What happened when the rule was changed from same day weight in to the day prior?

Floyd needed 750 ml IV

 

It happened gradually. I believe the WBC was the first to do it. (Just like they were the first to go from 15 to 12 rounds.) It was all in response to fighters weighing in the day of the fight, and then fighting 15 rounds, and people were dying because they were dehydrated and couldn't defend themselves in those longer fights.

For instance, Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran weighed in the day of their fights in 1980. And Leonard said he lost so much weight during their first 15-rounder that he was a lightweight (135) after the bout. (And it was a cold night in Monteal. If it had been hot, he'd have been in big trouble.)

But you didn't notice a big shift all at once when they first made the change, because the pros at that time were comfortable fighting at the weight they weighed in at. So they weren't in a hurry to add weight. They didn't see the benefit.

When you began noticing it was when "ordinary" fighters started winning belts in multiple divisions. Guys like Duke McKenzie, for example.

Keep in mind that when Alexis Arguello moved up to lightweight to fight Jim Watt, and Wilfred Benitez moved up to beat Maurice Hope (when weigh ins were still the same day) in 1981... Arguello and Benitez were only the fifth and sixth guys in BOXING HISTORY to win titles in three divisions.

It was big news because they both did it on national TV a couple weeks apart. But in the first 81 years of the 20th century, only four people had ever won titles in three divisions. (Nobody had won titles in four.)

So moving up THREE DIVISIONS was a huge deal.

Just the very best guys -- like Henry Armstrong, Bob Fitszimmons, Arguello, Benitez and like two others did it in the WHOLE HISTORY of the sport.

But, after they moved the weigh ins to like 30 hours or so before the fight ... you gradually started to see younger pros start out in the lighter divisions than they normally would.

And then you started seeing people win titles in four, five and six divisions.

The first guy who stood out for me was Oscar De La Hoya. He fought in the amateurs at 132. And everyone thought he'd be a lightweight for a while and then win his first title at 140.

But Oscar turned pro and won his first "world" title at 130. Before that, you didn't really see fighters turn pro and MOVE DOWN in weight.

And then it got to the point where people like Andre Ward would fight in the Olympics at 178, and then when he turned pro, he fought below 160. When he had to keep weighing in before Olympic fights, he was in the 170s. But, as a pro, he could dry out and fight much smaller guys.

:roll:

Most guys who fought at 178 in the Olympics - like Muhammad Ali, Leon Spinks, Evander Holyfield - went up to heavyweight when they turned pro. NOT MIDDLEWEIGHT.

So, in answer to your question, there wasn't a shift at first. Because the fighters were comfortable fighting at the weights they weighed in at.

But if they moved it back to the day of the fight, every title below heavyweight would probably be vacated. And you'd see champs at 140 suddenly fighting as middleweights.

It's gotten pretty ridiculous.

That's why I think it's weird when people compare lower-weight fighters from the past with current fighters.

If you were comparing Canelo with anyone, you should be comparing him with guys like Matthew Saad Muhammad. Because Muhammad weighed well under 175 when he was the champ. And that's basically what Canelo weighs when you see him in the ring today.

 

It wasn't. You didn't see established pros moving down. The only one I recall was Sugar Ray Leonard, who went from fighting Hagler at 160 and Lalonde and Hearns at 165 or so, to fighting Terry Norris at 154. But that didn't help him.

You really started to see it when you followed what people weighed as amateurs and then where they turned pro.

But that came later. You could see it with the 1992 Olympic class. Guys like De La Hoya winning his first title at 130 (when he weighed more as an amateur).

Before the 1990s, before all the orgs adopted it, fighters who moved up tended to look fatter or much less defined (or cut).

After the 1990s, when everyone was weighing in the day before, fighters would look gaunt and skeletal at the weigh in and look healthier when they moved up. And they'd move up five and six divisions.

You used to get two fit guys who were the same size fighting.

Now you get two guys basically competing in a diet contest ... to see who can dry out and make some odd catchweight that they wouldn't be able to function at and they won't be anywhere near by the time fight starts ... and then they rehydrate and they aren't the same weight class when they get in the ring.

It's all screwed up.

 

Excellent account of this DC. It's great hearing your perspective on this.

 

It went from gulping water to IVing saline.