There is this big debate concerning weigh-ins, but the answer to this is easy. Prize fighters have to act professional. If you’re serious about the craft of boxing, then make the weight.
Very simple.
If you can’t make that weight, move up or move down. Sometimes it’s not that easy because there are financial risks at other weight classes and some fighters don’t carry the same power at certain weight divisions. But having weigh-ins the day of the fight doesn’t work, especially for a sport that needs as much hype prior to fight night as it can.
Most fighters are professional enough to watch their weight during training so that come the day of the weigh-in there’s no problem in doing so. As your body gets older, it picks up more weight, but as several older fighters can attest, Bernard Hopkins for one, making weight is easy. It’s when you don’t that puts a fighter and his opponent at risk health wise.
Diego Corrales is the latest fighter to miss weight at a weigh-in and instead of not following through with the fight, he stepped into the ring. Corrales lost a split decision to Joel Casamayor in Las Vegas last week, not because he wasn’t as good. He lost because of his weight on the scales. Yes, Corrales apologized and asked for forgiveness, and is always professional in and out of the ring, but he knows better.
He wasn’t handling his business.
Now he has no title.
Corrales most likely needs to move up in weight, probably to welterweight. It’s the best thing not only for him but for the sport. The biggest fights in that division are Corrales and Shane Mosley or even Corrales and Antonio Margarito. Or how about Oscar De La Hoya meeting Corrales at 147? Now, that’s an interesting fight.
The reality is, Corrales won’t have the punching power at 147, but that’s where the money is. He could fight at 140 and meet somebody else. But welterweight is where he’ll go.
And that’s a good thing.
The bad part is he lost a title at lightweight before realizing his weight is costing him fights and maybe a career.
Margarito in action Antonio Margarito defends his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey on Dec. 2 on Showtime. Wow.
It was a few months ago that Margarito was complaining about not finding Floyd Mayweather. Then, I heard something about Golden Boy Promotions offering Margarito three opponents, all worthy. Now, we get the No. 5 contender in the WBO against Margarito on Showtime.
“I hear many people say that I am the best welterweight in the world, but I also get angry that Floyd Mayweather says he’s the best pound for pound and he refuses to fight me,” Margarito said. “Everyone says that he is scared. He says it’s because I haven’t fought the best fighters.”
Besides Kermit Cintron, can anybody tell me who Margarito has fought of substance?
Don’t forget Calzaghe After such a long layoff, don’t forget Joe Calzaghe meets Sakio Bika on HBO tonight. Calzaghe is the IBF super middleweight champion, if you forgot. He beat Jeff Lacy pretty easily in March 2004.
In fact, we’re wondering if Lacy is retired. He’s expected to fight in December. If so, that’s way too long for that guy to be out of the ring, coming off such a one-sided loss to Calzaghe. As for Bika, he’s pretty good, but not good enough to win.
Notes Here’s what happens when mainstream media and newspapers forget about boxing. Boxing writers turn to the internet. Welcome Bernard Fernandez from the Philly Daily News. … I know the names don’t register on Joe Spina’s resume, but I think he’ll beat Peter Manfredo tonight in Providence, RI.
