When did cutting weight become a big part of boxing?

Guys in the lower weight classes have always cut weight. It is the main reason why most of the fatalities in boxing have come at the lower weights. When guys cut they lose some fluid in their head making them more susceptible to getting brain damage.

Weight cutting became a bigger thing after same day weigh ins were scrapped and guy got an extra 24 hours to cut weight.

 

It was the norm in the early 1900, with fighters weighing in at 3PM, at noon, etc, and gaining several pounds before entering the ring in the evening.

 

Boxers have always cut weight, though it has been taken to obscene levels since the advent of weigh-ins 24 hours before the fight. Many squeeze into divisions they have no right being in, knowing they have a full day to put on another 10-15lbs. Hence De La Hoya winning a "super featherweight" title whilst weighing as much as a welterweight and many other examples.

 

Is there solid evidence that losing a few pounds on the same day of a bout makes a fighter more susceptible to sustaining a fatal injury or getting brain damage in a bout? I feel having weigh-ins the day before bouts do much to defeat the purpose of having weight classes. When entering the ring for their bouts, boxers often weigh far more than their maximum weight class limits or have a tremendous weight advantage over their opponents.

I agree that taking off too much weight on the day of bouts can be hazardous to the boxers' health, but boxers should not be allowed to fight in weight classes which are far below their walking around weights. If a fighter cannot make weight without heroic measures, it may be time to fight in a higher weight class or quit the sport.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Guys should start weighing in 5 or 6 hours before fight time, until that happens, (which it probably won't because it makes too much sense) guy's will continue to die and get permanently injured..

Case in point Gatti, Gamanche...

 

Obviously it's been going on forever.

 

the better question might be when did making weight go in the reverse so to speak.

fighters used to walk around 5-10lbs outside their fighting weight and we're more interested in stepping up a division and fighting catch weight contests and then 'cutting' back to their own divisions when called upon to do so.

now they walk around 25 - 30lbs and more even, over their said weight division and have months to cut back down to supposed division.

When did this become the norm, I'm thinking mid 80s?

 

^ The Spinks-Mustafa Muhammad rematch was a big factor.

 

It really began in the 1980s when all of the organizations gradually moved weigh-ins to the day before the fights.

I've mentioned this before. When Benitez defeated Maurice Hope and Arguello defeated Jim Watt in a one-month period in 1981, it was big news because Arguello and Benitez were only like the fourth and fifth (or fifth and sixth) fighters in all of boxing history to win titles in THREE divisions.

That's because, prior to that, most guys fought in one or maybe two weight classes their whole careers because they weighed in the day of the fight. If you were weighing in a couple hours before you actually fought, you couldn't dehydrate yourself or you were dead.

So, for example, guys like Hagler, who fought his best weighing 157-159, weighed in at 157 and he faced other guys who weighed that much.

When they moved the weigh-ins to the day before the fights, boxers realized they could drop down to weights they could NEVER actually compete at and then rehydrate, eat several meals and add 18 pounds before the fight.

Suddenly, guys who actually fought at 147 could challenge for 130-pound titles, and 135-pound titles, and 140-pound titles without ever stepping in the ring at those weights. You had guys challenging for 130-pound titles who weighed 146 pounds when the bell rang (because they weighed in at 3 p.m. on a Friday and didn't fight until 10 p.m. on Saturday).

Marvin Hagler, if he turned pro today, could've conceivably challenged for 140, 147 and 154-pound titles, because he could re-hydrate 17 pounds in the 30 hours between his weigh in and the fight and still be ready to go.

From the beginning of boxing history thru 1980, only three or four boxers EVER had won titles in three divisions.

Now, people win titles in two divisions before they even face their first tough opponent.

Hell, Bernard Hopkins TURNED PRO at 175, then dropped down to 160 and won a middleweight title. And when he was finished, he moved up to 175. And people made a big deal that he won a light heavy title, but he was a light heavy the whole time. That's why he looked so much bigger than most of the guys he faced when defending his middleweight title.

That's why, over the past 30 years, it's gotten harder to compare fighters from different eras. Watch Arguello and Escalara fight for a 130-pound title. Then watch Adrien Broner fight for a 130-pound title. Broner looked huge at 130 compared to Arguello and Escalara because Broner wasn't 130 when he fought. He was a welterweight.

If they moved weigh-ins to the day of the fight, virtually every title in every division - with the exception of heavyweight and maybe cruiserweight - would all be vacated. Because ESSENTIALLY NONE of those guys could actually compete AT THE WEIGHT they hold titles in.

And, if they tried, they'd be dead after a couple rounds. Because they are totally dried out when they weigh-in.

 

EXACTLY!

and comparing fighters to past fighters you really have to compare them to fighters a division or two up in weight, because that's really what they are. No fighter today has to dryout and make a weight in quick time when they know they've got a 'luxurious 2 or 3 months to do so.

it's Boxing bull**** is what it is, and one of the many reason the sport suffers greatly today!

 

Actually, there is evidence that being dehydrated contributed to boxers suffering brain injuries. I can't name the studies specifically, but they were written about extensively when the decision was made in the 1980s to move weigh-ins to the day before the fight and also to reduce fights from 15 to 12 rounds.

When you are dehydrated, the blood vessels in your brain narrow and your brain receives less oxygen.

One of the reasons why heavyweights were always less susceptible to suffering fatal injuries in the ring - according to the studies - was that unlike fighters in other divisions, they entered the ring fully hydrated (because they didn't have to make weight).

You can get dehydrated during a fight, of course, but if you enter the ring already dehydrated, you're asking for trouble.

But I agree with you. Moving the weigh-ins to the day before may have caused even more problems, because now boxers are fighting outside their weight classes and you could argue there are more mismatches as a result.

As was the case in Gatti vs. Gamache, when Gatti added so much weight he should've been using a more-padded 10-oz. glove.

 

Fighters fought more frequently then and were probably in optimum condition all year

I think fights should do noon or morning weigh ins probably gain less than ten pounds while getting safely hydrated

As for same day weigh I a for safety I mean fights used to be outdoor and 15 rounds. Those 3 things are basically done and I guess it's safer in some ways despite weight disparity

 

Sounds plausible but this theory suggests that we would have seen plenty of boxers moving to lower weight classes when they changed the rules in the 1980s. I don't see any evidence that this actually happened.