Just a small point of trivia: The first SMW title was an IBF title, and the first champion at 168 was Murray Sutherland; a man whose resume is littered with great fighters he lost to.
If a fighter wanted to he could fight 125 at 147..Its not smart and that is the reason that he dont happen. The reason that it happened so often in the old days was because fighters fought really close to thier walk around weight, were as today that come down alot of weight for fights. today its just a matter of not coming down as far. so to answer your question, In the 30 years that I have been in, around, and a fan of boxing I have never heard of a weight min....EXCEPT for heavyweights
Its not a rule of any of the ABC groups but many local state commissions have a min weight of 190 for heavyweights. It use to be 178 in many States years back. Not all states have that rule, in fact some states dont really have boxing commissions.
i did hear once i don't remember where that Armstrong had to go on a food binge and put on some weight before a fight or the comission wouldn't allow him to fight in one of the higher divisions
Roy Jones Jr Speaks About Postponement and Rescheduling of Calzaghe Fight Pensacola, FL -- Roy Jones Jr. discusses the postponement, the Joe Calzaghe injury and losing the September 20 date: It sounds to me as though Joe has a normal and usual injury. He had shown some concern recently about his hand not being ready. I still wanted to move forward with the September date, since HBO had already laid out the red carpet for a pay-per-view success when we took the De La Hoya-Mayweather date. But I dont want him to be no less that his best so if this is what it takes for that, then so be it.. Jones on proposed November date: I have been informed by my people at Square Ring that the fight will most likely be rescheduled for November 8, 2008 on HBO Pay-Per-View at Madison Square Garden . I am glad we are close to being able to put together a new date for the fight within 24 hours of learning of Joes injury. I am thankful that the people at HBO and Madison Square Garden were able to open things up for us. Now moving forward, Superman Roy Jones brilliant plan to fight Super Joe Calzaghe for titles in two weight classes has new life: I had originally proposed something kind of different for this fight. And that is that Joe and I would first weigh-in for the fight at 168 and fight for Joes Super Middleweight titles. Then we would step off the scales, drink some water and weigh-in again at more than 168 so that we could also fight for Joes Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight title. I only recall this happening once before, in the Leonard/Lalonde fight and I think it would really add something unique to the promotion. Joe initially expressed concern about his ability to make 168 by September 19, but now that we have another 7 weeks, I hope that he will go for it and that the WBA, WBO and the WBC will sanction it. On November 7, 1988, twenty years and one day ago from the new proposed fight date, Sugar Ray Leonard and Donny Lalonde fought for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight title and the WBC Light Heavyweight title. Leonard was knocked down early in the fight, but then stopped Lalonde at 2:30 of round 9
imo if played right, its a possibilty he can even go upto lhw and maybe even cw and win be 6 division champ, you may not agree with me and think of this as a ridiculous comment but hey, if floyd was still at 130 now or 135 we wouldnt see him winning a title at 154, pac also for example we didn't see that **** coming. So many examples of guys being successful as they move up in weight, toney, rjj so lets not throw out the idea because i believe he can. Williams is a ****ing beast
My answer to the original question is yes, but not yet. I think Paul could beat Sturm, but like I always say, Sturm ain't comin' out of his cave. Abraham has his itinerary set through November. After he loses to Pavlik, he'll cry about being weight drained and move to 168 where he won't get past the second tier guys. Unlike Abraham, Pavlik would not hide in a corner and let Paul take a decision by simply outworking him. Unlike Sturm, Pavlik would not come in thinking he is going to out box Paul. Pavlik is a beast at 160. He would come out and declare war. He'd maul and manhandle and bully Paul back to the ropes where he would unleash hell. Pav can match Paul's workrate. He can take Paul's best shots, and land 30% of his own shots with authority. He's bigger, stronger, and experienced with fighting middleweights and bigger men (About 1/3 of KP's fights were above 160.) KP is just all wrong for Paul. At present I can't see Paul beating Kessler or Taylor. And to think about Paul fighting Bika or Andrade is actually a little frightening. However, give this kid a few years, and he might do great things. I can see him ruling at 160 after Pavlik is gone, and maybe 168 down the road. Time will tell.
I think he can do it. Boo, I say Paul beats Abraham easy TBH. Kelly's the tough fight for Paul and probably too much for him until he matures fully into the higher weight classes. Kelly looked like he's improving last fight and was a bit faster so that fight is much more difficult for Paul now and I think would not be good for him until he makes a permanent move up. They could meet in a big fight within a few years I imagine and would probably make a hell of a fight.
The comments I've made about Williams since Saturday are all based on what I see as of right now. I'd like to see him quit with all the division hopping. He should settle in at 154, and make it Paul's house. After he cleans out and unifies 154, then look at moving up. Some of the biggest fights in history have come from dominant champions moving up to fight the dominant champ in the next division up. Somewhere down the road a Pavlik/Williams fight could be in the same class with Hearns/Haglar or Arguello/Pryor. Right now Pavlik/Williams would be Paul taking a career threatening beating. Styles make fights, and right now this one ain't about speed, bi-directional lateral movement, or smooth flowing combinations. It's about a good boxer getting mauled by a great bully.
He's not really the champ at 154, he has an Interim title which is worth ****, he should at least become full champ.
I honestly dont like williams with his calzagi style with a slight sense of bad intentions. But these guys cannot beat williams. He will not be knocking these guys out but he definatly will be beating them in desions. I think if paul williams faught calzagi it would be the only entertaining fight by zagi. Bigup to paul for ko tana tho
147, 154, 160. He already has titles at 147, job done. At 154 he's this "interim" champ, but I could see him beating Santos, Dzinziruk would be a tricky affair but one he could win also. At 160 there is nothing to say he couldn't outwork and pressurize Sturm who likes time to think. I think PW would be a nightmare for him, but thats presuming you can get him in the ring. I think he could potentially trouble Abraham who I am sure is suffering from making 160. So yes, I could envisage him winning titles in 3 weight divisions. I don't see anything beyond that unless he finds some weights and roids. He couldn't fill out 160, that means against middleweights he is giving away upto 10lbs on fight night. Against super middleweight that could equate to 15lbs or more. At light heavy that could equate to 20lbs or more.
Can? Sure, but he'd need to have some luck on his side to do it (i.e. weak beltholders in the higher weight classes). If he decides to box until his mid-to-late 30's, he'll naturally be a 168 pounder by then.