Pick a side and eloquently state your case in favor of or against same-day weigh-ins.

The same day.
The first reason is that so much rehydration is not healthy for the human body.
Some exaggerate it.

 

Same day.

Weight related health risks to fighters can be broadly summarised as - 1) De & rehydration risks; and 2) In the ring weight disparity between opponents risks; - to explore further:

1) De & rehydration - There is nothing authorities can practically do eliminate, or even substantially mitigate against, this risk. Same day weigh ins = Relatively low amounts of de & rehydration in relatively little time. Day before weigh ins = Larger amounts of de & rehydration over a longer time. Multiple weigh-ins, be that check points in the days leading up to the weigh-in &/or both day before & same day weigh ins = Fighters dehydrating multiple times to make the various weigh ins. This is elite sport, competitors will always find ways to get every possible advantage, working with the confines of the rules.

2) In the ring weight disparity between opponents - The closer to the fight the weigh in is, the less scope there is for this.

Without being a doctor, I suspect that the health risks of 1) are more or less similar regardless of when the weigh in is relative to the fight. The risks of 2) are smaller the closer the weigh in to the fight, not to mention fairer from a sporting perspective.

 

I'm siding with same day weigh ins. What's the point of a weight class if you just balloon up afterwards? It's just a rehydration competition

 

Same day. A fighter should be fighting against someone who is the same weight as him. For instance in the latest talk of Alvarez v Crawford, Crawford at best would be entering the ring at about the limit of 168, yet Canelo would weigh 180+. I feel it is far fairer if people fight at the actual weight limit. I also think that a super heavyweight division above 230 should be implemented. A good guy the size of Tyson Fury has unfair advantages over someone who is 6'2" and 214lb.

 

Same day and within 8 hours before the ring walk, otherwise weight classes are pointless. There actually are almost no real weight classes anymore. Most fights are Catchweight today.

 

Same day is healthier for the fighters and affords a fairer comparison of the fighters' skills and abilities. And isn't that what in-the-ring competition is supposed to be about as opposed to pre-fight gamemanship?

 

The brain is made up of 80% water so if a fighter cuts weight the day of and becomes dehydrated then his brain tissue will shrink in size.

When this happens the risk of bleeding in the head, brain damage or failing body mechanics are more likely.

 

It would be a trade off, people would fight without the time to rehidrate because make no mistake, people would still risck their health for an advantage....
I am for the same day because it keeps divisions for what they are made for.
What they do in MMA is crazy though, no wonder some guys gas tha **** up in a 15 minute fight.

 

Same day.

My argument?

This content is protected

 

I like the idea of weigh-ins the day before the fight because it gives me one last day to evaluate the fighters’ conditioning and run the different bout scenarios through my mind before making a final prediction.

But what ruins it for me is all of this rehydration and catch weight business. If you need to dehydrate and then rehydrate, you don’t belong in that weight class! Plain and simple as far as I’m concerned.

As a related but separate argument/rant, I think that there are too damn many weight classes these days to begin with, but maybe I’m just becoming a grump as I get older haha.

 

Same day a 160lber will weigh about 158-165 in the ring not 180lbs.

 

People cut weight regardless. With the rehydration time you have fewer dry brains. I think there are more deaths in same day amateur as in 24h pro. During the same day weigh in period as well we had some of the most notable fatalities in boxing, the dry brain is a bad bad thing and Tommy Hearns is a notable victim of it in 1981 I believe.

People are going to cut 10-12lbs regardless, with an extra 24 hours they can reasonably get to 20-25lbs typically above 160. Under 160 a typical cut between weigh in and ring walk is 15-18lbs, probably more now (147 especially prob cut ~20lbs), but in the mid 2000s it was about there (Pacquiao and Marquez both added 18lbs for their second fight if you can believe it). If you do a morning weigh in and fight in 12 hours, vs. doing a morning weigh in and fighting in 24 (more like 30) hours, you are getting 2-3x as much time but you aren't cutting 2-3x as much weight, that's why it is safer for fighters. Even though it may allow fighters to cut a bit more, it really only stops 8-12 lbs extra, and some guys will still go for an extreme cut regardless.

I don't know people's views on harm reduction but this seems to be a good example of it being implemented correctly. It used to be viewed as more detrimental to cut weight regardless and the science of doing it and how to do it was less refined. If you took modern fighters and reinstituted same day weigh ins, the cuts would be reduced slightly in scale (fewer pounds) but the danger in the fights increased a lot because people would still be shaving off a lot more than in the 1950s, for example.

 

Then the fighter either needs to show up in shape or move up a wight class