It only took a decade. In one of many infamous cases involving the New York State Athletic Commission, then-executives Tony Russo and Melville Southard shirked their duty to protect the athletes who were risking their lives in the prize ring.
For those unfamiliar with the case, Joey Gamache comfortably made weight for his junior welterweight match against New Jersey's favorite son, Arturo Gatti. When it came time for Gatti to weigh in, the needle immediately rose to the top of the beam, showing that the fighter was above the pre-set 141 pound limit. Russo was then seen adjusting the scale before instructing Gatti to raise his hands above his head. Gatti did so, and the motion caused the needle to bounce. Before letting the needle settle, Russo announced that Gatti had made the agreed-upon weight, and instructed the fighter to step off of the scale. Gatti immediately began drinking fluids. Demands for a re-weigh from the Gamache camp were denied, and Gamache's manager was told to "shut up."
This set the stage for one of boxing's more brutal knockouts. After stepping on an unofficial scale the day of the fight, Gatti was found to have re-hydrated to an astonishing 160 pounds. Entering the ring, he would outweigh Gamache by close to 15 pounds. There was no feeling-out period, as Gatti pummeled Gamache in the opening stanza, knocking him down twice in the first 3 minutes of action. The second round was more of the same, as Gamache sustained a horrible battering before being knocked down and out from the impact of one of Gatti's signature left hooks, followed by a hard right hand while he was on the way down.
Gamache was stretched out for long moments as the ringside doctor and officials worked to revive him. He regained some control over his senses, and refused to leave the ring in a stretcher. Gamache nearly died in the hospital that night from severe head trauma. He now suffers from migraines, depression, and forgetfulness caused by the beating he took that night from a much larger fighter.
On April 6th, 2010, Judge Schweitzer of the Court of Claims found the NYSAC negligent in carrying out their duties by overseeing an improper weigh-in of Arturo Gatti. The commission was deemed to have "violated their duty of care" for the fighters that trusted them. Despite that, no monetary damages were awarded to Gamache, as it was deemed unclear if the officials negligence and Gatti's weight advantage were the substantial contributing factors to the horrific knockout.
Gamache, to his credit, focused on the positives of justice and official recognition of the commissions wrong-doing, rather than the absence of any financial assistance. However, one is left to wonder if this will really bring about any meaningful changes in a sport that is ran by an assortment of corrupt athletic commissions, officials, thugs and crooks. Determining that the officials were negligent, without demanding fines, penalties or damages payable to Gamache are the equivalent to the proverbial slap on the wrist. One can hope that the public shame involved in being a defendant in such a case will lead to prevention of similar situations in the future. Then again, one has to have a conscience to feel shame.
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Good post. And that is without even looking at the huge risks the dehydrating fighter is taking with their own health. I have had this drilled into me by my trainer (who has decades of fighting and training experience in muay thai and also boxing) and will never EVER let one of his fighters sauna weight off. In fact dont ever mention it around him unless you are happy to sit through a 10 minute lecture on the subject, (one i've heard many times) but i totally agree with him.
ReplyDeleteThis is because when you dehydrate large amounts in a short space of time part of the fluids you lose are the fluids around your brain. These fluids take a minimum of 72hrs to return to normal levels and if you sustain a blow to the head (very likely in a fight, obviously) while these fluids are depleted then your risk of permanent brain damage is HUGE. Your brain is just not protected from knocking against the skull. Trust me, i have heard this from my instructor every time someone brings up sauna-ing and he can't emphasize enough how irresponsible it is for trainers to let - never mind tell - their fighters to sauna to make weight. We are allowed to skip etc in a sweat suit, as this is not as intense stress on your body and there is a limit to how much your body will sweat in this process, but we would also be expected to be within a couple of kilos of our fight weight first.
In amateur boxing in the UK I understand that sauna-ing is banned for this very reason. Fighters need to weigh themselves every time they train and a record of their weight is kept so that officials can always check to see if several kilos have been lost in a couple of days before a fight.
There is usually a shorter time period between weigh in and fights at amateur level (muay thai tournaments require weigh in every day you are due to fight in a tournament, so weight has to be maintained over the week) and you could be fighting just a few hours after weighing in. But the need is no less in professional bouts. You dont get 72hrs plus to rehydrate. Plus, if you are a professional then you should really act like one and MAKE WEIGHT. What is a concern is how few trainers and fighters actually seem to know the dangers that sauna-ing and dehydration poses for fighters. Most seem to think it is just part and parcel of making weight.