A short (incomplete) history of catchweight fights in boxing

Good read.

I don't really think you can judge a catchweight fight on any sort of former precedent, as they are very situational and each has greatly varying factors (the varying title positions shown in the OP is proof of that much).

Another consideration when comparing the much older examples of catchweights is the fact that fighters didn't necessarily manipulate weight limits as they do today. Plenty of fighters weren't at the edge of their healthy weight loss limit, and their weights fluctuated 3-4 pounds regularly. The issue of same day vs day before weigh-ins needs to be mentioned.

In the Armstrong - Jenkins example for instance, the idea was to limit his weight for the sake of simply limiting the differentiation in weight (this may seem stupidly obvious), as Armstrong was use to fighting at 139, 140.5 etc in the lead up to the fight, so he clearly wasn't going to have any trouble making the weight.

In the case of Pacquiao - Cotto however, there is the greater issue of attempting to reduce Cotto's physical state, not just his weight, because he will likely weigh a similar amount on fight night regardless of the catchweight. The effect of same day weigh-ins versus day before weigh-ins is important when comparing the older examples with contemporary situations, it totally changes the nature of the situation.

Hopkins is just a freak though, no one can deny that, though he wasn't fighting a guy coming up in weight who had been destroying his recent opponents, so it is hard to compare the two situations from a negotiations standpoint.

*McGrain, you have started an epidemic now. Pacquiao huggers and Cotto haters are now sourcing your work all over the site as concrete evidence that the fight should be at Pacquiao's chosen catchweight, and with the title, when if anything your original post shows exactly that there is variability in each catchweight matchup, and factors dictating terms vary greatly.

 

the only reason i can think about why people are bitching so much about pac-cotto catchweight fight is that pacquiao's previous fights were all one sided beatdowns..

because of those previous fights, confusion arise weather the outcome of those fights were product of pacquiao being a great fighter or simply he's not that small of a fighter after all..

and since people doesn't want to admit to themselves about the greatness of one fighter, they tend to make themselves believe that pacquiao is probably a big guy fighting in lower weight divisions..

 

*sigh*

too bad this thread is based on the logic of, if they did it, that means its ok

so what if its happend before?? that dosent mean its right atsch

look at how many times fighters moved up and DIDNT fight at catch weights........

How do pac's nuts taste? Good? :blood

 

well these aren't exactly bums of the street. these are legends of the sport. Hopkins has done it throughout his career but his standing in the sport is not tarnished. i guess its double standards when its got anything to do with pac.

 

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Good thread.

Chavez vs Sweet Pea was also at a catchweight (145)

Along with Hearns vs. Leonard II (163)

 

it only makes the smaller guy look bad to be honest. and not just pac

 

Now list the (incomplete list) fights that needed NO catch weight when the little guy went up and fought the bigger guy. Lets compare the numbers, and see how many titles were on the line.

 

OK you make a complete list of all title fights in the history of boxing and we'll wait here.

 

people are forgetting that this is not just about pacquiao, i never seen a thread where cotto was appreciated or praised for conceding 2 lbs from the WW limit for fighting a smaller opponent..

i guess it's human nature to criticize, worst envy and hate rather than appreciate..

 

i think the TS just wanted to show us that what's happening now between cotto and pac is not new to boxing.

 

Thing is none of those fighters were strongarmed into putting thier titles on the line...

PS just a few side note.

-Norris fighting at less then 154 was the norm, he would most of the time be 2, or 3 pounds under the wieght anyways.

-It was Hopkins that said he would fight Oscar at 154, the only reason that the fight was set higher was that Oscar wanted a chance to fight for the middleweight titles...Once again Hopkins wasnt strongarmed into putting his titles on the line. But once again it was the Norm for Hopkins to come in at around that weight anyways.


My problem with the whole ****ing thing is Cotto being strongarmed, Pac used his advantage to get the fight were he wants the fight, cotto tried to use his leveage to get the fight were he wants it, but that was takent or is trying to be taken away from him. Sad that more people dont have a problem with that....Shows that we have fans of boxers and not boxing fans, nothing good can come of that situation no matter what fighter you back.

 

pacquiao is not moving up fyi and still a jww..

he's just challenging himself by fighting bigger guys in a reasonable and agreeable catchweight fights unlike other fighters cherrypicking opponents 2 divisions below..:deal

 

Fans know this, but fans also think that if PAc challenges a man, he should not do it on his own(Pac's) terms. Pac does not need a catchweight to beat Cotto, trust me.

 

Give everyone a break with the PAc dick riding ok:dead? We're all trying to have an intelligent conversation about catch weight fights.