John Murray
For those who wonder why boxers sometimes strip naked to weigh in, thinking that the weight of their trunks can't make much of a difference, look at this video of British boxer John Murray weighing in.
John Murray had won the British lightweight title in 2008. On June 13, 2009 he was scheduled to defend his title against Scott Lawson. As seen in the video above, when weighing in, Murray was 0.2 kg (7 ounces) overweight. He stripped and weighed in again. He was still .08 kg (2.8 ounces) overweight. After a quick attempt to shed the ounces, his final weigh-in was still .08 kg (2.8 ounces) overweight. As a result, he forfeited the British lightweight title, and his trainer and manager were each fined £1500.
A few ounces can make all the difference. That's why they strip naked.
10 comments:
so cute! I'm in love!
Yikes. poor dude.
Would a shave and a haircut have been allowed?
Silly rules.
When I was working as a flight attendant in the mid 70s, airlines still had weight standards. I can remember coworkers, mostly female at the time, using laxatives and diuretics for several days before monthly weigh-in to shed any weight they could. Some would strip down to their bra and panties before stepping on the scale to avoid suspension. The standards were very unrealistic. I'm 6' and generally weigh around 175 but would have to diet starting about 10 days beforehand to get myself down to 167, the prescribed maximum weight for my height. I think they used the Metropolitan Health Insurance chart to arrive at these figures. The whole process was very cruel.
@jimboylan2 - A shave and haircut would certainly be allowed. Usually weighing in happens an hour ahead of time, and if the fighter is over the limit, he has an hour to try to lose weight. They typically try to sweat it out with heat and exercise. This guy was not only over the weight limit, he showed up late for the weigh-in, so he only had 5 minutes to try to lose the excess weight.
@SickoRicko - I don't think it's silly to have weight classes in boxing and wrestling. The heavier guys have more muscle, not more fat, so the heavier guys have a big advantage. The weight classes are the equivalent of "why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" If the fighter picks on somebody his own size, let's see who wins. If there were no weight classes, the winner would always be the heavyweight champion (there is no weight limit for heavyweights).
It's silly to think that 3 ounces is going to give someone an unfairly competitive edge in a boxing match.
@bribabylk - Will 3 ounces give someone a competitive edge? No. But if you accept the idea of having weight classes, then each weight class needs to have an upper limit; it can't change at the whim of the officials that day. The upper limit for the lightweight class is 135 pounds. If it's OK to be over by 3 ounces, then is it OK to be over by 1 pound? Is is OK to be over by 5 pounds? That way lies chaos. Once you set a standard, you enforce it.
Fair play
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