by James Le Blanc: Who saw Dan Rafael set the record straight on ESPN First Take about the recent ‘boxing is dead’ assessment. I was also particularly happy to see him call out Skip Bayless for not knowing what a catch-weight was and starting a controversy over it. The catch-weight agreement between Floyd Mayweather and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has had particular attention because Mayweather criticized his rival Manny Pacquiao for forcing his fighters to fight at catch weights.
Just recently Canelo Alvarez has come out and said not only did Mayweather demand the catch weight, he tried to have him fight as low as 150 when fighting at the welterweight limit was out of the question for Canelo. Canelo then went on to say Floyd wanted a rehydration clause in which Canelo would have a limit to what he weighed the actual day of the fight.
Anybody that knows this business knows that there are a select amount of fighters that rehydrate up to and over 20lbs by fight night. What is the purpose of fighting at a certain weight class, only to blow up overnight 20 pounds other than to have a significant advantage over your opponent?
I am not saying that there is anything wrong with rehydrating so much to have a size and strength advantage over your opponent, I am saying there is nothing wrong with a fighter that wants to fight on an even playing field. I had no problem with Manny Pacquiao asking for catch weights and if anything we should blame the fighters that accepted the catch weight clauses because they feel going lower than what they are accustomed to means nothing come fight night.
When Floyd Mayweather says, “skills pay the bills,” I believe him, I also believe he did not want to give up so much size against a young, hungry, undefeated fighter and nor should he have to. There shouldn’t be any complaining at this point, both teams came to the agreement and signed up, why either side is chatting about the weight makes no sense to me at all. In a boxers loss column it never says, “The Loss came because he drained down lower than he normally fights” so why is this conversation relevant?
It’s a common practice in the sport; Canelo has become accustomed to coming in at a certain weight and then blowing up overnight. Sometimes taking on so much weight can be a disadvantage but that depends on the skill level of the fighter. All of this back and forth means nothing come the night of the fight, If Mayweather loses it won’t be because he fought a guy that was 20lbs heavier than him, it will be because he signed up to fight this guy at a weight class he has only fought at 2 other times. If Alvarez loses tomorrow night, it won’t be because Floyd made him drain two whole pounds, it will be because he signed up to fight the greatest boxer of this era.
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