Not Making Weight---Not Making Sense

[caldo2025]

Something that has never really made sense to me is to me is the ruling in place for title fights in which the contender does not make weight and the champion does. Last nights fantastic fight between Quigg/Valdez for example: So Quigg couldn't make the agreed upon weight so that meant that Quigg could not win the belt last night with a win. But if Oscar Valdez lost, he would then lose the belt and the championship would be vacated.

How does this make any sense? Can someone help me understand the rationale behind a ruling like this? I never understood why the champion should lose his belt when the fight was not even contested at the weight required.

[Counter-puncher]

I'm good with the guy who makes weight taking the belt from the lazy unprofessional dick who fails to make it, if he's able to kick his ass good give him the belt too

[Datsue]

I'm good with the guy who makes weight taking the belt from the lazy unprofessional dick who fails to make it, if he's able to kick his ass good give him the belt too

TBF, I would also be fine with having a fighter two weight divisions bigger on stand-by so the cheating pudendum can fight him instead, & the cheating pudendum's purse gets shared between the stand-in & the original bloke who made weight.

[ValMar]

It would be simple for me - veto for the title fights (WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF) at least one year.

[Kalan]

Something that has never really made sense to me is to me is the ruling in place for title fights in which the contender does not make weight and the champion does. Last nights fantastic fight between Quigg/Valdez for example: So Quigg couldn't make the agreed upon weight so that meant that Quigg could not win the belt last night with a win. But if Oscar Valdez lost, he would then lose the belt and the championship would be vacated.

How does this make any sense? Can someone help me understand the rationale behind a ruling like this? I never understood why the champion should lose his belt when the fight was not even contested at the weight required.

Right... It makes no sense... If a guy doesn't make weight and beats you??? You shouldn't lose the belt because nobody your size beat you... The guy not making weight should be fined his entire purse and a rematch ordered...

[SenorPipino]

In a sad era where the world championship belts are devalued by the proliferation of weight divisions and sanctioning bodies, maybe more and more fighters are foregoing the opportunity to actually win the title in exchange for the edge added weight might bring.

I believe that it's the fighter who makes the belt. Not the other way around.

Maybe more and more fighters are coming around to that way of think. Holding a devalued title doesn't necessarily make you a star. But beating big names---by hook or by crook--certainly will.

[Badhusker]

I see a simple solution. You don't make the weight, you don't get paid. Then, they will make the weight. Put it in the contract for both sides, no excuses. Not rocket science.

[Evander]

Weigh in on the day of the fight, have a few back up boxers to fill in for the main event and piss off the entire boxing community when they don't deliver ... it'll work.

[caldo2025]

In a sad era where the world championship belts are devalued by the proliferation of weight divisions and sanctioning bodies, maybe more and more fighters are foregoing the opportunity to actually win the title in exchange for the edge added weight might bring.

I believe that it's the fighter who makes the belt. Not the other way around.

Maybe more and more fighters are coming around to that way of think. Holding a devalued title doesn't necessarily make you a star. But beating big names---by hook or by crook--certainly will.

I still value championship belts and I think that the holds true for MOST of today's boxers as well, especially the intentional fighters. But you make an excellent point because it surely is coming down now to boxers purposely not making weight to hold that advantages inside the ring. For instance, had Quigg gotten the win over Oscar, his career would take an uptick and no one would remember the weight thing years from now when crediting him with the win. Heck, the loss and performance probably helped Quigg's career instead of hurt it because I personally enjoyed it so much and would like to see him again. When in all actuality, Quigg should have been sent home and not able to earn a dollar or further his career that night. Stop rewarding boxers for this.

What about from a safety and legal side of this? Quigg refused to weigh in on fight night so no one knows just how much the guy even weighed. To me, that's a gross injustice to the boxer's saftety. At the very least, they should know what the weight difference is before agreeing to let Oscar sign off on it and agree to fight. Never mind the fact that he wasn't even close to making weight on Friday. Missing by 3 pounds is grossly unprofessional but no matter what the boxers agree to, there has to be some measures in place to protect these fighters like Oscar from themselves. It's a tough position to put the boxer in because no one wants to walk out at the last second of a fight while so many on his team depend on him for their livelihood. Oscar's teeth may still be in his head if he had people around him that cared about him and advised him correctly

[Deleted_Scenes]

Quigg did weigh in before the fight. 142.2 I think. What he refused, was a morning weigh in with a limit attached. He didn't refuse to step on a scale at all, he just said he'd prefer to cancel the fight than drain himself further, and left the decision in the hands of Valdez and his team.

