Catchweight

That being said, I can see the argument for "uhh, well, they shouldn't be limited in how much they can weigh. They should be allowed to weigh what they want." But, if both fighters agree to the weight, then it can't be that unfair. Don't say it's unfair cuz one guy has all the pull, don't do it if it's that big of an issue.

 

But why would Williams want a catch weight? He is way taller than Martinez! I can understand why Williams insisted on his judges, ref, venue, etc., but catch weight?

 

But there is a limit.

Pacquiao and Margarito have agreed that both must come in weighing 151 lbs; no more, no less.

And 151 is still apart of the Light Middleweight division.

Therefore, they are still technically fighting in the Light Middleweight division but just not at the max division weight. N'est-ce pas?

 

Once more, 157 lbs is between 155 and 160, which is still technically in the Middleweight division.

So the titles are right to be defended there, especially if they both agreed.

Why they do it I can't answer, you'll have to ask them yourself.

 

I don't par le 'vous the francais, but yea. I get that they decided to limit it, but I was saying that's between the fighters. I was just saying what the argument against it usually tends to be.

 

this however, especially in Pac's case, is not two fighters of equal pull making a concession


i see you try and discredit that concept in your next sentence, but you don't actually give any verification


do you really think margo is in the position to say no to this fight, at whatever demands roach and pac want?

do you really think arum wasn't pressuring cotto, especially after his beat down?

if they want to fight at a catch, then fine...but not for a vacant title within a weight class that neither of them are active, or have any significant wins in

it's just wrong for so many reasons (namely those who are actually active in the division)

 

Noted. However, the WBC have decided they wanted Pacquiao to fight their International JrMW champion, so they gladly put up the title for them. Margarito's suspension was up so they quickly ranked him and gave him a 2nd/3rd tier title shot. It's legit for them, it's not like when they gave Rafa Marquez their stupid silver belt at 122 when his fight was at 126 that he won it in.

Margarito could have just continued fighting on those **** Latin Fury cards. He didn't have to fight Pacquiao, he was even clamoring for the fight when he came back from suspension. There were quotes from him all over the Scene, so it's not like he was grabbed by the arm and was told to fight Pacquiao. He wanted the fight, he agreed to the demands for it, so he's getting it. It wouldn't be any different than if Shane had agreed and really did cut to 142 to fight Manny, which was both impossible for him to do safely and an incredibly stupid idea on his part anyways.

 

This is the kind of thing hurting the sport

It is no way legit...it's a money grab by the WBC

Margo gets slaughter at 147

suspended (cheating)

one fight at 154 vs. a nobody

and gets a title shot at 154?

so losing, getting caught cheating, then moving up in weight to fight a nobody gets you a title shot....hmmm


pacquio

ODLH at 147

down to 140 for hatton

Up to 145 for cotto

147 for clottey

then 151 for a vacant title

(at least pac is winning, but shouldn't get a shot at the the 154 title w/o fighting some kind of eliminator)


So here you have two guys who have done nothing in JrMW getting a shot at a vacated title at 151....the fact that the WBC had margo at the top of the contender list after that nobody fight makes things look even fishier


and, lets not leave out cotto


gets the beating of his life at 147

beats a guy that is hardly, if at all, world class

goes life and death with clottey

loses to pac...then because he moves up he gets a title shot?


the moral is, if you lose...move up and get a free shot at a title



it's sad, and as much as i am critical of pac....i think the fact that margo is getting a title shot is more disgusting...and i think pac fighting in these kinds of fights is going to hurt him more than help him (legacy wise) later down the road [and what i mean by that is his title chase is being ruined by the ABCs dishing out titles like candy]

 

I tend to agree. The WBC is horrible about their title policies.

However, downplaying Margo's abilities to challenge Pacquiao sorta takes away from Shane's victory over him. He was the underdog and he beat the **** out of Margo's head until he finally went down. It's a hell of a beating to take from someone who is considered one of the strongest welters and take 9 rounds of it before you finally fall down. That was the victory that Shane was riding on when he fought Mayweather.Margo was the man at welter, not the way Carlos Baldomir beat a mentally weak Judah to become the man. Margo was tough and, loaded gloves potentially not withstanding, was beating people. I also pointed out to that Humberto Sotosexual guy that keeps posting that the WBC doesn't always stick to mandatories, putting number 1 contenders through title eliminators, things of that sort. Albert Snosnowski got to jump over Ray Austin as Vitali's number 1, as is Shannon Briggs.

The other half of the equation is Ol Bob's boner for keeping the fights in house to fill his coifers. Which is a strange thing for him to do considering his age and how he'll likely be dead by the midpoint of this decade, if not shortly thereafter. Probably wants to be buried with his coins.
Cotto is a high profile fighter, I'm sure the WBA had no issue giving him a shot based on his name and Top Rank promoting both he and Yuri.

While history will include a few caveats for Manny's 8 title classes should he beat Margo, the 8th class will probably be the most nitpicked. But it's still amazing for him to have come from being a Flyweight to a JrMW. That's almost half of the current number of weight classes. You'd see it more often if it was that easy.

 

This ^^^^^^ :thumbsup

 

If a fighter is fighting for a title in a weight class he should be able to weigh in at the division maximum weight.

I.e If you are fighting for a JrMW title then you should be able to weigh-in at 154 lbs.

 

^ yeah why is the pound for pound #1 fighter in the world having to squeeze out a catchweight into the contract as well?

 

Having P4P Pac to hold the WBC title is good for Suleiman, it's good promotion, and reputation enhancement, and sanctioning fees. That's why he sanctioned it = $$$!!

 

Right but most likely even if Mosley fought Margarito at Super Welter he wouldn't have used a catchweight to face him

and Manny probably will be under the catchweight, it wouldn't shock me one bit, I just don't like the dragging his opponent down with him

it's bad enough the two of them are fighting for a vacant Belt, why throw in the weight restrictions? Of course 151 = Super Welter by virtue of being too heavy for Welterweight but divisions are defined by the max weight allowed (old argument but you get the idea)

Different example but the Heavyweight division is anything over 200 lbs but I've yet to see a boxer forced to come in at 220

and I never liked the argument for Manny using catchweights saying, "oh it doesn't make a difference"

well if that's the case then why bother putting 145 or 151 into the contract?

if Manny can beat the guy "at any weight" like Roach says put up or shut up and actually do it.

The pound for pound #1 fighter shouldn't be trying to weasel out little advantages like the fight weight. And funny that Manny's the one using catchweights when the concept of Pound For Pound is based around who is the best fighter regardless of weight

 

Delahoya was supposed to knock him the **** out
Hatton was the first live opponent he had since marquez
Cotto was supposed to knock pacquiao out

All the excuses comes out after pac wins. :-(