Comments Thread For: Daily Bread Mailbag: Canelo-Chavez Debate, Weigh-Ins, Fake Beef, Tyson-Paul

[BoxingUpdates]

Breadman's Mailbag
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[pretty boy_]

Great mailbag to wake up to this fine Saturday morning .

Agree on all points.

[Mark Elding]

Canelo is a long way short of Chavez. People have been gaslit by Canelo’s matchmaking. He’s a great fighter but Chavez’ era was different. Julio wrecked guys who probably could be considered HOF material today. Take Ruben Castillo. He gave prime Arguello and Sanchez tough nights. Chavez tore him up. JC’s very first title win came against a guy in Mario Martinez who probably would also have had a solid championship run if Chavez wasn’t around. Martinez arguably should have gone 1,1 with a prime Azumah Nelson. Canelo’s first title came against (cough) Matthew Hatton and he’s sought competitive edges, either via weight or timing of bouts, all through his career. Listen to the great Juan Manuel Marquez. He knows this.

[Jab jab boom]

I rank Chavez, Sanchez, Barrera , Morales and Marquez all above canelo. I think they were better boxers who faced better prime opponents and none could be accused of running from a fight or waiting anyone out or implementing multiple catchweight and rehydration clauses into their fights. They may not have made the money canelo has made, may not have been as popular with the Mexican American fan base, may not have the same number of titles collected but if you were around for their era, you know the truth.

[THC]

Posts 3 and 4, both excellent, summarize the importance of context when reviewing any boxer's career. The fight record alone can be really misleading IMO. And I don't give a fcuk about earnings. Because the ultimate question is: what did the fighter give to the fans of the sport? In that light, Alvarez has not surpassed Chavez, and based on Canelo's recent decisions, never will.

[OnePunch]

I have to disagree regarding the day-before weigh-ins. Yes, its true that a dehydrated fighter is more prone to brain injury. But why not place that risk where it belongs, which is on the fighter CHOOSING to fight below his best weight simply to gain an advantage? The fighter who is actually fighting in his correct weight division should not be punished, or forced to play weight loss games, just to have a level playing field. If we went back to same day weigh ins, things would sort themselves out, and fighters would ultimately gravitate to their correct divisions, because injury risk aside, they cant perform at their best while dehydrated. And if despite all that, they still choose to dehydrate themselves, then so be it, Its a free country.

I suspect Flip Homanskys heart was probably in the right place when he lobbied for the change to day before weigh ins, but it just isnt working, Promoters certainly arent going to change it, as it gives them an additional promotional event, an additional 24 -36 hours of media reporting, and an additional 24-36 hours to source replacements if a fight falls out at the scales. But its not the answer........

[AKAcronym]

Really begs the question of where Canelo's career would have gone if he would have lost again after Mayweather. We've seen how risk-adverse he's become since losing to Bivol-how would his career had panned out if he had lost to Golovkin like he should have, or fought him when GGG was closer to his prime? We probably would have seen a whole different career if that had happened.

[THC]

Same-day weight-in can work if it's reinforced with the SAME weight restriction ONE WEEK PRIOR to fight night. That would force everyone to engage at their natural weights. I think for title fights, the IBF stipulates that an athlete must not be more than 10% over the sanctioned weight one week before fight night? If that's true, they just need to amend that rule with the same weight on both weight-ins.

[1Eriugenus]

I would love to go back to same day weigh-ins which created a phenomenal tension on the day of the fight. My main reason, however, is that this would reduce opportunities to 'weight bully' & force fighters to concentrate more on their skills & less on being able to boil down to an unsustainable weight for one brief moment (the weigh in).

[Mark Elding]

I have to disagree regarding the day-before weigh-ins. Yes, its true that a dehydrated fighter is more prone to brain injury. But why not place that risk where it belongs, which is on the fighter CHOOSING to fight below his best weight simply to gain an advantage? The fighter who is actually fighting in his correct weight division should not be punished, or forced to play weight loss games, just to have a level playing field. If we went back to same day weigh ins, things would sort themselves out, and fighters would ultimately gravitate to their correct divisions, because injury risk aside, they cant perform at their best while dehydrated. And if despite all that, they still choose to dehydrate themselves, then so be it, Its a free country.

I suspect Flip Homanskys heart was probably in the right place when he lobbied for the change to day before weigh ins, but it just isnt working, Promoters certainly arent going to change it, as it gives them an additional promotional event, an additional 24 -36 hours of media reporting, and an additional 24-36 hours to source replacements if a fight falls out at the scales. But it’s not the answer........

I could not agree more. Been saying the same thing for years. The modern 24-36 hour weigh in system has distorted the sport and twisted people’s perspectives. Even Homansky acknowledged he made a mistake in an article published by The Ring a few years ago.

Devin Haney won the 140lb title weighing 165lb for Christs sake! When he was a ‘lightweight’ I speculated he was the same size as a prime Ray Leonard. Now I know he’s actually the same size as a prime Hagler.

Boxing is supposed to be governed by weight. All it will take for the playing field to be levelled fairly is for individual fighters to take personal responsibility. That’s all. And then we’ll know who the best ‘pound for pound’ fighters really are.