What Weight Class Do You Consider These Fights?

Don't sweat a pound or two. A lot of guys would come in a few pounds higher or lower. Jake Lamotta came in heavy almost every fight of his middleweight career. Number one is middleweight. Number two is light heavyweight. Some guys regularly miss the day of weight of the fight by ten to twenty pounds these days anyway and make a mockery of the division weight requirements. Also, there's a fight of Henry Armstrong's where he's fighting Sammy Angot or someone for his welterweight title but he's only 135 pounds. Plus, Ray Robinson came it at 144 for some of his middleweight fights.

 

Back in the day the weight for non title fighters was always a couple of pounds over. Even today for that matter.

 

According to one poster here, if they are a pound over the limit they are automatically in the higher weight class.

 

I had similar thoughts when it came to Sugar Ray Robinson-Jake Lamotta.

Weights for their fights:

1st) Ray 145, Jake 157 3/4
2nd) Ray 144 1/2, Jake 160 1/2
3rd) Ray 145, Jake 160 3/4
4th) Ray 148 1.2, Jake 158
5th) Ray 150, Jake 159
6th) Ray 155 1/2, Jake 160

Obviously, the St. Valentine Day's Massacre goes towards Ray's middleweight rankings.

On the other fights, though, Ray was fighting against a middleweight while weighing below the welter limit the first 3 times, and only 1 lb. over welter for the 4th fight.

Naturally we would say these 4 fights go towards his welterweight rankings because he was that size....but could you say it can go towards his middleweight rankings since he was fighting a middleweight?

What about the 5th fight where he was 150? I don't think there was an 154 lb. division until the 1960s with Denny Moyer and Emile Griffith, so he was very close to the WW limit as opposed to MW.

 

All but the final LaMotta bout were classic catchweight fights. That defeat would have meant and indeed did (with the defeat) mean little to Robinson's standing as a Welterweight, adds to his resume at Middleweight. With the bonus of extra kudos because of his weight disadvantage, needing to be factored in.

 

Do you need a handkerchief for your tears? Sorry, but the top 3 LHW contenders were not middleweights no matter how much you want them to be.

 

1. A small LHW against a MW coming over the limit. Its a high listing for Chip, who was normally well below 160 before and after this fight.

Greb bounced from big MW to small LHW when it suited him and fought MWs, LHWs, and even HWs.

2. Houck was hardly a MW at this point, his few listings in this time have him at LHW or over 175. LHW vs HW bout, officially.

 

WW vs MW for first 4. The last two are MW.

The wins would benefit either man because both were noteworthy fighters that engaged in fights like these regularly. All the divisons mixed it up in fights like these back then. The weight limit was only a requirement if the title was on the line.

 

No, not even by a couple of pounds.

160-175 LHWs faced full blown HWs regularly.

 

Do you think I give a good God ****? Get over yourself you silly twat.

 

I don't understand the first line.

 

I consider everything under 200 lbs too-small-to-watch-weight.

 

That, it wasn't just a couple of pounds. Weight limits were often completely ignored if a title wasn't on the line.

Even evident in the LaMotta/Robinson matches listed. Where you clearly have a WW giving up 15 lbs to a full blown MW.