While it's obviously unprofessional, I don't think Quigg gained any advantage from being heavy. I believe the "bad camp/injury" excuse, and think he drained himself trying. I think he'd have had a better chance of winning, had he had a better camp and made weight properly, as he always has in the past. What he should have done, is informed Valdez the day before of his troubles, negotiated a catchweight (and compensation), and made it a non-title fight. That way, Valdez still gets compensated, but he also has the opportunity to come in slightly heavier himself, avoiding the risk of having a drained fighter vs someone who misses weight deliberately.

On the subject of titles, no I don't for one second believe that a champion who makes weight should be stripped if he loses to an overweight opponent.

[caldo2025]

Quigg did weigh in before the fight. 142.2 I think. What he refused, was a morning weigh in with a limit attached. He didn't refuse to step on a scale at all, he just said he'd prefer to cancel the fight than drain himself further, and left the decision in the hands of Valdez and his team.

While it's obviously unprofessional, I don't think Quigg gained any advantage from being heavy. I believe the "bad camp/injury" excuse, and think he drained himself trying. I think he'd have had a better chance of winning, had he had a better camp and made weight properly, as he always has in the past. What he should have done, is informed Valdez the day before of his troubles, negotiated a catchweight (and compensation), and made it a non-title fight. That way, Valdez still gets compensated, but he also has the opportunity to come in slightly heavier himself, avoiding the risk of having a drained fighter vs someone who misses weight deliberately.

On the subject of titles, no I don't for one second believe that a champion who makes weight should be stripped if he loses to an overweight opponent.

While you make some great points here like negotiating a catchweight the night before the fight, I must disagree with you on Quigg not benefitting from it. Quigg wasn't even close to making weight. I can't remember the last time I saw a fighter miss weight for a big fight by so many pounds. My thinking is that Quigg's body flush on that last day via diuretic like most do, failed to work. To make weight in college, we'd take a diuretic the night before and guys would lose between 6-10 pounds through the night in urine. I remember some days, it didn't work for guys and they would miss by a large margin like Quigg did. Sometimes, the body doesn't react to the flush after a while or if you've become chronically using it.

Either way though, Quigg had a 3 pound lead on Valdez to begin rehydrating for the fight and most would agree that the size difference inside the ring was evident. But that's all i had to say differently as I enjoyed reading your points above.

[Deleted_Scenes]

Quigg did weigh in before the fight. 142.2 I think. What he refused, was a morning weigh in with a limit attached. He didn't refuse to step on a scale at all, he just said he'd prefer to cancel the fight than drain himself further, and left the decision in the hands of Valdez and his team.

While it's obviously unprofessional, I don't think Quigg gained any advantage from being heavy. I believe the "bad camp/injury" excuse, and think he drained himself trying. I think he'd have had a better chance of winning, had he had a better camp and made weight properly, as he always has in the past. What he should have done, is informed Valdez the day before of his troubles, negotiated a catchweight (and compensation), and made it a non-title fight. That way, Valdez still gets compensated, but he also has the opportunity to come in slightly heavier himself, avoiding the risk of having a drained fighter vs someone who misses weight deliberately.

On the subject of titles, no I don't for one second believe that a champion who makes weight should be stripped if he loses to an overweight opponent.

While you make some great points here like negotiating a catchweight the night before the fight, I must disagree with you on Quigg not benefitting from it. Quigg wasn't even close to making weight. I can't remember the last time I saw a fighter miss weight for a big fight by so many pounds. My thinking is that Quigg's body flush on that last day via diuretic like most do, failed to work. To make weight in college, we'd take a diuretic the night before and guys would lose between 6-10 pounds through the night in urine. I remember some days, it didn't work for guys and they would miss by a large margin like Quigg did. Sometimes, the body doesn't react to the flush after a while or if you've become chronically using it.

Either way though, Quigg had a 3 pound lead on Valdez to begin rehydrating for the fight and most would agree that the size difference inside the ring was evident. But that's all i had to say differently as I enjoyed reading your points above.

Maybe you're right. Quigg was obviously the bigger man in the ring, and he did walk right through some pretty heavy shots. Quigg always has been heavy in the ring though, so I reckon you might be on the money with the failed diuretic theory.

I'll rephrase and say I don't believe he gained any deliberate advantage from it.