De La Hoya: Pacquiao makes fighters lose on the scales 1st

[erics44]

Then why have weight classes at all? I believe there should be no catchweights allowed in pro boxing at all, you are following the rules of a weightclass or you aren't. If you are going to move up to fight bigger men, then that's exactly what you should be doing fighting bigger men, not fighting with an asterisk. Of course, noone's going to take a stand when a 6-7 figure payday is on the line.

Well actually I would agree. But the bigger men are already the beneficiaries of an unfair advantage having a full 24 hours from the time of the weigh in to the fight itself.

How is that fair?

Some people moaned about Manny winning a junior middleweight title at a catchweight of 150lbs, but that weigh in was the day before the fight.

Margarito actually weighed in at 165 lbs at the time of the fight.

You can't have it both ways. Under the current system biggers guys have an unfair advantage of being able to boil down to fight in a division many pounds lighter than the weight they walk around at.

Allow Manny's opponents to weigh in at the maximum weight limit. But make sure they enter the ring at that weight.

That's surely fair. Under those circumstances Manny's advantage would be even greater.

Because of this disparity catchweights are a necessary evil. All they do is level the playing field that is already biased in favour of the naturally bigger fighter.

I am in the minority that believes same day weigh-ins should be the norm. But the logic of having an unfair advantage by using the normal rules of a weight class is ridiculous. That would be like Qatar's soccer team play against England's but England wouldn't be allowed to have a goalie or any player to enter their own penalty box. Wait, bad example, but still you get the point. Margarito coming in heavier isn't anything out of the norm for the division, noone is forcing Pacquiao to move up in weight, if he chooses to fight there, he should fight in the terms of the division if it's too much of a disadvantage then fight in a lower weight class, that's what we have weight classes for.

I don't see how Manny has an 'unfair' advantage though? The unfairness arises out of the 24 hour window that allows fighters to fight in weight class in which they are too big.

If fighters were not allowed to enter the ring above the weight limit then it would be a whole different ball game and much better for the sport. As it stands, every bigger man has an unfair advantage every time they enter the ring thanks to not having to actually weigh on fight night what they are supposed to according to the weight limit.

I just can't see how people can't see both sides of the coin here?

If a fighter can enter the ring 10 or even 15 lbs more than the weight limit how is that fair?

By asking for a catchweight all Manny is doing is ensuring that a fighter cannot rehydrate to such a high level, thus negating the advantage they would otherwise be able to accumalate.

If having to weight 2 lbs less than the max weight limit for the fight 24 hours before is too much of a strain for the bigger man, then clearly they are fighting in a weight class that is too small for them.

When a smaller guy is moving up, a catchweight is actually a fair fight.

In the case of Miguel Cotto for example, he weighed over the 147 lb weight limit by the time he stepped in the ring with Manny. So imo it was a full welterweight fight.

Catchweights wouldn't need to exist if the sport was more fair in the first place.

dont forget Manny is fighting above his natural weight class, so they cant/shouldnt change the rules to suit him

if he wants to step out of his weight class then he will be fighting bigger fighters wouldnt he?

They aren't changing the rules to suit him. Catchweights have been a feature of boxing for decades. The Gatti Ward fights were at catchweight, the second Leonard Hearns fight was at catchweight, even Oscar dragged Bernard Hopkins down to a catchweight.

As I explained above, catchweights exist for a reason. To enable a smaller man to fight a bigger man on a level playing field.

I don't understand how fight fans want to put obstacles in front of the biggest fights being made. A fighter like Manny is a phenonemon, a rare talent who is skillful enough, and brave enough to step far outside of his comfort zone and climb through more weight classes than any other fighter in history.

Because of the 24 hour weigh in rule, his size disadvantage is already compounded by ensuring that his opponents can weigh even more than the agrred maximum weight limit come fight time, so when fighting for a welter weight title, his opponents routinely weight over 150lbs and for a light middleweight crown, they can climb over the ropes weighing even more than a middleweight.

By having a fighter agree to a catchweight (and Manny has only done this twice in his career!!) that fighter has less opportunity to rehydrate far above the maximum weight limit by the time the fight takes place.

To say that Cotto and Margarito (his only ever catchweight fights) were disadvantaged is unfair. Both fighters actually weighed MORE than the 147 and 154 limits when the fights actually occurred, and neither had to lose excessive weigh in the first place.

Cotto gave up only a single pound more than he did against Clottey, and Margarito has been a career welterweight who weighed 4 lbs below 150 against Shane Mosley.

The whole argument is a complete straw man.

Manny has been tearing through guys because he really is that good (either that or PEDS if you think he's cheating), not because his opponents have been forced to drain themselves, as no fighter has ever had to step over the ropes weighing anything less than the maximum weight limit.

It's typical for people for moan and gripe, because large sections of the human race are sadly almost entirely negative, just witness the histrionics regarding the huge burden the Royal wedding will put on the poor British taxpayers for example. In fact now schools are complaining the wedding is in April as it will interrupt the poor kids as they revise for their GCSE's.

Some people will want to put a negative spin on everything, but they simply cannot see the woods for the trees.

Manny is a sensational, sensational talent. He has done what no other fighter in history has done, yet people still moan about him.

they ould be changing teh rules to suit him if they weighed in on the same day of the fight because it would be fairer for manny

so when manny steps up in weight he has to expect to fight bigger fighters doesnt he?

were these fights you talk about for world titles?

I'm not sure about how familiar you are with boxing history but the wiegh ins used to be on the day of the fight.

They were moved to the day before in the television era of Ali etc, and then the weigh in itself was used to hype the fight.

It gives larger fighters the advantage against a smaller guy.

Normally it doesn't matter as not many fighters rise up 10 weight classes but Manny is the exception. All he has sought (and only twice ever) is that his opponents make a slight concession too, to balane the unequal distribution of fairness for them having a 24 hour window to gain weight considerably over and above the maximum weight limit.

I'll say it again. No fighter has been stopped from weighing even more than the weight limit on the day of the fight.

Manny has never asked for same day weigh ins. He has negotiated two catchweights, both voluntarily agreed into by his opponent, both of whom had fought at a much lower weight than even the catchweight in the not too distant past.

Hatton and Clottey were not catchweight fights, and they got their asses handed to them just the same.

It's such an overblown objection.

The only fighter who has ever had to drop weight to a catchweight was Cotto, by a single pound over and above what he voluntarily weighed against Clottey. Margarito was a welterweight moving up to 154 so didnt have to cut anything.

Imagine this scenario. Roy Jones moves up to heavyweight and instead of fighting John Ruiz he fights Lennox Lewis or Vitali Klitschko, with a contractual stipulation that they must weigh lets say 1 lb below their lowest fighting weight from the previous two years, that would be an approximate analagy.

So Lewis or Vitali would have to weigh in below 245 lbs for the fight, rather than their usual 248 or so.

Then Roy Jones beats the snot out of them knocking one out and dominating the other over 12 rounds.

According to your standards that would not be as impressive to you as him beating John Ruiz, because Ruiz was not subjected to the weight agreement.

It really is that absurd.

mate you are funny

they arent the rules now, so if they would make them the rules for a manny fight then they would be changing the rules wouldnt they?

so fighters fight in a weight class that suits them yes? so all is equal

if manny wants to fight at a weight class that is at the limit of his weight where he cant put on any more weight and be effective then he should expect to be fighting a bigger man shouldnt he?

it only benefits the bigger man when his opponent is moving up in weight and when a fighter is moving up in weight he should expect to fight bigger men

i dont know how to say it any clearer dude