Vinny’s Views: Memo to Boxers – Cut the Crap With Making Weight for Boxing Matches Especially Championship Ones!
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By Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci
Hey RSR Readers it’s time to spit some venom on another bleeding sore of our beloved sport. Last Week I trekked through what I believe is the ten biggest ills that saturate through the boxing landscape in which nothing good ever permeates from it. From time to time it’s my job to highlight the madness and draw conclusions on what needs to be done to reverse the madness. As the fall of 2016 unwinds, its final declivity of cherry picking, catch weights, title abdications, mismatches, excuse makers, non-unification matches and champions defending through challengers of least resistance let me refocus on one stumbling block the sport keeps tripping over that should have made last week’s list, “rehydration!”
Until 1983, fighters were mandated to weigh in the morning of a fight. Unlike the Jack Johnson days where you weighed in just before entering the ring this procedure followed a well-orchestrated formality where commissions, promoters, managers, trainers, televising productions and writers could keep the fans abreast during the hours leading up to the fight itself.
That year the WBA had sponsored its approval for top contender Eddie Mustafa Muhammad to rematch champion Michael Spinks for the title he lost by decision. On the morning of the weigh in Michael made the limit while Mustafa was for the times shockingly two and a half pounds over the limit. Writers of the day were treated to a gossip feast of material as both sides of the promotion sat with the commission behind closed doors to remedy a solution.
A peace bouquet was offered and bandied about in hopes that cable giant HBO could salvage the production slated to go live that night. A bitter Eddie who interviewed that morning refused to make any effort to go back to his dressing room and try to sweat off the extra weight claiming he believed the scales were rigged when he stepped upon them. To the best of my knowledge I don’t believe there was ever an official investigation to his claims to either support or dismiss the accusations.
Eddie was known as one of the most outstanding light heavyweights in the greatest era of 175 pound competitors. Not to be rattled by the moment, Michael refused to accept a proposal for a non-title catch weight bout to take place. In the glorious days of Joe Louis a champion who held a belt in one of the highly coveted eight divisions would fight a voluntary tune up, usually a ten rounder where the belt was not on the line. In the event the challenger pulled off an upset gave him instant recognition worthy of title challenge. Today we often have one of the alphabet organizations sanctioning non-title bouts with “their” champion involved and their win/lose policy firmly in place. That is to say, if a champion wins it is not a title defending effort. Should the challenger win the title is not up for grabs, but the title becomes vacant! No matter how much money was offered to Spinks that day he refused to subject himself the gamblers odds for the leather hardware he fought for from poverty to Olympic Gold and on through the distinguished ranks to champion. His comments reflected a different vibe citing he believed it was tasteless that Muhammad wouldn’t try to take off the excess weight while he himself had already put in the hard work and sacrifice.
The Boxing Commissions ratified behind boxing organizations to hold the weigh- ins the day before. This allowing a time frame to correct a fighter from ever being overweight and cancelling a promotion leaving everyone especially the network holding the proverbial bag. Things ran smoothly more or less until the winter of 2000 when beloved Arturo Gatti signed to fight a catch weight bout with two division former champion Joey Gamache at 141 pounds.
After the weigh in Gatti rehydrated in the following 24 hours to a staggering nineteen pounds officially making the contest a full-fledged middleweight fighting a two division smaller welterweight. Joey entered ring at 145 pounds. The result was a savage beat down where Gatti looked formidably bigger with every punch he landed. He dropped Joey twice in first round once with a wicked body shot and once by well-placed bomb to the chin. Early in the second round with every telling punch landing, Gatti delivered the coup de gras that had poor Joey out in midflight to canvas. Having personally known Arturo from watching many of his sparring sessions and getting to know the man behind the smile the weight gain was predicated on feeling comfortable and not meant as a dubious tactic to gain an advantage. It was no secret Arturo loved beer and it wouldn’t have surprised me if some of that weight was a lunchtime indulgence the day of the fight. That night Joey almost succumbed to his head injuries incurred that day and wound up with brain damage. He later sued both Gatti and the New York State Athletic Commission which governed the over the bout hosted at Madison Square Garden. Judge Melvin Schweitzer found the state negligent in the lax handling of the prefight weigh in but no evidence was substantiated in proving that Arturo’s additional weight was a causing factor that led to knockout and subsequent head injuries. No monetary compensations were awarded.
Recently we have witnessed many boxers abusing the rehydration time and severely turning the gains into an unfair advantage. One suspect that quickly comes to mind is Julio Cesar Chavez, JR. who often weighed inside the middleweight limit and then entering ring as a foreboding cruiserweight at 181 pounds. This aside in an age where catch weight fights make the landscape confusing enough I find it deplorable when boxers insist they cannot rise six pounds to make a great fight happen in the next division, yet rehydrate sixteen pounds before entering a fight without remorse or conscience. When you get right down to it who can blame them? If there aren’t rules forbidding such behavior by either the sanctioning organizations of the state commissions why the hell should anyone enter the ring fatigued from weight loss? All boxers will look to gain every allowed advantage possible while risking their lives for money even if this subject appears rueful and unfair.
The obvious solutions have been suggested before and fell upon the conspicuous deaf ears that mute the progression of the betterment of the sport. Simply put either re-establish the morning weigh in making it too difficult to rehydrate into hulk-like proportions or mandate an official scale limit from weigh in to ring entrance. Be prepared to jump on the merry go round whereas the powers that be which control the sport claim that the nature of a boxer is to gain weight which would put every telecast in jeopardy.
The solution to that problem is to stop pampering the boxers and fine them. A champion who does not make weight for a title defense should be stripped with the belt vacated. Sorry mate, go to the back of the line. Instead it all comes down to the almighty dollar where the last minute deals are made and the buck is passed.
Stay tuned….
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