Tale of the Tapes in Boxing

[Adnan Adil]

Hi, guys! I wonder how some tale of the tapes are so detailed in boxing. For instance MMA is "more complete"sport, but its tale of the tapes can not match with Boxing's. There are so many measurements. How they take them? Is this long before the fight or on the weigh-ins? Or maybe they are self- reported? I won't even mention the height, because it is very strange measurement, at least in MMA- guys constantly grow and shrink, up and down.

 

[hiphopnazi]

Virtually identical.

 

[Adnan Adil]

Virtually identical.

So, no changes are made after the fist tale of the tape?

 

[Seano]

So, no changes are made after the fist tale of the tape?

Sometimes you'll get a fight night weight. Its not required.

 

[PHATV]

Sometimes you'll get a fight night weight. Its not required.

I miss that. We used to get that all the time, now almost never. There was always "weigh-in" and "tonight" on the tale of the tape and you could see how much they varied. It was a very interesting stat. And I don't care about weight-cutting or how much one guy puts back on, I just like seeing what they weigh in the locker room before the fight.

 

[deucesarewild]

I like the tales of the tape. I day this with the impression I've gotten from coaches that height and reach are almost always 2 inches less in real life than in the tale of the tape. I also wish they forced displaying same day weigh ins. I think that information would be one of many pieces that could and should shed some light on the weight cutting in the sport.

 

[PHATV]

I like the tales of the tape. I day this with the impression I've gotten from coaches that height and reach are almost always 2 inches less in real life than in the tale of the tape. I also wish they forced displaying same day weigh ins. I think that information would be one of many pieces that could and should shed some light on the weight cutting in the sport.

They always did. "Weigh-In" and "Tonight" were always on the tale of the tape. My whole life. Weight-cutting started getting a lot of attention maybe 10 years back or so due to MMA and people just realizing that UFC 205'ers were really guys who walked around at 245 and then it somehow took on a negative stigma and in boxing it became hit or miss like they were concerned about it and then was considered "optional"---and it was never official, just step on a scale for the HBO/Showtime/ESPN/USA folks and that was that. What a run-on sentence that was. Anyway, I wish we still had it. And I have no issue with cutting, I just want to see the number (ish). If you can make 147 and then come in at whatever the next night, more power to you.

 

[revoltub]

I wish they still did arm length

 

[Absolut]

I miss that. We used to get that all the time, now almost never. There was always "weigh-in" and "tonight" on the tale of the tape and you could see how much they varied. It was a very interesting stat. And I don't care about weight-cutting or how much one guy puts back on, I just like seeing what they weigh in the locker room before the fight.

Was that a hbo thing? Figure they have to contract it

 

[PHATV]

Was that a hbo thing? Figure they have to contract it

Pretty sure Tuesday Night Fights on USA had it in the '90s, everybody had it I thought. Definitely wasn't just HBO alone. Once people started making a "thing" about a guy making his contracted weight of (let's say) 147 and then showing up in the ring at 162, people (casuals) started going "wait,...what?" and I think all the networks just kind of shied away from it to avoid any controversy.

 

[Absolut]

Pretty sure Tuesday Night Fights on USA had it in the '90s, everybody had it I thought. Definitely wasn't just HBO alone. Once people started making a "thing" about a guy making his contracted weight of (let's say) 147 and then showing up in the ring at 162, people (casuals) started going "wait,...what?" and I think all the networks just kind of shied away from it to avoid any controversy.

It was fascinating to me.

 

[PHATV]

It was fascinating to me.

Same here. And I saw some shockers though the years, mainly on like USA or something. But shit like a 147 guy stepping in at 166? How the hell? As a % of weight...
It would be like Kovalev stepping in the ring over 200. Crazy.
But the "tonight" was always unofficial and meaningless, just a nice feature.
And again, some of them may have been a bit "off" even, but as a general rule I wish we still saw that stat.

 

[PHATV]

I honestly think MMA was the problem, though. MMA fans were totally clueless for years, all the way up to when it started to come out that GSP was always 190 in the cage when he was 170 champ, stuff like that. Hell, I think Rampage saw 250+ at times "off season". I know for a fact Rich Franklin never stepped in the cage under 200 when he was 185 champ. Is normal. Miss the "tonight" weights.
/rant lol

 

[Absolut]

I honestly think MMA was the problem, though. MMA fans were totally clueless for years, all the way up to when it started to come out that GSP was always 190 in the cage when he was 170 champ, stuff like that. Hell, I think Rampage saw 250+ at times "off season". I know for a fact Rich Franklin never stepped in the cage under 200 when he was 185 champ. Is normal. Miss the "tonight" weights.
/rant lol

Right! I was shocked when fighters were showing up fight day 20 lbs heavier. Was just crazy.

 

[PHATV]

Right! I was shocked when fighters were showing up fight day 20 lbs heavier. Was just crazy.

It really is, especially when we would see it (and occasionally we would) at the lower weights. I used 15 pounds and 162 as my example, but I think I saw a 147 come in at 168 one time and even the announcers thought maybe he was dressed backstage or something because 21 fucking pounds up from 147 in 24 hours!? lol
I suspect sometimes (rarely) they were goofing, but I saw a lot of 12-15 pound gains from smaller fighters over the years, even fighters below welter where, again, %-wise it was insane. And many times you could tell in the ring, you could see it. Easy.

But cutting weight correctly is an art form, and those guys who can do it right and rehydrate and not lose strength/stamina, that's just another tool in their toolbox. It's part of the game, part of the sport.

 

[Adnan Adil]

Sometimes you'll get a fight night weight. Its not required.

The fight night weight is something interesting. Sometimes its seems unrealistic. The fighters are gaining so much before the fight.

I like the tales of the tape. I day this with the impression I've gotten from coaches that height and reach are almost always 2 inches less in real life than in the tale of the tape. I also wish they forced displaying same day weigh ins. I think that information would be one of many pieces that could and should shed some light on the weight cutting in the sport.

Yes, the height and probably the reach are almost every time billed as longer than they actually are. If you look at some fighters heights in that celebheigts.com you will notice that they are significant lower than they are billed. There are two possible reasons for that- first- the fighters are not telling the truth and the second- the site is turning everybody into a midget.