ONE thing piqued my interest during last Friday’s FB live session with Donnie Nietes and his coaches Edito and Edmund Villamor. Everyone knows he’s the 112-pound champion, and everyone also knows that he trains very hard.
But one thing that got me interested--and had me thinking of those who are struggling to shed a few pounds--is how they tweak their program for a certain weight.
Nietes, the former minimumweight (105 pounds) and light flyweight (108 pounds) champion, competes at flyweight (112 pounds) but is usually at 125 pounds, his training weight or walk-around weight as some would call it.
That 13 pounds to get to the 112-limit can be easily shed and over his career, Donnie has had no problems making weight. I know some people struggling to make weight and as Donnie said it, it takes just discipline.
“Discipline sa pagkaon and training,” he said. No junk food, eat in moderation, and eat healthy.
Here’s another thing about Donnie or other boxers that may surprise some. We all have that one friend who’d freak out if they’d gain a pound overnight. Well, try 12 pounds.
After making the 112-pound limit on Friday, Donnie was at 120 on Saturday morning during the second weigh-in, well below the 10-pound limit a fighter is allowed to gain during the second weigh in.
We all have felt we’ve gained a kilo after a really heavy lunch, right? That’s nothing. Between the second weigh-in on that Saturday morning and before he stepped on the ring, Donnie put on four more pounds; meaning he fought just a pound below his training weight.
They were also talking about the possibility of Donnie climbing the 115-pound division—even though he has no problems making 112—and that means Donnie’s new training weight would be 130, instead of 125. And come weighin, he’d easily make those 15 extra pounds go away.
And while listening to them casually talk about dropping weight, an image of that stereotyped girl they use in weight-loss commercial popped up in my head, with the thought balloon “hey, take my weight off, too while you you’re at it.”
I’ve seen a few training sessions of boxers and those sessions that would make a lesser person faint explains why for disciplined boxers like Donnie, they don’t have any weight issues.
Perhaps ALA can have a toned down version of that training for weekend Warriors, who dream of a walk-around weight of say, 130 pounds?