World champs that were nothing but weight bullies

Eh, athletes are always going to take any advantage they can get. It might be what gives them the edge over the competition, but it'll always take a hell of a lot more to get to world level.

 

Fullmer & Mr. Tiger were "Big MW's". Hopkins moved "down".(Canelo today via ODH Promotions).

SIDELIGHT COMMENT:

Arturo Gatti vs. Joey Gamache

2000-02-26 : Arturo Gatti 140½ lbs beat Joey Gamache 140 lbs by KO at 0:41 in round 2 of 10

• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
• Referee: Benjy Esteves Jr.
• Judge: Don Ackerman
• Judge: Ron McNair
• Judge: Luis Rivera

• This content is protected
• This violent knockout landed Gamache in the hospital for a week and ended his career.

 

Graziano, McLarnin, Battling Nelson (against Gans who because of politics [largely racist] was made to make weight in the ring even though he was champ and should have been able to dictate when the weigh-in was to occur) were true weight bullies in earlier eras because their managers chose to build up their records against smaller fighters. It is harder to call a guy a weight bully during the eras when fighters had to weigh in the same day of a title fight. Sure, guys like Tiger, Fullmer, Archie Moore, Ray Robinson (as a welterweight), LaMotta, and Greb had to train down to make weight, but they still had to do it on the day of the fight. The sport is full of weight bullies now due to the phony weigh-ins they have several days prior to the fight. It's totally unfair. It makes a joke of weight divisions. It's one of the things that has caused me to lose interest. I get so angry when I think about it that I want to spit.

Also, it's misguided to call Tiger a weight bully if you consider that he was just a '67- or '68-pounder when he weighed in to fight for and defend the 175-pound light-heavyweight crown.

 

Tiger would be a perfect SMW today.

 

Well with Battling Nelson and Kid Lavigne, it was basically the opposite, making Walcott and Gans make stupidly low weights.

It wasn't as bad, but Dempsey made Fitzsimmons have to make pretty ridiculous conditions.

 

No such thing, if you make weight how the hell can you be a weight bully.....

 

Amen LH...the perfect SMW

 

Valuev

 

Rick Glaser says he witnessed Gerald McClellan make 160 for the second fight with Julian Jackson...then weigh 198 before the fight, rehydrating 38 pounds.

 

DeLaHoya at 130 and 135

 

Modern day its Canelo when he campaigned at 154

 

I agree and if there is an issue with a guy rehydrating and coming in drastically heavier there is an easy fix. Simply adopt the Pennsylvania commissions approach and have a day before weigh in and then a same day weigh in whereby you cannot rehydrate more than 10 lbs. seems like an easy fix that would level the playing field.

Here is an article from 2010 that looks at this issue

https://www.ringtv.com/124365-weigh-ins-day-before-vs-same-day/

 

The only issue I can see is if certain fighters use PED's to make weight and gain the strength not possible through rehydrating naturally.