IS THE WEIGH-IN PROCESS JUST A FALLACY?
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 25 Sep 2013
When boxing contracts are signed, one of the provisions in the contract is the weight the fighters must agree to make (contracted weight) during the so-called weigh-in which normally is done 24 hours before the actual fight.
In case one of the fighters does not come within that weight, one of these many things can happen: the boxer who came in under or on the nose of the stipulated weight can refuse to fight and the fight maybe canceled or he can insist that his opponent make weight or accept extra cash from the overweight opponent to compensate for the excess weight that may or may not put him in a disadvantage; or make his opponent wear bigger gloves. In addition, the boxer that didn?t make weight maybe penalized financially by the commission.
Take for instance when Floyd Mayweather Jr., fought Juan Manuel Marquez. Floyd came overweight and refused to shed the extra pounds. To compensate Marquez, it was said that Floyd paid $600,000. Floyd being the bigger fighter of course knocked down Marquez en route to win by a lop-sided decision.
On Saturday, Cesar Chavez, Jr fights Brain Vera at the StubHub Center in Carson. The fight will be shown live on HBO. Although the official weigh-in is not until Friday afternoon, word that circulates indicate that Chavez may not make 168 lbs and may ask for 173 lbs. as the limit.
Ronnie Shields, the trainer of Vera is furious because he found out that the promoters may set the weight limit after Chavez Jr steps on the scale although the contract Chavez and Vera signed is for 168 lbs.
What decision Team Vera will make will not be known until Chavez steps on the scales on Friday at 3PM at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
That in itself makes for an intriguing story and Philboxing will be there to cover the event.
This brings us to a very interesting situation.
Is the weigh-in process just a fallacy because people continue to thumb their noses on the ?contacted weight??
Should boxing continue to tolerate the likes of Joan Guzman who allegedly comes to fight without regards to the contracted weight?
This may sound stupid but why don?t we make the contracted weight what it really is.
Let?s put the scales by the dressing rooms and make the fighters step on it an hour before they go up the ring on fight night. True, it may disrupt the flow of the fights but that is a small price to pay to eliminate all the cheating associated with the ?contracted weight?. Besides, I am sure the honest fighters who work hard to make weight won?t mind.
If fighters come overweight, they should be fined a hefty 60 percent of their purses then let the fight proceed with the overweight boxer wearing heavier gloves.
Otherwise why have a weigh-in when fighters and promoters don?t respect it completely?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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