Weight hopping

What's the big deal about weight hopping? Hagler didn't leave the MW division yet is considered one of the very best ever. I have seen and read of boxers being criticised for not moving up to seek new challengers. Pryor being one. It would have been easier for him to drop weight that rise. Then we have a certain philippine boxer who rises weight and wins titles at numerous weights and is rightfully considered an atg.

But does being a singular weight chanpion hinder the standing of boxers who decide to remain at their natural weight for the duration of their career. For me it shows tremendous dedication.

Thoughts?

Has to be said though that there are very few one division fighters with the most notable ones being Pep, Hagler, Monzon and possibly Kid Gavilan but it does seem prevalent now to jump from weight to weight to weight without stopping. By and large being a multi weight champion nowadays means very little. Scrap my comment about Cotto completely forgot about the complete lack of talent in the 154lb division

Weight hopping is also easier now with weiginh in 24-36 hours before a fight.

With regards to gaining weight being easier than cutting it; while that may be the case, there's also the supposed greater power if naturally larger fighters to take into consideration. Roy Jones being a good example, unfortunately.

As for being a single weight champion, I personally don't think it should be seen as a negative. What's more important is their achievements and dominance at that weight. Too much emphasis is placed on weight hopping.

BALTIMORA wrote:With regards to gaining weight being easier than cutting it; while that may be the case, there's also the supposed greater power if naturally larger fighters to take into consideration. Roy Jones being a good example, unfortunately.

As for being a single weight champion, I personally don't think it should be seen as a negative. What's more important is their achievements and dominance at that weight. Too much emphasis is placed on weight hopping.

Agreed. Looking at the list ghosty provided, I wonder what clamour for thise guys would be to move up and fight bigger guys. And how they would be viewed if they didn't move up. Hop will be considered a better MW than LHW and is he retired at MW his record would stack up to scrutiny. He beat the best of his era (RJJ the exception).

The jump for Monzon and Hagler would have been 15lbs which is a lot in one go, also when you consider the light heavyweight champions at this time were Foster and Spinks it's easy to see why they stayed where they were. In Monzons case there was no real clamour for him to fight Foster, there was the odd quiet voice who mentioned Hagler/Spinks now and then but he had figuratively speaking bigger fish to fry.

Generally there will be more fighters to face if someone competes in 2-3 weight classes, and as you have a wider range of fighters to face so it seems logical it will be easier to fight a higher calibre of opponent. Therefore it's easier to build up a better resume, if you are good enough!

Hagler was lucky to have such genuine ATG fighters move up to him, if Oscar had stayed at 135/140lb would he have half a good a record as he ended up with?

The issue of weight hopping has become all blown out of proportion in the modern game with numerous titles and weight categories. It means little now and is often just a cheap gimmick. The sheer number of divisions in comparison to the old days means weight hopping now is more neccessary to make the big fights as each individual division has become more diluted.

Simply doesnt compare to the earlier eras where weight hopping was almost exclusively a sign of class and winning titles in several divisions was a fantastic acheivement. A multi weight champion today simply doesnt compare or deserve to be mentioned alongside something like Armstrong holding three genuine world titles simaltaneously.

Nowadays the number of divisions and titles leaves weight hopping to mean little and it can be exploited limitlessly. Whereas before it was a mark of quality, now it can just as easily be used as a means of avoiding the best.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:The jump for Monzon and Hagler would have been 15lbs which is a lot in one go, also when you consider the light heavyweight champions at this time were Foster and Spinks it's easy to see why they stayed where they were. In Monzons case there was no real clamour for him to fight Foster, there was the odd quiet voice who mentioned Hagler/Spinks now and then but he had figuratively speaking bigger fish to fry.

I guess that is why Greb and Armstrong figure more highly in the ATG lists since they did weight jump .It is also the argument that Greb figures more highly than Ray Robinson in the same ATG list.
I like fighters who weigh jump and take that risk but you need some context and to take into account that most fighters gain weight as they mature

I might add that part of the stigma associated with Hagler was that most of his biggest fights saw his oppnent step up in at least one weight class, sometimes more, to face him while he himself was unwilling to leave his figuritive comfort zone.

I don't suppose it will come as much surprise when I say that I see it just as Colonial Lion sees it.

To me, motive is key. If a fighter has accomplished all he can in one division and is bent on testing his mettle and proving himself in a higher division, ( whether adding the requisite weight or not, ) then more power to his elbow. If, on the other hand, a fighter moves up, leaving unfinished business in one division, ( either by design or otherwise, ) to cherry pick a title at a higher weight there seems little merit in the exercise.

Well put by HumanWindmill. I understand the comments on Hagle from Colonial Lion as well, but most of us seem to be children of the 80's and therefore have a soft spot for this warror. Wins against Minter, Sibson, Hearns, Roldan and Mugabi all showed his class

I would add that that advances in nutrition make it easier to gain weight nowadays without losing power etc.
I would have liked to have seen Hagler against Spinks but i cant recall any great shouts for it at the time and he had leonard etc still around.lots of big money fights and fine fighters without the need to go to light heavy