Daring To Be Great

Jake Lamotta vs. Hannibal Decca IN NEGOTIATION

Despite being a relatively new prospect in e-sports boxing, Decca dares to be great against one of the legends of boxing. Decca, despite campaigning previously at middleweight, moved down multiple divisions and now barely exceeds the junior lightweight limit.

Weight Management In Boxing

Since his shocking transformation, Decca is consistently the smaller man in the ring. This usually means a major disadvantage, but the speedy lightweight has been known already to have other uncanny qualities to compensate for the consistent size disadvantage.

Being Too Small

Decca’s conundrum is that he’s got no real competition at his natural weight. As an amateur, he was offered a 3-fight deal worth 7.5 million  to go pro. The company that signed him, BBM Promotions, has been looking forward to securing an opponent for his debut.

Despite offering life-changing money to potential opponents, Decca was ducked by the big names; first at middleweight, then at super welterweight. When no one under 150 lbs. answered the call, Decca continued moving down until he eventually landed at junior lightweight. 

Being Too Big

Although the fighters are required to qualify for the fight via an official weigh-in, there’s often a much more lenient limit on the weight at which they’re allowed to actually enter the ring.

When a fighter has to lose weight for the scale, the most efficient way to do it is to dehydrate themselves. 

They can do this by training to shed water, sweating while purposefully denying themselves any water for replenishment. This is a reliable, if not extremely uncomfortable method that can be dangerous in the long term if it’s not done carefully. The strain on the body can cause serious damage that could manifest itself in more ways than just stamina on fight night. When you’re dehydrated and exhausted, it’s easy to get sick when you’re over-exerting yourself and simultaneously restricting your calories and fluid intake.

Gym Legend

Decca has traveled far and wide to train with the best fighters and his elite level sparring has become the stuff of legend. Somebody found leaked sparring videos of the lauded prospect.  The ferocity and speed on display by Decca in the footage showed no apparent weakness; he keeps his head moving, he controls his stamina well, he’s got good power and he’s seemingly always in position to land a big shot. He’s a great inside fighter, using his strength well to impose his will on opponents. 

But the real brilliance of Hannibal Decca is his outboxing. With a masterful jab and almost Ali-esque footwork, Decca seems just as capable of staying on the outside and destroying an opponent at range as he does of cutting off the ring and cornering an opponent before dropping them with bodyshots. Contenders and champions alike are deciding to keep their distance, until seeing what Decca can do against a pro first.

Lamotta vs. Decca

Jake Lamotta, a middleweight who’s accustomed to fighting smaller ring virtuosos, didn’t seem all too eager to jump on the unproven lightweight. It’s unlikely he’d ever find an opponent so willing to take a dangerous fight like this against him, so it makes sense that he’d accept. If Decca’s banking on outworking the bigger man to a points victory, he’ll likely be sorely mistaken.

Despite the 34 lbs. weight advantage, Marciano is reported to be training harder than he ever did in his life. Few have even heard of his opponent, leaving him very little information to use in preparation for the fight. Because of this, Lamotta plans to be ready for anything. 

LaMotta hasn’t had a televised fight in over 50 years. His return to the ring is a welcome respite to the sea of influencers and clout chasing clowns so common to the sport of boxing today. Few pundits expect the fight to go the distance, with the odds split almost completely evenly. 

Lamotta clearly has an edge. Many think his borderline criminal size difference is going to be too much for the smaller technician to overcome. But with no other fighters willing to be a dance partner to him at his own weight, Decca has been afforded few other options than to fight a much bigger opponent.

Others think the ring rust and transitioning of LaMotta to e-boxing will leave him a shell of himself against a dangerous, live opponent. Some point to Arturo Gatti’s humiliating defeat at the hands of Floyd “Money” Mayweather and warn the Raging Bull to work on head movement. Others reference GGG vs. Kell Brook.

So what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments down below.

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