Tough to say what THE worst was off the top of my head, but Roberto Duran used to blow up in a big way between fights. Pretty amazing that he'd often do that, and still had the longevity that he did. An absolute freak of nature he was. Other than that, I remember reading that Orlin Norris had to cut something like 34 pounds in a month before a Cruiserweight title defense vs. Nate Miller. He was clearly drained in the fight and was KO'd in the 8th.
Yep, I remember Tim Ryan working with Gil Clancy on the Duran Hearns fight say Duran was over a 190 pounds 2 months before he had to make 154. That has got to weaken you,,,,,,but it was common for Duran after the age of 30.
BW champ Richie Sandoval brought a premature end to his career when he drained himself down from a non-title fight at FW in order to defend his title vs. powerpuncher Gaby Canizales. Canizales brutally KO'd Sandoval & he was never able to fight again. Bobby Chacon struggled terribly to make weight for his FW title defense vs. Ruben Olivares, & Rockabye Ruben (despite being past his prime) easily dispatched him in 2 rounds. Fighting Harada was known to train down from as high as 147 for his BW title defenses.
Yes, I believe he used to get up to 200 between fights on occasion when he was in his mid 30s or so. Seems that would be hard on the body and would have shortened his career, but he fought until he was around 50 years old. He actually outpointed a still useful Jorge Castro at the age of 46. Not sure how to explain the longevity he had other than just freakish genetics. He was totally opposite of Hopkins, who also was still effective in his mid to late 40s. Hopkins always stayed in shape and never let his weight get out of hand from what I've read. Pretty amazing that Duran lasted as long as he did by doing the opposite. Also should be noted that Duran was no Floyd Mayweather when it came to avoiding punishment. Always found his longevity a little baffling.
According to this site, and other reports, Zurdo put on 29lbs between weign in and fight night vs Dominic Boesel - https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-ne...ted an absurd 29,with the much smaller Boesel. That's the highest rehydration weight gain I recall hearing of.
Wasn’t Gans’ cut to 133 for the first Nelson fight the cause of his tuberculosis? If so, that definitely deserves a nomination. And even then, he still put on a clinic.
Riddick Bowe used to balloon between fights. Must have effected his longetivity, never really reached the peak of the 1st Holyfield fight.
Donald Curry was pretty drained before his fight with Lloyd Honeyghan, I think he had to lose a lot of weight the week of the fight, Like in the above mentioned Richie Sandoval's case in the same year and both fights ended u around the same time! Wilfredo Gomez struggled to get down in weight towards the end of his reign at 122.
