BoxRec

We expected Harrison to go downhill after 4 rounds - as he had done in every fight prior to fighting Wayne.

The Scott Harrison at the weigh in was a different Scott Harrison that came to fight that night. He had gained a lot of weight but when Wayne fought Hamed - "the biggest featherweight of all time" - he was still able to compete with him. Harrison was able to push Wayne around the ring. But Harrison's strength was something Wayne had never felt before.

However, in saying all of that, Wayne should never have taken the fight.

Let's just leave it there and wait for the book!!

There are a lot of fights still out there that Wayne can win, he just needs to stay busy and with Dan Goossen promoting him and Freddie Roach training him, he has the best team anyone could wish for.

sillyjun wrote: The Scott Harrison at the weigh in was a different Scott Harrison that came to fight that night. He had gained a lot of weight but when Wayne fought Hamed - "the biggest featherweight of all time" - he was still able to compete with him. Harrison was able to push Wayne around the ring. But Harrison's strength was something Wayne had never felt before.

All true, but whilst Harrison is a huge featherweight - Marquez and Chi main strengths are their strength also. The way Chi battered Brodie and Maquez battered Medina (more impressively than Harrison did) shows just how strong these two are physically aswell. The three are really freakish featherweights in that they are so big for the weight (yet retain this great strength that they have).

All other arguments aside I feel Waynes best chance of getting back to the top would be at Light-Featherweight... I feel his size is much more suited to 122 pounds and the opposition in that division is not as high... Chi and Marquez are both very strong and talented champions who would beat Harrison I feel so it would take a mammoth effort for Wayne to win a Feather title. I'd also like to see Wayne gain a good win over a contender rather than just go straight into a title fight.

sillyjun wrote:We expected Harrison to go downhill after 4 rounds - as he had done in every fight prior to fighting Wayne.

The Scott Harrison at the weigh in was a different Scott Harrison that came to fight that night. He had gained a lot of weight but when Wayne fought Hamed - "the biggest featherweight of all time" - he was still able to compete with him. Harrison was able to push Wayne around the ring. But Harrison's strength was something Wayne had never felt before.

However, in saying all of that, Wayne should never have taken the fight.

Let's just leave it there and wait for the book!!

There are a lot of fights still out there that Wayne can win, he just needs to stay busy and with Dan Goossen promoting him and Freddie Roach training him, he has the best team anyone could wish for.

Hamed wasn't particularly big really, only 5 feet 3.
I think a reason why there are so many very strong lighterweight fighters now is the weighin situation.............. with the weighin being not on the day of the fight fighters can put on a lot of weight in the meantime.
10 years ago Harrison would most likely have been fighting at lightweight.

The point I was making was that Hamed was touted as the biggest strongest featherweight in history before Wayne stepped in to fight him.

I remember when Wayne was fighting at 118lb. He almost killed himself to make weight in the last defence of his title. While he won the fight, he made it extremely hard for himself. He put on 15 lb between weigh in and fight time. It was only water weight and it did him absolutely no good in the fight.

So if you put on 15 - 20 lbs overnight you are most likely going to be bloated - because it should only be water weight!! You will not gain weight in "all the right places" and it should serve no advantage to you at fight time.

sillyjun wrote:I would never let Wayne carry on if I thought he were unfit. I live with him every day so I am going to see those signs.

Wayne is tested before and after each fight and he is sill fit and healthy. Why shouldn't he carry on??

Whilst of course all of us sitting watching from a distance don't know everything, it is nothing more than a measure of the respect and admiration that people feel for wayne, that they hope to see him retire soon. It is also why people fear for him campaigning at featherweight where he is disadvantaged by not being a big puncher or a big featherweight, and most of all, that cast iron chin and irrepressable will of his. It's the fighter who DON'T go down who get the worst beating, and whether he is currently in good nick or not, the pounding he took from Harrison last night won't have done him any favours, and facing other big strong featherweights, the fear is that he has one war too many.

We all know that it only takes a few seconds of punishment to end a fighters career, or worse their life, and that is why nobody likes to see fighters pushing their luck, especially when they were elite level fighters at their best.

