Boxing the KING of double standard sports

If there's another one.... I'd like to know.

Boxing is the KING of the sports with double standards by fans. Excuse catchweights by one fighter..... blast them in another. Belittle one fighter's opponent..... overhype the same opponent for another fighter. Everything done out of convenience. It's so transparent it's laughable. Criticize Side A negotiations by one fighter..... look the other way when another one does it. I could provide lots more examples but you all get the point.

WTF.... I've done it myself. ;)

It just never ceases to amaze, is all.

Lebron James throws up 250 shots in one game, making only 30 of them, scoring 60 points...... and he carried his team on his back.
Joe Blow throws up 250 shots in one game and he'll get lynched by the media, getting called a horrible ball hog at best.


Double standard.

1)Lebron has been terribly inefficient, like awfully. But he's still a great player.

2)many of us have been fans of Cotto for years and are only bothered that he isn't like the Cotto of his entire career. If he gave away the 160 strap all the complaints go away(except from those that just hate)

3) you are right about double standards but Cotto has largely gotten a free pass until his recent awful behavior because he had built so much goodwill. But the last couple years have been absurd.

I'm just sayin' Ron... I'm not a fan of this catchweight business either. Also I've never considered Cotto a true MW. He saw an opportunity... he took it. I'm just saying he's not doing anything other elite fighters haven't done themselves, and gotten very little grief over it. It's up to the boxing orgs to stop some of these shenanigans. But I can see where you're coming from.

Cotto saw "an opportunity" (as you called it) to fight a crippled Martinez for the middleweight title. Winning it got him some Puerto Rican honour so you say... Great. Congratulations! Miguel Cotto national hero! True blooded warrior!!! Yay!!!

But if Cotto has no intention of defending the title at the correct weight then he should have given the title up or risk looking like a massive pussy by waiting a year to defend the the title and then only choosing to fight if his middleweight opponent is forced to weigh 3lbs below the middleweight limit.

What a gaping vagina!!! But hey, I guess that's what passes for a warrior's heart these days... Pathetic!

The thing is most of us want him to give up the belt for multiple reasons and he is holding onto it for multiple reasons. We all know it gives some form of credibility with casual fans and with that money.

But I'm amazed no real boxing fans are talking about the other shadier element. That belt allows him to hide in that shit division. The only person he must worry about is GGG. We all know he doesn't belong at 160. We all know he's too small. So why? Sure there's the belt but also there is no Lara there, there is no Trout there, there is no Adrade there etcetera. These guys all would dominate Cotto. So hide at 160 with bigger men but lacking talent. 154 is full of stylistic nightmares for Miguel and all without glory. So he has gone to where he can be a champion. And that would be fine except many are being tricked into believing this is some new Miguel. It's not, it's just different opponents.

The Alvarez fight will be a fun fight though so we should all probably give Cotto a break. It's all smart what he is doing, it just isn't who most of us want Miguel to be. We want him to be ready for anyone win or lose.

I think there are a lot of double standards in boxing, but it's not unique to boxing. People will go above and beyond to praise the athletes they love and tear down the athletes they hate, and therein will lie the double standards.

As far as catch weights go, I think most people (including myself) are bothered by the fact that a guy has won and defended the linear world title having NEVER fought at that weight.

I think there's a big difference between that and, say, Gatti and Ward getting together and saying "you're a big junior welterweight, I'm a big junior welterweight, let's give ourselves a break and meet at 142." There's no titles on the line, who cares. I don't think anyone will ever complain about that catch weight. I know big names get to call the shots, but a title should NEVER be defended at a catch weight.

How do you explain that to someone who doesn't follow boxing?

"Boxing is divided into weight classes to keep the fights on a relatively even playing field, and each weight class has a champion."

"How come this guy doesn't fight at this weight class but is still the champ of that weight class."

"Oh because that guy is a big name and draws big crowds in New York, so they let him fight at whatever weight he wants and call it middleweight all the same."

"So this is a mainstream sport where the fundamental rules change depending on how big of a name you are, where the man who draws the most money has the advantage in the ring?"

"Welcome to boxing."

Fighting at a catch weight, contractually agreed upon, doesn't bother me. In the early days that was the origin of the weight limits for the various classes. And, if you can't make the weight, don't sign the contract. If Martinez was too injured to fight Cotto, he shouldn't have signed or he should have pulled out.
The most ridiculous double standard is complaining about a contractually agreed upon weight established weeks, even months, in advance, while defending the practice of getting into the ring at 180 and calling yourself a middleweight. That is just wrong on many levels, and it affects match making at many levels; how does he get? Is the first question asked. Myself, that is what I would limit contractually. You weigh 160 Friday and no more than 165 when you glove up or you fight for free.

