Is there a way to no weight bullies in boxing??

Yes, Same day weigh ins

 

They aren't going to do same day weigh-ins due to the health risks. But of course these huge weight cuts are dangerous as well.

I'd like to see rehydration clauses. Fighters always have and will push themselves to boil down to a lower weight, but I think rehydration clauses strike a nice balance between a guy who is too drained to fight and one who has ballooned up to an absurd weight.

 

If making weight involves health risks you have no business in that weight class to begin with.
Same day weigh ins is the one and only answer.

 

No, there's a reason they moved away from them to begin with. The safest and most sensible way forward is rehydration limits.

 

If you dont like the boxer and they win= "Weight Bully"

If you do like the boxer and they lose ="Drained"

 

What about same day weigh ins with timed weigh ins leading up to the fight. That way the cut is done in a controlled timeframe and it doesnt allow for coming in 15-20 lbs heavier on fight night. The weight difference will be reduced to such a small difference that it doesnt have effect and there are no health risks.
Problem solved.

 

I don't think that's administratively feasible. Are the orgs going to send someone to hang out at a fighter's camp for two weeks? Rely on Zooms?

I think some version of what you are talking about is good, but realistically it needs to be a post-weight hydration clause.

 

Rehydration clauses (no more than 10-15lbs). The most sense would be same day weigh ins but someone would end up pushing the envelope.....................

 

Same day weigh ins may be too dangerous, I think set rehydration clauses are the way forward, say 15 pounds.

 

Arguably having to fight a bloke 15-20lbs heavier than you is a risk to health, too.

At least fighting dehydrated is a risk to the guy who can't make weight properly himself - in some sense it's the lesser evil to allow people to make stupid decisions about their own health rather than allowing them to gain excessive advantages that could feasibly put an innocent opponent at risk.

Maybe there's something to be said for multiple weigh-ins - 2-3 days before AND on the day to avoid excessive dehydration ballooning up to way over weight?

 

It would need to be a % based on weight class, as 15 pounds might be okay for LHW but not for LW.

 

As Andre Ward has said, and many other fighters. A rehydration clause, after the weigh-in is worse because a fighter can’t simply relax, and you have to maintain a dehydrated state longer, before you can let loose and simply give your body all you feel it needs without constraints. Studies have also shown that prolonged periods of dehydration are much more dangerous than acute ones.

Same day weigh-ins is the answer. Should’ve never moved from it. They still use it in amateur boxing. Only an idiot would come in dehydrated trying to gain 25lbs 3-5 hours before their fight. The vast majority will, like in amateur boxing, fight at the weightclass they’re actually competing at. There, problem solved.

 

Agreed.

Move weigh-ins back to the day/afternoon of the fight.

Boxers used to do this all the time, especially back in the days when they were fighting several times a month (or a week).

Fighters would enter the ring at their fittest "performance weight." If your fittest performance weight is 165, then you wouldn't be competing in the 140-pound division anymore. You'd be a super middleweight.

That's why the weight classes have a "span" of weights. 161-to 168 is super middle. You rarely see a guy in a super middleweight fight anymore coming in at 162 or 163. They just dry out to barely make 168 for a few seconds on the the scale, and then they balloon back up again.

The weight classes became pointless when people started doing that.

How can someone be the champion of a division that he couldn't actually step in the ring and compete in because he's too emaciated?

Also, when fighters weighed in on the day of the fight, most boxers remained in the same division for years, if not their whole careers. Because their fittest, best actual fighting weight tends to stay the same weight for a long period.

 

I think the question is whether less dehydration for an extra two days is better or worse than more severe dehydration for a shorter amount of time. A fighter would not be the person to answer that question.

If medical professionals say it's roughly the same, then I agree it's simpler to do a single weigh-in day of the fight. But I suspect they would argue against on the basis that rehydration limits give you additional insight into a fighter's fitness. If having to sustain a dehydrated state makes fighters less likely to attempt huge cuts, that's a good thing.