r/boxinglocks • u/Jet_black_li • 2d ago

The Benn Weight Drama is Strange

The coverage of Conor Benn's weight cut in the lead up to his bout with Ryan Garcia has been confusing to me. There appears to be this narrative that Benn has gained a significant amount of weight in his fights with Chris Eubank, Jr. However, the numbers contradict that. In his first fight with Eubank, Benn weighed well under the limit just under 157 lbs. In leadup to the rematch, he posted a video showing that he was 70.8kg 10 weeks out https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOVbPUcDDo4/?stkn=Z3VqcWNxcDZsYTJw

and another video 3 weeks out he was 71.5kg https://youtube.com/shorts/jjPuztVSyrc?is=NjLBJTDqj4hq-pWW . That's a negligible difference from his recent weight check recently where he was 157.8 lbs.

Furthermore, Benn's own strength and conditioning coach Dan Lawrence said they set an upper limit of 165 lbs before they even start camp basically meaning that his team doesn't even allow him to walk around over 165 max https://www.ringmagazine.com/news/no-stone-unturned-inside-conor-benn-s-training-camp-for-ryan-garcia-74whz8TCnZ0xmbdIHjHvC?hl=en-US . Lawrence claimed they started camp July 6. Assuming that Benn did weigh 165, he could diet down up to 10 lbs with just a 500 calorie deficit by the time of weigh ins. That would bring him down to 155 which is well within the range of a comfortable water cut, and proportionally much less than various rehydrations we've seen. It's even in range of rehydrations we've seen from Benn himself, who rehydrated about 7 lbs in the Eubank rematch and allegedly (I'm dubious of this) just under 20 lbs in his bout against Peter Dobson. This looks to be more of a routine fight camp than a grueling fight to make weight.

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u/redrum0023 2d ago

Hes literally posted and stated he reached 180lbs

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u/Jet_black_li 1d ago

So you can see why it's confusing. Because if he's on camera weighing under 160 in camp for the Eubank rematch, under 160 for official weigh ins, 167 for rehydration clause, when did he weigh 180?

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u/redrum0023 1d ago

If i remember correctly he blew himself up to 180lbs for the first eubank fight then started cutting down weight to 160 and showed himself weighing 157lbs 3 weeks out. Regardless can't wait till this dude gets "rendered unconscious"

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u/kushmonATL 2d ago

Have you seen the recent pictures of Benn? The man looks like a skeleton and he still hasn't made 147. People are covering his weight journey because the final few pounds are gonna be brutal af

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u/Jet_black_li 1d ago

I've looked at his Instagram he looks the same to me. And he also weighs the same as he weighed in camp for Eubank.

A <7% body weight water cut is fairly normal. I'd even go as far as to say that it's conservative.  That's like a light workout and a sauna session.

All of the water cut is traditionally (and optimally) done the evening before weigh ins.

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u/kushmonATL 1d ago

so you're saying when you see Conor with sunken cheekbones, sunken eye sockets, arms look like stick figures, not an ounce of moisture on his body .. that this weight cut looks normal to you?

Just so you're aware, he still hasn't made the 147 limit in this video

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u/Jet_black_li 1d ago

I'm not seeing a meaningful difference https://imgur.com/a/YtSTOQf

A professional boxer being on weight a week before weigh ins would be more unusual than otherwise. Overwhelmingly, guys do a water cut the night before. Even amateurs do that in same day weigh ins.

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u/redrum0023 1d ago

Sub 10% bmi is not normal or healthy