Weightgate: a sad and dangerous situation

By Tim Smith: Boxing has many problems. But the one involving boxers coming in overweight for high profile matches is one that undermines the already eroding integrity of the sport, and not to mention the health of the boxers.

It happened again this past weekend when Diego Corrales weighed in at 139-1/2 pounds for his World Boxing Council lightweight title defense against Joel Casamayor. The co-incidental part is that Corrales himself had been the victim of an opponent who came in overweight (twice) and missed a payday when his match against Jose Luis Castillo was scrapped in June.

The promoters didn’t scrap Corrales bout against Casamayor, the rubber match of a trilogy. Instead they agreed that they would go forward if both men came in under 147 pounds. Corrales lost his title on the scales and then lost a split decision to Casamayor in the ring.

Of course he was very apologetic about not being able to make weight.

"Honestly, I’m responsible for my actions,’’ Corrales said. "I believe if you make a mistake, you should be punished. I made a mistake and should be punished."

The Nevada Commission fined Corrales $240,000 with $120,000 going to Casamayor. But Corrales could be in for further sanctions. The Nevada Commission basically slapped Castillo on the wrist, suspending him for the remainder of 2006 and prohibiting him from ever fighting under 140 pounds.

Corrales railed against Castillo and the Nevada Commission after that verdict was rendered. But now that he has emerged as a man with weight problems, he will no doubt be looking for some leniency from the commission.

"When I was at the 147 area a few weeks ago, I knew it might be tough to get down (in weight),’’ Corrales said. "I got down a bit and thought I might get there, but I just couldn’t crack 142 pounds. Every day, I trained, ate salad and still weighed 142 pounds. I was actually afraid I was going to pass out (last Friday). I worked out three times with no food or water."

That is truly a sad and very dangerous situation. No one should be subjected to that kind of treatment. Prisoners of war are treated better than that. Someone in Castillo’s camp suggested that a liter of blood be drawn from the boxer so that he could make weight for his cancelled match against Corrales. Starving yourself to make weight is just as ludicrous.

That, and other barbaric practices, has become accepted and honed by those boxers in the lighter weight divisions. Of course boxing fans turn a blind eye to it in the name of entertainment, while boxers do irreparable harm to their bodies.

This is going beyond the discipline it takes to avoid eating chocolate cake after dinner. This is defying the physical dictates of your body. In Corrales’ case, his body knew something that he refused to acknowledge. In the ultimate case of survival his body metabolism shutdown to keep him from killing himself through starvation and over exertion.

There are supposed to be safeguards in place for this. They were supposed to be in place for Castillo, but we saw what happened there. This is a situation that the state commissions where a boxing match is supposed to take place need to monitor the weight of boxers involved. It shouldn’t be left to the promoters and the sanctioning organizations, because they have financial interests in the matches taking place and will do anything to circumvent the rules if it means they’re going to lose a dollar. The commission should send a nurse to training camp at various times to monitor the weight of the boxer and do some preliminary checkups. If a boxer isn’t within an acceptable weight range, the match should be scrubbed.

Do it enough times where enough people miss paydays and you’ll get attention. That will make boxers fight in the appropriate weight class and discontinue the practice of trying to gain a strength advantage by fighting a weight class lower than their natural body weight.

I know no one will ever do anything about the over the weight problems in boxing, because it’s not a priority for those involved in the industry. It will only become a pressing matter when enough matches are scrapped and boxing fans are left holding worthless tickets and stuck with cancelled hotel rooms and plane tickets.

I just hope some boxer doesn’t have to pay the ultimate price before this problem is taken seriously and addressed.

ECETERA
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