Just pretend that we have got the time machine working..................

My take on it is that some would and some wouldnt.

Fighters have always dehydrated and then rehydrated themselves to make weight and before the 48 hour the rules were often bent to get the weigh in as far ahead of the fight as possible.

Having said that I doubt that Tommy Hearns could have fought at welterweight in the 1940s.

 

Fighters have always dehydrated then rehydrated to make weight. Before the 48 hor rule was introduced it was often stipulated in the contract that the weigh in would take place at midnight. Some fighters were more liberal in using this facility than others. When Robinson fought Jake LaMotta for the title he was basicaly a Jr middleweight fighting a lightheavy.

Even so the 48 hour weigh in rule did bump some fighters down a weight class since only so much was possible.