Maybe we are all wrong about Wayne, and you could say have no position to criticise or call for his retirement, but it is all done with the utmost respect for Wayne and his career, and out of the hope for him to retire without any permanent ill effects from his career.

sillyjun wrote:The point I was making was that Hamed was touted as the biggest strongest featherweight in history before Wayne stepped in to fight him.

I remember when Wayne was fighting at 118lb. He almost killed himself to make weight in the last defence of his title. While he won the fight, he made it extremely hard for himself. He put on 15 lb between weigh in and fight time. It was only water weight and it did him absolutely no good in the fight.

So if you put on 15 - 20 lbs overnight you are most likely going to be bloated - because it should only be water weight!! You will not gain weight in "all the right places" and it should serve no advantage to you at fight time.

I know weight is always a problem for fighters but think it was better when fighters weighed in on the day of the fight rather than the day before.
My point about Harrison and the other Featherweight titleholders is that they are big men who dry themselves down to Feather while Wayne is comfortable at Feather but not fighting to get himself down to 126. In the old days this would have been an advantage to Wayne but now with the weighins over a day before the fight I think Wayne is probably giving away quite a bit of weight and natural strength to fighters like Harrison by fight time.

As for the additional weight being 'water weight' i fail to see what difference that makes, it's not like anyone is adding muscle in the days leading up to a fight.

The point is that they are dehydrating themselves before the fight, and then rehydrating after the weigh in. Provided this is done in a controlled and careful manner, this means that come fight night, they weigh in at their natural weight, with little or no ill effects, although the practice

The weight in the day before, was brought in to stop fighters killing themselves to make weight, and weighing in on the day dangerously dehydrated, which you have to say is a good thing. The problem is that you end up with the present situation where in some of the smaller weight fights, people are being outweighed by as much as 20 lbs come fight night, even more in the case of Gatti v Gameche.

Ideally, they should be weighed on fight night too, and if there is too much of a weight discrepency, then the fight is cancelled, or made a non-title bout. That is never going to happen though, there are too many fighters at it for that to happen, promoters, fighters, managers, and networks would all lose out big time.

I'd love to know what harrison and chi weigh come fight night.

Some TV networks make you weigh in at fight time as well so they can put it on screen. I think a 10% or more weight gain is too much so you should be fighting at a higher weight.

Harrison weighed at least 140lb the day of the fight with Wayne. He looked like he had gained muscle and not just water weight whereas Hamed just looked heavy around the middle.

I understand everyone's concern for Wayne and while it is very much appreciated, it is Wayne - and his family - who will decide when he should quit. If I saw him slipping, that would be it!!

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

sillyjun wrote:I would never let Wayne carry on if I thought he were unfit. I live with him every day so I am going to see those signs.

Wayne is tested before and after each fight and he is sill fit and healthy. Why shouldn't he carry on??

Whilst of course all of us sitting watching from a distance don't know everything, it is nothing more than a measure of the respect and admiration that people feel for wayne, that they hope to see him retire soon. It is also why people fear for him campaigning at featherweight where he is disadvantaged by not being a big puncher or a big featherweight, and most of all, that cast iron chin and irrepressable will of his. It's the fighter who DON'T go down who get the worst beating, and whether he is currently in good nick or not, the pounding he took from Harrison last night won't have done him any favours, and facing other big strong featherweights, the fear is that he has one war too many.

We all know that it only takes a few seconds of punishment to end a fighters career, or worse their life, and that is why nobody likes to see fighters pushing their luck, especially when they were elite level fighters at their best.

Maybe we are all wrong about Wayne, and you could say have no position to criticise or call for his retirement, but it is all done with the utmost respect for Wayne and his career, and out of the hope for him to retire without any permanent ill effects from his career.

I couldn't have put it better myself, i admire Wayne and that is why i want to remember him as a warrior who fought and tested the best and not remember the way he went out of the sport should anything happen to him which of course i hope it doesn't. That is why i call for his retirement, no matter how good a fighter is it is not always his ring achievements people associate with them when there name is mentioned....Watson, McClellan etc prove that.