The Guardian newspaper tomorow

[kierny]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/ma ... nald-mcrae

[n1ebf]

I hope you go from strength to strength Kieran and thankfully it sounds like it could have been worse. This sort of thing will happen again as it happen to a good buddy of mine a not so long ago, brain bleed. The weigh-in, losing moisture in the skull sounds key to be honest. What is the answer to make a it a fair fight? I do not know but it's pretty unacceptable in these days of knowledge and science for people to be starving their bodies and then fighting for half an hour and also some people refuse to buckle, it's just the way they are.

[MarkMcBurney]

The answer is to weigh in a week before a fight, not a day.

As long as fighters wear gloves they will cut anything out to make weight, be it the day of the fight or not, but a week is a long time, long enough for your body to recover and properly refuel from the effort required from some fighters to make weight.

How different could we have seen things for Ricky Hatton in certain fights if he wasn't totally drained? Or Oscar De La Hoya who totally fucked up against Manny.

That has to be the safe way. I can't see weigh ins on the same day being any safer at all, in fact it will IMO be more dangerous as in this instance Kieran would still be severely dehydrated.

All the best Kieran.

Viva Las Vicious.

[Hagler2002]

The answer is to weigh in a week before a fight.

[MarkMcBurney]

The answer is to weigh in a week before a fight.

Give me a reason why not?

When Adrien Broner gains 18 pounds in 36 hours before a fight it makes a mockery of being at whatever weight the fight is at anyway, and is downright dangerous having that sort of swing in fluids etc in your body. Particularly since the vast majority of your brain is water.

[mfc_se15]

Really good article that.

[Mensa07]

same-day weigh ins for me, and if a fighter can't make that weight safely then they shouldn't be fighting there.

[Hagler2002]

The answer is to weigh in a week before a fight.

Give me a reason why not?

When Adrien Broner gains 18 pounds in 36 hours before a fight it makes a mockery of being at whatever weight the fight is at anyway, and is downright dangerous having that sort of swing in fluids etc in your body. Particularly since the vast majority of your brain is water.

If a fighter weighed in 7 days in advance they would be able to boil down even further known they had a full week to regain their strenght. You would see more than any 18lb gain with some fighters making it even more dangerous IMO.


Is that a good enough reason?

[cutthecacklebullyup]

Very moving article, good luck to the kid with his gym!

Hopefully this can educate young boxers even more on the dangerous routine of drying out.

[cutthecacklebullyup]

Disagree with most if the above same day /day before etc. boxers will still dry out to make the weight . A week before and you will kid 13 stone welters in the ring it wouldn't work!
The only way I can see is daily weight checks on the week leading up to the fight with guidelines in place whereby only designated safe amounts are to be lost within certain timeframes . However I understand that this is probably not practical

[Trojans44]

This thread is a really good example of the denial fans are in about how terrible boxing is for the brain. Where in that article is there a medical opinion stating that dehydration was the primary factor in this? The primary factor is very clearly getting punched in the head.

And the fight where this doent happen or you dont get Ko'd arent free either. I would wager most boxers leave a ring with some of form of concussion. Multiple conccusions are extremly likely to lead to alzheimers, parkinson and all manner of other brain injuries. When people say 'oh his punch resistance has gone' the reality is that means the fighter's is already damged to the extent it can no longer cope with blows it once could.

All the evidence shows that boxing is catasphrophic for the health of fighters.

[thepocketrocket]

I remember messaging Shane Thomas (who was security) throughout the night asking how things were going. I really expected to wake up to a horrible headline.

KF proved even tougher in this fight than he was in the ring. I am glad he is not being lost to the sport

[MarkMcBurney]

If a fighter weighed in 7 days in advance they would be able to boil down even further known they had a full week to regain their strenght. You would see more than any 18lb gain with some fighters making it even more dangerous IMO.


Is that a good enough reason?

I disagree. I mean I agree that some fighters will boil down more but if they've got a week to regain what they've lost then that's far more healthy than same day or previous day weigh ins, IMO.

[Mensa07]

if 2 boxers fight at 160lb+, but they weighed 147 a week ago, is that a welterweight fight?

[Hagler2002]

If a fighter weighed in 7 days in advance they would be able to boil down even further known they had a full week to regain their strenght. You would see more than any 18lb gain with some fighters making it even more dangerous IMO.


Is that a good enough reason?

I disagree. I mean I agree that some fighters will boil down more but if they've got a week to regain what they've lost then that's far more healthy than same day or previous day weigh ins, IMO.

So what would stop Broner boiling down to 130lbs fighting at Super Featherweight and then 7 days in advance been 23lbs heavier? It sort of defeats the object.

[grub]

[quote="

Having a top weight limit?[/quote]

This is perhaps a way forward...limit the amount of weight that can be gained between weigh-in and fight. The amount could be proportional to the weight class.

I might be wroing but I think the IBF were doing this fairly recently and Gamboa was stripped of a title for failing to attend an 'interim' pre-fight weigh-in. TBH its the only time I've seen reference to it and I've no idea if they still insist on it.

[Mensa07]

if 2 boxers fight at 160lb+, but they weighed 147 a week ago, is that a welterweight fight?

They weigh 147 the day before and come into the ring 160 the day after now. What would be the difference if it was a week?

Agreed, I'm in the same-day camp.

What's the point in having weight classes if you can enter the ring at virtually any weight you please.

[Coco]

You would have cruiser weights coming in at 9st

[Coco]

People would be cutting too much weight if they weighed in over a week before, it would be far more sensible to have same day weigh ins, there often is too much of a weight difference when it is the day before

[TheCobra]

Excellent article and I agree with the other guy, people going on about weight-making seem to miss the point a bit, seems like this was a 10-round war taking Farrell into deep deep water that he'd never been in before. That is the great danger of pro boxing, but it is one that makes boxing what it is, great bravery from the lad Farrell and I hope he gets that gym going and has a good career.

[Final round]

An engrossing article and distressing subject matter but great news that Keiran has recovered from the brink, he left the sport with a warriors performance and hopefully he can still have a normal life.

I suppose it would be impossible for a Doctor to surmise whether a full rehydrated person would have suffered the same injury.

[kierny]

Just to go from my experiences I actually weighed 134lbs and rehydrated to over 152lbs, the night I was taken in I weighed 147lb after 10round fight sweating cobs and I was severely dehydrated, that was 13lb heavier than I weighed in at the day before.
A fighters mentality, me personally the opportunities came at lightweight and I was never going to be beat on the scales.
Boxing is what it is, it's dangerous but we all no the consequences of the sport, you just think your not gonna be that 1 who it happens to, still unreal today it's happened to me.
Any regrets? None whatsoever, if I did it again I'd of probably moved to lightwelteright as I grown.
I don't think there is a answer, maybe have a test of water levels and if your water levels are unsatisfactory then they should stop the fight from going ahead simply because the brains protected by a layer of fluid what you minimise when making weight