Think about the guys of recent years who have moved up multiple weight classes. And you don't find too many guys finding sustained success and if they do they are usually defensive fighters. Those who don't rely on walking people down and getting into exchanges have an easier time moving up in weight. Those fighters don't rely as much on physicality and it's hard to be physical against much bigger men. Almost all these guys when they move up in weight eventually find that guy who is just too big. And that seems to come at around the 3rd or 4th weight they try to win a title in. They may even have some success at the higher weight classes, but it's usually short lived. And they usually end up getting destroyed by a bigger guy. And they almost never have the same power and toughness that they had at the lower weights.
But at the same time you have guys that are, for example, natural middleweights fighting at Jr WW. So when they move up to say Jr MW they're fighting fighters that are boiling down from Super MW. That's why I believe same day weigh ins need to be brought back. Fighters would be fighting at more appropriate weights, and that would lead to, in my opinion, more competitive fights.
Yes people dehydrate the day before, but mostly all fighters are doing it. It's not like you have a couple fighters here and there cutting big weight and then blowing up on fight night and crushing little guys. Because their opponent is also cutting weight. People always point to guys moving up in weight and getting these big fights. When almost every single time the little guy moving up from 3, 4, 5 weight classes below just gets ****ing clobbered. And then everybody is like "wow he's not that great of a fighter after all". Or "what a great win" when he knocked out a little guy. The more I study the history of boxing the little guy almost always and I mean that he's almost always get his ass kicked. The rare exceptions do exist. Guys like Pacquiao, Robinson, Duran, etc. who beat the daylights out of bigger guys, but that is extremely rare.
Roman Gonzalez, Nonito Donaire, Kazuto Ioka, Akira Yaegashi, Robert Guerrero, Jorge Arce... I don't know, if you look at the recent 3 or 4 weight division titlists, not so much a trend of being offensive or defensive minded/skilled. Everything you are saying is at least generally agreeable on principle and logic, for sure. But your claim of offensive/defensive hasn't translated as you say. Maybe pointing to the opposite of your claim, actually.
And Gonzalez was laid out by a much bigger man. If the situations were reversed and Gonzalez was the natural 115 pounder and Rungvisai was coming up from Minimumweight the fight would have likely gone differently. Taking nothing away from Rungvisai, but Gonzalez is a brawler/puncher/swarmer. Who tried to mix it up with a bigger man and he get leveled by a stronger guy.
To say he was the smaller guy who lost is to ignore that he was the smaller guy who won several big time fights for years before that.
Which brings me to previous point of little guys can have some success at unnatural higher weights. But it's usually short lived. I'll ask again if the situations were reversed and Gonzalez was the natural 115 pounder and Rungvisai coming 3 weight classes from his first world title would the fight have played out differently. I suspect it would.
1. He conquered 105. Then moved up and showed great form at 108. Then he moved up and conquered 112, winning several big fights. It wasn't like he was successful for one match or one year. His career is moving up through weight and dominating. So he eventually lost. That's true for all fighters. Make no mistake, tinman, Roman Gonzalez is an example against your claim.
2. That is a ridiculous hypothetical question you are throwing out there. You are basically saying, "so if they were two completely different fighters in a mythical world and one was smaller than the other..." Obviously if you know nothing else, size would be a decent and relevant predictor of what may happen, at least more so than anything else. But that would be like claiming, "big guy in the match is always the favorite." It doesn't work like that.
Perhaps, but I am a guy who believes in the concept of best natural fighting weight. And for Gonzalez 115 pounds is clearly not it. Does anybody believe that if you shrunk Rungvisai down to a Roman Gonzalez size fighter that he walks through him with that ease? I do not.
Too much pressure for fighters to fight at too high a weight! Gonzalez made a mistake going up in weight. Lomachenko should not go up in weight until he is ready, only if he can carry the weight. I love to see his foot work and skills, don't want him to get fat and slow down, but that's what his haters want.................Fighters should never go up in weight unless it is right for them, such as Hagler..............
