Weight cutting has been a controversial subject in sport for a long time with the damage it can cause to the health of athletes often highlighted.
In sports like boxing, MMA and horse racing, weight cutting has become synonymous, with athletes regularly pushing their bodies to the limit in order to compete at the highest level.
Some athletes also believe the practice is a form of cheating, as a way to get an unfair advantage. However, in large part most combat athletes engage in some form of weight cutting regularly and view it as a necessary part of their sport.
It's a dangerous game these athletes are playing, particularly fighters, but one which comes with the territory according to former boxing world champion Andy Lee.
“Weight cutting is just part of the sport,” says Lee. “Making the weight is the first battle of fighting and then the fight itself is the second battle.”
Lee, who spent most of his 13 years as a professional boxer fighting at 160lbs, says weight cutting will always be part of the sport because every fighter does it. “I always felt my best the week before the fight when weighed about 168lbs and I probably could’ve fought at super-middleweight, but it would mean I was fighting guys who were 200lbs and that’s just too much. I was forced to cut down (to 160lbs) because it’s what everyone does.”
The Limerick man worked under legendary boxing trainer Emanuel Steward, who believed fighters should cut large amounts of weight as late as possible before the fight. “Emanuel believed in keeping his fighters heavy until the final two hours before the weigh ins so that we’d be bigger, and it would give us an edge.”
Throughout his career, Lee would walk around at about 173lbs meaning his weight cut wasn’t as severe as other fighters. However, in 2014, he fought twice at 154lbs and admitted to being “nearly dead” by the time he stood on the scales.
In the 48 hours before fights, Lee would drop eight pounds by "drying out" his body taking in no fluids, eating very little food and training twice a day, but Lee was fully aware of the potential dangers involved.
“It’s something that the governing bodies are going to have to look at because while the way we train and prepare has changed, the body and head are still the same and it’s not healthy. But athlete welfare is low on the list of priorities for the people in charge,” he said.
Lee also thinks fighters who cut so much weight, do so in act of “desperation”. “There’s an air of insecurity in fighters who feel like they have to come down so far because they don’t trust their technique and ability, so they feel the only advantage they can get is to come from such a high weight to have a size advantage.”
Professor Niall Moyna from DCU thinks weight cutting should be regulated for the safety of fighters. “Boxers break every single rule that we would teach a student about nutrition. I think performance could be greatly enhanced (if it was regulated).
“The long-term impact on the body to be losing such a phenomenal amount of weight is so bad. In MMA, the amount fighters are cutting is frightening,” he added.
Until the powers that be get hold of the issue, fighters will continue to risk their health in order to exploit the system.
By Stephen Larkin.
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