Myth: Roberto Duran has a better resume than Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Ofc they didn't. Outside of fringe cases, most fighters staying long in certain divisions meant that it was their best weight in the same day era. The generation after moved up through many more weight classes by comparison.

 

When have Corrales and Hatton ever come into the ring weighing 130 and 140 pounds respectively? They stayed at those weight classes because they could rehydrate by fight night.

 

In his autobiography, one of the reasons Hatton gave for his subpar performance vs Collazo was that he was 160lbs on fight night, whereas he said he was usually around 156lbs on fight night at LWW.

 

Corrales was a welterweight against Mayweather and that was one of his lower fight night weights. Older fighters cut weight but only to get themselves in fighting shape. A corrales in 1970s would have started at Welterweight.

 

Where did I say that? They weren't cutting so much as to fight at 50% on fight night. That's just straight stupid. A 130 pound Corrales in the ring would be a skeleton. If he was comfortable fighting at 130 pounds, he wouldn't rehydrate 10-15 pounds that he did.

 

No it doesn't. A Fighter who has never stepped inside the ring below 135 pounds won't suddenly become comfortable with being 130 pounds in the ring. I doubt Corrales or Hatton were even within 5 pounds of their division's weight inside the ring, so it makes the suggestion even more absurd.

 

It's called common sense. Why would they move down? The weight limit didn't change.

 

The average weight increase from weigh in to fight night, of the first 50 x fighters listed here is 11.84lbs - https://basementgymboxing.blogspot.com/2014/01/fight-night-boxing-weights-list-of.html

You're correct that when weigh ins first moved from same day to the day before, there wasn't a glut of boxers dropping a weight division. Serious question, do think that is because:

1) Boxers weight increased by c.12lbs from weigh in to fight night, during same day weigh ins in the 70's & 80's; or

2) When weigh ins first moved to the day before, boxers didn't add as much weight by fight night as they have done in, say, the last 10-years?

 

Oh but Ricky Hatton, well known as the measuring stick for all world class punchers.

 

Rehydrating 10 pounds in 10-12 hours?

Also the guy who probably never came in under 140 and would be less than 140 even after massive rehydration in the hypothetical scenario is unlikely to fight at his best.