Professional boxers have to be among some of the most special human beings walking this Earth among us.
An inspiring bunch to be fair.
People who risk everything for the chance to improve their lives under brutal, unforgiving circumstances, they put it all on the line in the ring for the public’s entertainment.
But beneath the glitz, glamor and lights of big time boxing, those being around this business long enough will tell you the truth couldn’t be further from the aforementioned notion for many boxers.
Out of the small few that do make it to the big time, perhaps the most arduous task on route to doing so doesn’t lay in their bouts in the ring, but does so within their preparation, training camps and making weight before them.
Day after day.
Week after week.
Month after month.
Year after year.
A draining, extreme process, making weight is possibly the hardest thing that the boxers go through in their careers.
So when one fighter not only misses weight and puts his opponent’s potential pay check at risk as well as his own, many fighters and their handlers don’t particularly take kindly to it.
This weekend’s case involving a Bob Arum promoted event involving a fighter who missed the weight by a rather astonishing amount according to writer Michael Benson (hat tip):
11 pounds is ridiculous in fairness.
Perhaps the biggest weight cut miss in modern professional boxing history.
Certainly up there.
