STEVE’S SOAPBOX
either everyone should have this protocol, or nobody. There are probably boxers who have shied away from the [IBF] title because of this. When asked about the IBF hydration clause, Connolly said, “I’m not the one who has to make the weight, but I know a lot of fighters in boxing complain about it and don’t like it. But personally, I know it works for some fighters and it doesn’t work for others.” If you examine Hitchins’ career, you see that as he turned pro in 2017, he tipped the scales at 141¼ pounds and has been hovering around the junior welterweight limit
Hitchins, seen here in 2018 against Cesar Valenzuela, has been fighting around 140 for several years.
sick the day of the fight? Then [what if] he gets crushed, or worse, he gets killed? Name me a fighter that’s puked multiple times the day of the fight and fought.” It’s a valid point. But this whole situation has brought about a couple of questions. Should boxing just go back to having the boxers weigh in the morning of the fight, like they did for decades? The reality is that weigh-ins for the bigger events now take place closer to 36 hours from the time the boxers step into the ring (not the originally intended 24). And with that, many fighters squeeze themselves into smaller weight classes for the scale and then use this time to replenish their system. At one time, perhaps this was about safety. Now, in the era of the farcical “ceremonial” weigh-in, it’s nothing more than a promotional tool and a way to game the system for certain fighters. “I know there’s a lot of fighters who are in favor of [previous-day weigh-ins] because they get to eat two days in a row, stuff like that,” stated Garcia, who in the beginning of his career had to weigh in on the morning of his contests. “But it could actually be hurting you, because most of the time they just go out and eat whatever they want. They pig out and it affects them.” Reigning WBC middleweight
for about a decade. He won the title in December 2024 versus Liam Paro and made his first defense last June, stopping George Kambosos in eight. At age 28, his body is probably yearning to move up. Connolly points out that if the old system was somehow implemented, basically everyone would have to move up and you’d have a plethora of vacant titles all throughout the sport. “You’d have to alter the sport entirely.” Which also happened when weigh-ins were moved back. “I know people specifically who would’ve never been able to win the title in the weight class they won it [had the weigh-in been the same day as the fight], because they couldn’t make that weight,” said Mancini, who held the WBA lightweight title from 1982 to 1984. Several days after the cancellation of the fight, the IBF ruled that Hitchins would have to face Lindolfo Delgado, who is rated number one by the organization. Duarte, who was an optional defense, is out of luck. “I wanted to cry, because Duarte was going to become a world champion,” said Garcia, who also happens to train Delgado. “Nothing was going to stop Duarte.” Except vomiting, it turns out. (Calls to IBF President Daryl Peoples for this story were not returned.)
titleholder Carlos Adames was scratched from his late January bout versus Austin “Ammo” Williams due to an illness that was really a botched weight cut. Again, is this current system any safer for these combatants? Maybe they should just go back to the way it was. “Absolutely. I’ve been saying that forever,’’ said Hall of Famer Ray Mancini, who says on many occasions he hit the scales in the early morning and then stepped into the ring in the late afternoon for his appearances on CBS. “Fighters won’t be getting sick. They won’t be taking chances, taking the diuretics.” There is a theory that if you went back to this, fighters would just move up in weight (to where they probably belong). Garcia agrees: “I think we would all do the same with our fighters. If they’re fighting at 140, we’d probably move them up to 147, and they would be the same guys anyways. They’re all doing the same thing.” The other question surrounds the IBF rule. There is a line of thinking that
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