Although some people like geale sign the contract because it's a payday they can't turn down even though they are getting the shaft. It's like telling a fighter to sign a contract that he has to have one seem tied behind his back but he will get $10 million. Obviously he will sign but the fight isn't fair.

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Originally Posted by powerpuncher

Although some people like geale sign the contract because it's a payday they can't turn down even though they are getting the shaft. It's like telling a fighter to sign a contract that he has to have one seem tied behind his back but he will get $10 million. Obviously he will sign but the fight isn't fair.

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If you sign for the money, knowing you are getting screwed, take your lumps because you asked for them. Or blame your manager for not doing more for you in negotiations.

The commissions should be the ones taking the heat for letting this nonsense happen.

Lebron complains to refs (JUSTFIABLY) and he gets called a crybaby. Anyone else says anything to the refs (especially a Bulls player), the refs are cheating...

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

The commissions should be the ones taking the heat for letting this nonsense happen.

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This!

...and Cotto is a pussy for asking for it in the first place and following through with it once it was granted!

Cotto will fight Canelo at light middleweight then it will all be fine but if it is at middleweight then it will be wrong? That is double standards.

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Originally Posted by Master

Cotto will fight Canelo at light middleweight then it will all be fine but if it is at middleweight then it will be wrong? That is double standards.

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If you're the middleweight champ and you're promoting yourself as middleweight champ and your promotional company advertises you as middleweight champ and the commissions sanction the fight for the middleweight championship then you best be allowing your opponent to weigh in as a middleweight!!!

If you want to win the middleweight title but have no interest in defending the middleweight title against a middleweight fighter who is allowed to weigh in at the middleweight limit then give up the title!

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Originally Posted by ruthless rocco

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Originally Posted by Master

Cotto will fight Canelo at light middleweight then it will all be fine but if it is at middleweight then it will be wrong? That is double standards.

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If you're the middleweight champ and you're promoting yourself as middleweight champ and your promotional company advertises you as middleweight champ and the commissions sanction the fight for the middleweight championship then you best be allowing your opponent to weigh in as a middleweight!!!

If you want to win the middleweight title but have no interest in defending the middleweight title against a middleweight fighter who is allowed to weigh in at the middleweight limit then give up the title!

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Cotto has used the middleweight strap as a bargaining position to secure a good payday against Canelo. Canelo was arguing for a larger slice of the pie but Cotto holding a belt stops that card being used by Alvarez.

GGG has carried on earning and beating true middleweights so his career has not stalled. Cotto is making the most amount of money he can before he leaves the game. In this aspect he has not done anything out of the ordinary to maximise his income.

Like has been said, the main problem is doing a catch weight for a title. If you are a champion at a weight class then there should be a rule in place for maintaining the actual weight. There shouldn't be able to be a negotiation for a contract weight when it's for the title. And also as others have said, it is the commissions and managers job to keep the fighters safe and not allow a natural middle weight to drop that few extra pounds. It makes no sense. We changed to before day weigh ins just so we could call for catch weights and weight drain the fighter even more? Are you telling me that is less dangerous to the fighters health?

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Originally Posted by powerpuncher

Like has been said, the main problem is doing a catch weight for a title. If you are a champion at a weight class then there should be a rule in place for maintaining the actual weight. There shouldn't be able to be a negotiation for a contract weight when it's for the title. And also as others have said, it is the commissions and managers job to keep the fighters safe and not allow a natural middle weight to drop that few extra pounds. It makes no sense. We changed to before day weigh ins just so we could call for catch weights and weight drain the fighter even more? Are you telling me that is less dangerous to the fighters health?

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But you have no problem with a 'middleweight' climbing into the ring at 175? Rehydrating turns every fight into a catch weight bout, except that nobody knows how much anybody is going to weigh.

Well 160 has always been the middleweight standard. Cotto won the belt at 159 and defended it at 157... so technically that's a triple standard!

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Originally Posted by greynotsoold

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Originally Posted by powerpuncher

Like has been said, the main problem is doing a catch weight for a title. If you are a champion at a weight class then there should be a rule in place for maintaining the actual weight. There shouldn't be able to be a negotiation for a contract weight when it's for the title. And also as others have said, it is the commissions and managers job to keep the fighters safe and not allow a natural middle weight to drop that few extra pounds. It makes no sense. We changed to before day weigh ins just so we could call for catch weights and weight drain the fighter even more? Are you telling me that is less dangerous to the fighters health?

