Doesn’t seem like a big deal until you realize sportsbooks offer betting lines on the official weigh ins.
Like most combat sports events of the modern era, rival boxers Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will have to weigh in twice ahead of their upcoming Netflix showdown, which takes place this Friday night (Nov. 15, 2024) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The “early” weigh ins were held on Thursday morning with representatives of Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), who recorded the official weights for all 14 fighters scheduled to compete this weekend in “The Lone Star State.”
Those proceedings were staged behind closed doors and credentialed media were not permitted to attend. After all, you don’t want those pesky reporters to be recording off-the-record decimal conversations like this.
Promoters will then march the entire card back onstage inside The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory for the “ceremonial” weigh ins, where fighters will step on the scale and have their previously-recorded weights read aloud for attending fans and media.
Unfortunately, with media prohibited from attending the early weigh ins, and TDLR refusing to release the official weights, there is no way to verify the actual numbers. That’s not a great look for a professionally-sanctioned boxing event.
It’s how loopholes are created.
“I’ve confirmed with TDLR and the promotion that there will be official early weigh-ins for the Paul-Tyson card, but the promotion is not allowing media to attend those. Just the ceremonials in the evening,” veteran reporter Matthew Wells wrote on Twitter.
“I’m told by TDLR they are unable to release the official Paul-Tyson weights recorded at weigh-ins this morning,” Wells continued. “And it will be up to the promotion to provide the numbers before ceremonials. The early weigh-ins are closed to media.”
That might not seem like a big deal for a heavyweight “freak show” like Paul vs. Tyson, but tomorrow night’s lineup features some very important contests, like the super lightweight title fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, among others.
So why should anyone care about something as trivial as weights?
They shouldn’t … unless they went to BetOnline.ag, where sportsbooks set odds on the official weights between Paul and Tyson. For example, the over-under on the Paul-Tyson weight differential is currently 5.5 pounds — and there are people behind the scenes who already know the outcome.
Jake Paul needs to do Betr.