If a fighter enters the ring 5lbs heavier than their opponent does it give them any kind of advantage?
The question should be, does an extra 5 pounds of weight cut make a difference, and apart from HW, yes it makes a difference. At Cruiser it might be moderate, middleweight major, and at 135, you actually should be fighting in a different weight class, which were created for a reason. By the time fight night comes along boxers can rehydrate a lot and need to do it carefully, because overeating can make you heavy but completely useless - it is the weight cut that is the real difference.
The question is not asked well. Whetether it is a HW or all categories? In smaller categories it is already P4P king, if he is successful. Naoya Inoue is example. Flyweight + 3lbs = Superflyweight + 3lbs = Bantamweight
I say 154 and above is not that big of a factor. Anything under is noticeable. You can physically the difference between a LWW and WW or a SFW and a LW.
I think above Middle it's not a big deal. The framing of the question could be better as we know some fighters can roll into the ring being 10-20 lbs heavier. So 5lbs is only a half or quarter measure to what can and does happen. 5lbs at the lightest will make quite a difference though.
At the lower weightclasses it is. If one light Flyweight enters the ring at 112 and the other at 117, you basically have a Flyweight fighting a Bantam on fight night.
I say its stops mattering after 140. 147 is a big jump and you start getting naturally much larger men who weight cut to it from 165+. 140 and down is mostly smaller guys.
5lbs isn't a whole lot - even in the minimum weights it's <5% total weight. But down there it does seem to make a pretty big difference, I assume that's why the gaps between divisions down there are so small. Even looking at 130 | 135 | 140 that's 2 divisional gaps that is that 5lbs I'd guess that once u get to welter and above 5lbs becomes less and less of a difference