Losing large amounts of fluid close to match is common in the boxing world because the contestants want to be as big and strong as possible for their weight class.
But as the body dries out, the brain is also affected. If fluid is worse around the brain, the beats are lessened and the risk of brain damage increases.
- Losing weight is a big pit and many people compete in the wrong weight classes. It is a misconception in the boxing culture and it is incomprehensible that some people believe that their bodies will be able to cope, says 73-year-old Olof Johansson of the Professional Boxing Commission.
He has followed the boxing for over 60 years.
- Especially in the amateur boxing there is an idiot culture where you lose almost everything at the end and sit like a fool in the sauna close match. It's so stupid that it's not true. The fluid lying around the brain is thinning out of it so it is raw cork to do so, he continues.
"Everyone should work that way"On the professional side, he highlights WBC, whose master belts are classified as the most prestigious, as a role model for other organizations around the world.
They start with an initial weight check 30 days prior to a match and if you do not pass the weight limit the match is stopped.
- WBC is rock hard with its controls and that's right. It sharpens the idea that you have to take all the weight in the end so it is a sensible measure to get people to stop eating foolishly, says Johansson.
- Then they have checks 14 and seven days before the match, and the official weigh-in in front of the audience the day before, he continues.
Berghult: "The right way to go"But not all organizations are as strict about keeping track of the box's weight curves.
- Everyone should work as WBC. Responsibility for a safer sport goes all the way from the domestic organization up to the world level. WBC has had a great dialogue with us about Swedish cowards, says Olof Johansson.
Undefeated Patricia Bergult (14-0) who competes in super welterweight (69.8 kilos) is Sweden's only current WBC world champion.
She also praises the organization's methods.
- I think it's the right way to go. It is good that they check the weight so often because then people can not do these tokens in the same way. If I lie too high above the limit they are blown by the match, she tells SVT Sport.