Getting rid of the dreaded catch weight?

Are you being purposely dense just to have something to argue? The argument you are making is the equivalent to saying that if two fighters decide to come in at the current welter limit of 147 then it's no longer a welter fight and is now a junior middle fight. Can you see how you sound now? The welter range would still be 140-147, you just be made to come in at the lower limit instead of the upper. If the overlap is confusing you so much then change it to 141 in your mind, just so long as you get the concept.

 

If that's the way people need to think of it then yes, that's correct. Changing the weight requirement to the lowest ensures you are deep within your own weight class, which better ensures you are in your correct class. It definitely does away with catch weights for fighters who were already in the same weight class. And it greatly diminishes the chance for catch weights overall except for the biggest of fights since guys are fighting closer to their truer weight.

 

Ok, let me explain me this one more time because I think people still can't see what this means. I think people are assuming this must be the same somehow and I assure you, it's not. We'll use three "fictional" fighters as an example, one with a walk around weight of 160, the next, 155, and the other 150. With the way it is today are three of these guys fight at welter, the small guy fights there because it's more lucrative to do so. The big guy loses 13lbs to get to 147.

Now the small guy and big guy want to fight, but because of the size disparity the small guys wants a catch weight, and just like that we have drama. Now let's say they have to weigh at the lower end of the scale, this throws catch weight out the window, and 160 pound has to lose a whopping 20 lbs to get to the now required 140 lower welter side (or figure it from 141 if it confuses you) you can practically throw this scenario out the door and you would definitely not feel sorry for this guy as he would obviously be fighting out of his weight class and be doing so strictly for an attempted advantage.

I find this even more interesting, the 155 er would have to drop 15lbs, that's more than what the 160 guy had to drop with the old rules!! Now even though the 155 er is only 5lbs apart walk around weight from the 150 er walk around, he would still have to seriously consider whether he wanted or could fight at that weight!! And if he did, he may just be giving the draining advantage the smaller man needs and this is all without anyone ever having to hear any arguments or complaints or excuses about catch weights! The 150 er would run into the same problem if he tried to go lower to junior welter as he would be losing 15 lbs himself to get to 135-136. As you can see, catch weights would be far less, and people much closer in size would be fighting each other.

 

I don't think I ever referred to the lower side as being a limit but whatever, fighters can come in as low as they want. You're going to have to change your thinking to get what I'm saying. 140-47 would still be welter, except now the upper limit is only there to indicate where the next weight class starts. But you cannot come in higher than what the low side is recognized as, in this case 140. That's it, pretty cut and dry, and please don't say a new limit has been created because it hasn't, 147 is still where the class ends, it's just no longer recognized as a limit. As matter of fact, it would probably be best to throw limit out of your vocab, a mandate is probably more correct.