BoxRec

So dehydration is, I think we all agree, highly linked to the risk of serious injury during a bout.

I've been looking at methods such as blood hydration tests, which would help to ensure that the fighter is not dehydrated past a given limit when preparing to fight or weighing in.

One other thing that came to mind, but which I don't have the expertise to be certain of, was this:

Would it be possible, by measuring the boxers body, to calculate a safe minimum weight for the boxer, at which they would not be at risk of dehydration? If that is possible to determine, would it be wrong to change the rules so that a boxer is licensed to compete at that weight or above, but not below?

If boxers didn't drain too much weight, they might be in the next division up, but then so would a lot of other boxers. They'd be fighting boxers that are the same size as them.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 11:42 If boxers didn't drain too much weight, they might be in the next division up, but then so would a lot of other boxers. They'd be fighting boxers that are the same size as them.

Agreed, but then they'd both be in a much safer place wouldn't they?

@matt___s wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 12:03

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 11:42 If boxers didn't drain too much weight, they might be in the next division up, but then so would a lot of other boxers. They'd be fighting boxers that are the same size as them.

Agreed, but then they'd both be in a much safer place wouldn't they?

100%

Bodyfat tests are pretty simple, and there are different methods to administer them. They need to be hydrated before weighing, determin their current bf %, then just choose a mimimum bodyfat % they can go down to, like 5-7%.
Pretty much the same they do for amateur wrestling.

Great idea.

Bandog wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 12:50 Bodyfat tests are pretty simple, and there are different methods to administer them. They need to be hydrated before weighing, determin their current bf %, then just choose a mimimum bodyfat % they can go down to, like 5-7%.
Pretty much the same they do for amateur wrestling.

Great idea.

Thanks. As I say, I'm not an expert. So in the scenario you are talking about would we have to combine that with blood hydration testing? Am I right in saying that you could have say 5% body fat and still cut water weight to be dehydrated?

Dehydration is becoming a huge problem, with modern weight cutting methods. Another way forward, which I've suggested before, is forcing fighters to weigh in properly hydrated. A simple urine test at the weigh in would do it. If you're dehydrated, you don't fight.

That would force anyone wanting to cut more than a few pounds, to lose fat and/or muscle tissue instead, which is slower and safer, and doesn't leave the brain dehydrated in the fight.

Deleted_Scenes wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 13:35 Dehydration is becoming a huge problem, with modern weight cutting methods. Another way forward, which I've suggested before, is forcing fighters to weigh in properly hydrated. A simple urine test at the weigh in would do it. If you're dehydrated, you don't fight.

That would force anyone wanting to cut more than a few pounds, to lose fat and/or muscle tissue instead, which is slower and safer, and doesn't leave the brain dehydrated in the fight.

From what I've been reading, a urine test is not as accurate as blood testing but yes anything is better than nothing.

Bodyfat% and body mass index have nothing to do with whether a fighter has been unsafely dehydrated. A stocky fighter like Alvarez could die of dehydration and still have a pretty high BMI. He'd still have a lot of pounds of muscle to offset the lack of water weight.

Dehydration dangers have more to do with water, electrolytes, amount of sugar stored in your body's cells, blood sugar, etc. Body mass index won't help at all. BMI will just incorrectly say that skinny fighters like Thomas Oosthuizen aren't allowed to fight, and muscular / fat fighters are never at risk of dehydration.

@matt___s wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 12:59

Bandog wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 12:50 Bodyfat tests are pretty simple, and there are different methods to administer them. They need to be hydrated before weighing, determin their current bf %, then just choose a mimimum bodyfat % they can go down to, like 5-7%.
Pretty much the same they do for amateur wrestling.

Great idea.

Thanks. As I say, I'm not an expert. So in the scenario you are talking about would we have to combine that with blood hydration testing? Am I right in saying that you could have say 5% body fat and still cut water weight to be dehydrated?

Urine testing is all that's needed to check hydration.
For example if a guy weighs 150, and is hydrated, and his bodyfat is 10%, the minimum weight he could go ends up being 141 (wild guess without doing the math) then that boxer would have to fight at welterweight or above.
Bodyfat tests would be taken annually.

My guess if the above rules were law, someone like Earl Spence (random example) would not be allowed to melt down like he does. I'd bet he is below 5%, which isn't good. Young fighters though, with healthy diets and gradual weight cuts handle it better than others.

Lackeos wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 17:26 Bodyfat% and body mass index have nothing to do with whether a fighter has been unsafely dehydrated. A stocky fighter like Alvarez could die of dehydration and still have a pretty high BMI. He'd still have a lot of pounds of muscle to offset the lack of water weight.

Dehydration dangers have more to do with water, electrolytes, amount of sugar stored in your body's cells, blood sugar, etc. Body mass index won't help at all. BMI will just incorrectly say that skinny fighters like Thomas Oosthuizen aren't allowed to fight, and muscular / fat fighters are never at risk of dehydration.

Good points. I wasn't even thinking about BMI, which determines if your weight falls into a healthy range, calculated using your weight and height. That I believe was used initially in the early 80's when I began coaching in high school with a physician present, and certainly was not very accurate, just an opinion. He had a chart, weighed them, got their height, and I guess judged them by appearance.

The system they started using in high school wrestling later to create safe minimum weights is what I was referring to. Parents had to sign if they elected to go fro 7 to 5% body fat. The minimum weight set then was the lowest weight they could safely "dehydrate" to, and they couldn't reach that minimum weight until a certain time, cutting a max of 1/2 pound per day.