2023-04-29 05:00:00
It is the story of a canceled fight that could serve as the genesis of an Yves Simoneau thriller. A film in which the errors – sometimes involuntary – made by certain protagonists upset the course of the story and attest to the discomfort felt with the weight cuts before the weigh-ins.
The canceled fight is the one that was to oppose Yan Pellerin to Alexis Eduardo Olmos on the undercard of the Groupe Yvon Michel gala held a week ago at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal.
An undercard fight like there have been hundreds of others over the years and which had been duly approved by the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) after the presentation of the weigh-in on Wednesday noon. .. until the RACJ reconsidered its decision the next morning.
Originally, Pellerin and Olmos had agreed to go head-to-head at a negotiated limit of 190lbs, but the Quebecer was confident it was 200lbs, as it had been on his previous four outings. It must be said that minor belts were each time at stake.
It is for this reason that Pellerin posted a weight of 199.2 lbs at the weigh-in. By his own admission, he would have easily been able to go even lighter due to his background as a mixed martial arts fighter, where “extreme” weight cuts are aplenty before a fight.
For his part, Olmos swung the scale to 186.6 lbs, a high since the start of his career. The Mexican, whose weight has fluctuated wildly over the years, had already fought at just under 162 lbs in a duel against Patrice Volny which was held in April 2017 in Toronto.
Exceeding the contract limit by 9.2 lbs, Pellerin was forced to give 20 percent of his purse to his opponent, but “Wild Thing” saw no problem. The latter was determined to get back in the ring to fight his first fight since his loss by unanimous decision of the judges against Ruben Eduardo Acosta in November 2022 in Saint-Hyacinthe.
The catch was that 12.6 lbs separated the two boxers, which violated the combat sports regulations of the Safe Sports Act. According to Rule 72, no more than 12 lbs can outrun two pugilists fighting at a negotiated limit between 175 and 195 lbs. But no one thought to apply the rules at the time of the facts, for an unexplained reason.
If the irregularity had been immediately raised, Pellerin could have engaged in a session of simulated boxing (shadow boxing) in a weight-loss suit or someone could have invited Olmos to drink a small amount of water to reduce the gap to less than 12 lbs.
It was not possible to determine beyond any reasonable doubt what led the RACJ to change its mind and thus no longer authorize the presentation of the clash between Pellerin and Olmos, the versions are so different according to the speakers questioned, but the Discomfort was easily palpable among RACJ officials who spoke about the situation on condition of anonymity.
One of them explained in particular that the difference in weight between Pellerin and Olmos would have been much greater on the evening of the fight than the 12.6 lb recorded at the weigh-in, since the Quebecer would have gained several pounds by rehydrating. , unlike the Mexican.
This same official also admitted to having “no pleasure” in seeing athletes submit to weight reduction, a phenomenon specific to professional combat sports. Among amateurs, boxers cannot indulge in this kind of torture since they are often called upon to fight several fights in the space of a few days in the context of tournaments, as is the case in particular at the Olympic Games or even at the World Championships.
While promoter Yvon Michel assured that Olmos was paid even if his fight did not take place, it is relevant to wonder if the game was really worth the candle for the latter and that it is perhaps time that the authorities – not just Quebec – take an interest in this file.
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#Boxing #Pound #Discord