By Jake Donovan

To go through with the fight or to walk away: it’s always a double-edged sword for the fighter who does his job and makes while, in deciding whether or not to move forward with the opponent who doesn’t honor the contractual terms.

It was a decision with which super middleweight prospect Jerry Odom was met during Thursday’s weigh-in prior to the July 17 ShoBox quadruple header at Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Odom hit the scales at 168.25 lbs., well within the +/1 lb. allowable tolerance for the contracted 168 lb. limit. His opponent, Samuel Clarkson wasn’t even close, checking in at a beefy 172.25 lbs. 

Odom and his team—which includes the staff at GH3 Promotions—agree to proceed with the fight, give the opportunity presented. Walking away would have meant passing on a payday and the opportunity to return to Showtime some 51 weeks after his network debut. Instead, a compromise was reached where they had to agree to a maximum rehydration weight—again resulting in Odom honoring the terms and Clarkson missing the mark. 

The show still went on, with Clarkson paying the financial price in the way of fines, but Odom (13-2, 12KOs) paying the price in the ring. The Maryland-based prospect was dropped three times before the fight was eventually stopped in round three. The loss was his second in the span of three fights, although his first defeat—a 4th round disqualification against Andrew Hernandez—was emphatically avenged just two months later.

This loss remains a bitter pill to swallow, and one that has his team second-guessing the decision to put the 22-year old in a position for a letdown. 

"I should have cut the fight at the weigh-in but I let my fighter make the final decision and Jerry wanted to fight,” Vito Melnicki, president of GH3 Promotions admitted in a statement released through the company’s press office. “I thought about it but wanted to give Jerry the opportunity to showcase that he is one of the best super middleweights out there.”

Unfortunately, Odom was the only super middleweight in the ring in their bout. In addition to blowing weight on two separate occasions, Clarkson rehydrated to 189.7 lbs. by the opening bell. Odom was 175.8 lbs., adding three pounds from the 127.8 lb. mark he hit during the morning rehydration weight check. 

“He was in there with a Cruiserweight and against my better judgement, I let the fight happen,” notes Melnciki. “I still believe in Jerry as much if not more then I did before the fight. He showed that he wont back down from anybody.”

In initially agreeing to the bout, Clarkson granted options to GH3 Promotions on his future fights. There stands a very good chance his next fight will be a rematch with Odom, one where greater emphasis will be placed on his meeting all contractual terms. 

“I signed options with Clarkson and I am looking to do the rematch on television at the proper weight of 168 pounds,” Milnecki revealed. “If he knew that he would be coming in so over the weight limit, being professional he could have come to us and we could have worked it out so Jerry did not have sweat off the final pounds for the last two days before the weigh in. That was his way of giving himself a better chance to win the fight. Look at some the pre fight pictures and interviews, Jerry was as dried out and drained as he could have got, yet Clarkson looked fresh as a daisy. We will look to have a rematch on television in the next four months."  

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox