the way life is.

[aretrospective]

I think the report of of Jamie gaining 25 pounds was an error or an exaggeration. The much weigh gain in that short of time is almost impossible. He would be waterlogged and have to slosh his way into the ring looking like he swallowed a water melon whole. sometimes they weigh the boxer striped down for the weigh in and then reweigh him on his way to the ring wearing shoes, trunks, foul protector and boxing gloves and they don't subtract what that stuff weighs.

Possibly. It does sound a lot doesn't it? Although Ricky Hatton used to gain 16 pounds between weigh-in & fight and didn't Chavez Jr regularly gain over 20 lbs when at MW.

I wonder what Brandon Rios used to add when at LW & how Manny Pacquiao ever made Flyweight considering he's finishing his career at WW.