Fighters that move up in weight get a bad rap

By Boxing News - 03/28/2013 - Comments

By Robert Elmore: When I hear people say “they fought everybody back in the day”, I can assume they mean fighters who had no intentions of moving up in weight. Therefore, that statement holds much weight. And if fighters in the lower divisions wanted a shot at the title, they had to move up.

Can you imagine Larry Holmes or Mike Tyson moving down to cruiser weight or light heavyweight to get a fight? That would be a major disaster waiting to happen. Anybody remember Chris Byrd dropping 40 pounds to fight 175pounder Shaun George? It wasn’t pretty. For fighters like Marvin Hagler, James “Buddy McGirt, Simon Brown, Mark Breland all debuted in their respectable weights and retired in the same weight. They too faced the best their division had to offer.

But it’s also not uncommon for a fighter to start in one division and finish his career in another. But what is common is the amount of heat they face from media and critics. I don’t believe the public has a problem with a fighter moving up in weight. It’s the competition they face when they get to a certain division. Most fighters make quick visits and move on.

For instance, Floyd Mayweather did most of his damage as a super feather weight. He defended the title 8 times before moving up. After he defeated Deigo Corrales, Larry Merchant asked “Why don’t you stay here and clean out the division”? Mayweather said he couldn’t make the weight anymore. And that’s a big reason why some fighters move up in weight before residing at a weight their bodies are comfortable at. The other reason is bigger pay days and bigger fights.

Some fighters move up in weight because no lucrative fights can be made. This happens if a fighter is seen as a threat to the division. This is why I strongly believe Ray Robinson and Marvin Hagler was denied chances at the title. People can only take so much of one person dominating the division before they begin to scream for someone else to take over.

I really admire the fighters such as Thomas Hearns , Roberto Duran Pernell Whitaker, Henry Armstrong, Hector Camacho, Oscar De La Hoya Floyd Mayweather and many more for going up in weight. Let’s say a fighter moves from lightweight to junior welterweight and wins. The fighter that has been a junior welter his entire career might be little disheartened by the defeat because it’s a weight he’s comfortable in. Meanwhile, the fighter that moves up and wins gains much confidence. The media may not like the competition the smaller fighter face, but I greatly admire them.

A middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, or featherweight, who chooses to remain at their respective weight, doesn’t have to make a lot of adjustments in their weight (depending on their agenda and discipline in weight when they are not fighting). The fighter moving up does. They have to get used to the power, the speed, stamina and other variables in the different weight classes. There have been many that succeeded and there have been many that have failed. But either way, I salute them for making the leap.



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