{"id":799540,"date":"2026-07-14T10:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T10:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/799540\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T10:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T10:53:11","slug":"shakur-says-hes-him-but-sugar-ray-robinson-never-asked-for-catchweights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/799540\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakur Says He&#8217;s &#8216;Him,&#8217; But Sugar Ray Robinson Never Asked For Catchweights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=boxingnews24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"208\" alt=\"Add EBoxing News 24as a preferred source on Google\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/google.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqLAgKIiZDQklTRmdnTWFoSUtFR0p2ZUdsdVoyNWxkM015TkM1amIyMG9BQVAB?ceid=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"128\" alt=\"Follow Boxing News 24 on Google News\" style=\"height:100%; width:auto; display:block;\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/follow-google-news.png\"\/><br \/>\n  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>The post comes after weeks of debate over his support for catchweight fights, including the previously discussed 144-pound bout with Devin Haney instead of meeting at the full 147-pound welterweight limit.<\/p>\n<p>Shakur has maintained that negotiating a catchweight is a practical decision rather than a sign of fear. His latest message doubled down on that position, arguing that he has spent his career defeating opponents with natural size advantages.<\/p>\n<p>Critics, however, point to boxing history.<\/p>\n<p>When Sugar Ray Robinson moved up to light heavyweight to challenge Joey Maxim for the title, he didn\u2019t demand Maxim strip off a few pounds to accommodate him. Robinson weighed in at just 157 and a half pounds, giving up nearly 16 pounds to the champion, and fought in the blistering 104-degree heat. He didn\u2019t ask middleweight champion Jake LaMotta to meet him down at a catchweight.<\/p>\n<p>The legends of that era believed that if you wanted the glory of conquering a higher division, you had to beat the man at his weight.<\/p>\n<p>Roberto Dur\u00e1n similarly moved from lightweight through welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight, taking on elite opponents such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Iran Barkley at the divisions\u2019 established weight limits.<\/p>\n<p>The comparison isn\u2019t perfect because catchweights are far more common in today\u2019s boxing landscape than they were during Robinson\u2019s and Dur\u00e1n\u2019s eras. Modern super fights frequently involve negotiated weights to satisfy both camps.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the debate surrounding Shakur centers on perception. If he believes he can consistently beat naturally bigger fighters, some fans question why a catchweight is necessary in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>Shakur appears unconcerned by the criticism. His message made clear that he believes the doubts will disappear once he gets the opportunity to prove himself in the ring.<\/p>\n<p>Ken Woods has been a senior writer at Boxing News 24 since 2013, covering the sport from every angle. With years of ringside reporting, he delivers fight news, results, and analysis that cut through the noise. Ken\u2019s work consistently spotlights champions, contenders, and rising prospects, giving fans a sharp, knowledgeable view of the global boxing scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post comes after weeks of debate over his support for catchweight fights, including the previously discussed 144-pound&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-799540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}