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But you have no problem with a 'middleweight' climbing into the ring at 175? Rehydrating turns every fight into a catch weight bout, except that nobody knows how much anybody is going to weigh.

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The rules state you have to weigh in at 160 or below. What part don't you understand?

For a guy involved in the sport you seem unclear on how the rules work.

Weight cutting is a part of the sport and there's no way of getting rid of it. It's a balancing act and guys can and have gotten burned by cutting too much weight. Cotto's no stranger to it. When he fought Chop Chop Corley he weighed in at 140 and went into the ring at 157.

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Originally Posted by ruthless rocco

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Originally Posted by greynotsoold

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Originally Posted by powerpuncher

Like has been said, the main problem is doing a catch weight for a title. If you are a champion at a weight class then there should be a rule in place for maintaining the actual weight. There shouldn't be able to be a negotiation for a contract weight when it's for the title. And also as others have said, it is the commissions and managers job to keep the fighters safe and not allow a natural middle weight to drop that few extra pounds. It makes no sense. We changed to before day weigh ins just so we could call for catch weights and weight drain the fighter even more? Are you telling me that is less dangerous to the fighters health?

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But you have no problem with a 'middleweight' climbing into the ring at 175? Rehydrating turns every fight into a catch weight bout, except that nobody knows how much anybody is going to weigh.

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The rules state you have to weigh in at 160 or below. What part don't you understand?

For a guy involved in the sport you seem unclear on how the rules work.

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I think he explained it pretty clearly.

Fighters who want to fight as "middleweights" while walking into the ring weighing 180 pounds are doing more harm to the sport in terms of competitive balance and safety than a guy who requests his opponent to weigh in at 157.

You don't have to agree but the point is pretty simple.

It makes NO sense that a fighter gets to dictate the weight of a 160lb title fight to be lower than 160lb.

If Cotto doesn't want to fight as a middleweight then give up the belt and fight the division lower.

Imagine a track meet where the more popular and more influential runner gets to choose the length of the 100 metre dash.
Let's say Cotto is a quicker starter but Gaele tends to come on stronger towards the end. Does it make any sense for Cotto to be able to choose that the race be only 75 metres but still sell the race as and have it be recorded as a 100 metre race?
No!!! Only an idiot would think that's makes sense.
The 100 metre dash is 100 metres long.
The middlweight title is defended by fighters who weigh in below 160lbs at the time of the weigh in.

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Originally Posted by greynotsoold

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Originally Posted by powerpuncher

Like has been said, the main problem is doing a catch weight for a title. If you are a champion at a weight class then there should be a rule in place for maintaining the actual weight. There shouldn't be able to be a negotiation for a contract weight when it's for the title. And also as others have said, it is the commissions and managers job to keep the fighters safe and not allow a natural middle weight to drop that few extra pounds. It makes no sense. We changed to before day weigh ins just so we could call for catch weights and weight drain the fighter even more? Are you telling me that is less dangerous to the fighters health?

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But you have no problem with a 'middleweight' climbing into the ring at 175? Rehydrating turns every fight into a catch weight bout, except that nobody knows how much anybody is going to weigh.

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I have a problem with day before weigh ins. I think they are ridiculous and it creates a culture where the fighters cut an extreme amount of weight. Most fighters lose weight over training camp but then cuts weight to make the weight. So yes, I do have a problem with a fighter walking around 40 pounds over their weight class. Sadly, cutting weight is just going to happen, but they should try to prevent it as much as possible (which is supposedly the reason why they changed to day before weight ins). It doesn't help the cause when you are forcing people to cut an unhealthy amount of weight just to be the sacrificial lamb.

And as I said before, they do agree to the terms but it's usually something that they can't turn down. Commissions should start regulating these types of things.

I think that most activities in which the emotion of the fans is very related to the offensive (as a complement of defense) is prone for double standards.

The fans in the current era and maybe of a lot more eras in the future aren't unbiased enough like to separate emotion from their objective judging because seriously, what % of times in history has the overrated hard puncher lost vs the technician boxer? much more than expected, they haven't learned the lessons of history even thought they have been exposed repeatedly

and yet they continue to overhype and overrate the emotion producing boxer or any exciting athlete.

Until maybe... they make the ring much smaller to prevent him from running a lot and they change the judging system to penalize huggings immensely more. Unless maybe the boxer was really good at technique and not just at athleticism