As far as boxing goes, two faces currently feature in most, if not every, crosshairs. They are Gervonta Davis and, to a lesser extent, Canelo Alvarez. Tank Davis has come under intense scrutiny of late. His controversial fight against Lamont Roach Jr. made him a critic’s favorite. Now the exhibition against Jake Paul may have added fuel to the fire.

However, perhaps unbeknownst to Gervonta Davis, in a faraway corner, his clout and influence received acknowledgement – thanks to a decision taken two years ago. Back in 2023 the catchweight fight against Ryan Garcia came with a 10-pound rehydration clause. So as they discussed, Joe Rogan and guest Michael Venom Page recalled the days when Floyd Mayweather made a similar move against Canelo Alvarez. The conversation turned interesting when Rogan broached the often heated topic about weight cutting.

Fair move with unfair justifications

With some half an hour left in the show, the UFC commentator wondered how Khamzat Chimaev looked bigger for his 170 pounds. So he remarked unapologetically, “I hate it with a passion. I hate it more than anything in the sport.” It should be eliminated. However, in the same breath, Joe Rogan accepted that perhaps it’s too late to curtail the move.

Fighters should compete at the healthiest weight possible, he insisted. Intrigued, Michael Page probed if there was a way to deal with the issue. He highlighted how boxing involved multiple weigh-ins. So Joe Rogan acknowledged, “Well, some fighters make you do that. Like Gervonta Davis, he made Ryan Garcia do that. Wanted to make sure that Ryan Garcia didn’t rehydrate.”

“Mayweather did that to Canelo, too,” he added. Joe Rogan described these tactics as a ‘G move,’ a power play by the star, or ‘A-side,’ fighter. “Guys will take that fight for that, you know, big paycheck. “But it’s not a good move, you know,” Rogan rued. “I just think that it’s legalized cheating.”

Floyd Mayweather and Canelo fought over a decade ago.

Floyd Mayweather and Gervonta Davis’ weighty concerns

The 2013 title unification had Canelo’s WBC and the Ring titles and Mayweather’s WBA title on the line. Just months before the bout, Mayweather fought Robert Guerrero for the welterweight titles. So to meet the rising Mexican star, the bout was fixed at 152 pounds catchweight. It’s about 2 pounds lower than that light middleweight’s 154-pound limit.

“I will have to work a little harder, but I feel I can make the weight and that I will be strong. To make the fight, I had to give a little, he had to give a little, too. I feel it was fair, and both sides are happy,” Alvarez said at the time.

However, the instance that once again put the spotlight on weight cutting was the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia fight. The bout at the T-Mobile Arena took place at 136 pounds catchweight. However, it came with a 10-pound rehydration clause. Davis, a 135-pound champion, faced a much bigger Garcia, who invariably moved to a higher weight class following the loss.

In 2019, when Canelo fought Sergey Kovalev for the light heavyweight title, a rehydration clause stipulated that neither fighter could weigh more than 185 pounds.

It’s understandable. A star fighter could be in a better position to negotiate a favorable fight deal. But as Joe Rogan highlighted, asking a fighter to cut his weight to negate any advantage would invariably cause raised eyebrows. One latest example could possibly spin a new template. The September 13 showdown between Terence Crawford and Canelo did not involve any weight restriction or rehydration clause.

What’s your take? Should there be weight cuts in fights?