15 Rounds Again

I don't like the weigh-in procedures of weighing in 32 hours or so before the fight. I don't like that. It's supposed to be safer, but weigh classes are made so guys of the same size fight each other. You can put on water weight when it's a same day weigh-in, but not as much. Something is wrong when you've got a bout billed as a junior welterweight bout (Corley-Cotto), and Cotto outweighs Corley 157 to 140 on fight night. Or Mayweather-Baldomir, a fight for the WW title, and Baldomir outweighs Floyd 162-149. Thats a point. The early weighins today I believe is a result of fighters suffering from severe dehydration in fights where the weigh-in was in the morning. So the belief is that fighters gets a reasonable time to hydrate following them tipping the scale. Whats the worst??

The 12 round championship distance was introduced after Dook Koo Kim died following the battering he took from Ray Mancini. It was mostly a matter of doing SOMETHING in the wake of a nationally televised disaster. So the 12 rounds was introduced without any exact medical knowledge of it being safer than 15 rounds. Anyway. The championship distance was actually down to 10 rounds in the Tunney-Dempsey fights which to my knowledge is the 2 only HW championship-fights of so short a duration. The weigh-in procedures back to the Gans-Nelson I fight was that the fighters weighed in when they entered the ring. What do you think is the problem today? I don't like the weigh-in procedures of weighing in 32 hours or so before the fight. I don't like that. It's supposed to be safer, but weigh classes are made so guys of the same size fight each other. You can put on water weight when it's a same day weigh-in, but not as much. Something is wrong when you've got a bout billed as a junior welterweight bout (Corley-Cotto), and Cotto outweighs Corley 157 to 140 on fight night. Or Mayweather-Baldomir, a fight for the WW title, and Baldomir outweighs Floyd 162-149.

It would be nice to go back, but I don't care all that much. There hasn't been any real solid data to show that 12 rounds is safer than 15 rounds. If a guy like Duk Koo Kim died in a fight that exceeded 12 rounds, who's to say that he wouldn't have died if it were a 12 rounder? Maybe Mancini would've been extra aware of the rounds and put up more punches in rounds 11 and 12 then. Maybe the real serious damage was already done in the first 12 anyway. It doesn't always show right away. The weigh-in procedures are more of a necessity to fix, IMO. The 12 round championship distance was introduced after Dook Koo Kim died following the battering he took from Ray Mancini. It was mostly a matter of doing SOMETHING in the wake of a nationally televised disaster. So the 12 rounds was introduced without any exact medical knowledge of it being safer than 15 rounds. Anyway. The championship distance was actually down to 10 rounds in the Tunney-Dempsey fights which to my knowledge is the 2 only HW championship-fights of so short a duration. The weigh-in procedures back to the Gans-Nelson I fight was that the fighters weighed in when they entered the ring. What do you think is the problem today?

I think a 13th round is a more appropriate solution. Computerized scoring may work in theory, but winning a fight is about more than landing a higher amount of punches. Although I would prefer to see more transparency, the judging is what it is. 13 rounds would help, but going back up to 15 would be pushing it. But if it did go that far, let's just ban Ruiz immediately after.

Yeah a 13th would be nice to avoid draws, but I think Boxers take enough punishment.

I don't think so. Imagine if Lacy would've gone 3 more rounds? or other things like that. It's fine the way it is I think. I can think of plenty of other things I'd like to change about boxing instead of that.

It would be nice to go back, but I don't care all that much. There hasn't been any real solid data to show that 12 rounds is safer than 15 rounds. If a guy like Duk Koo Kim died in a fight that exceeded 12 rounds, who's to say that he wouldn't have died if it were a 12 rounder? Maybe Mancini would've been extra aware of the rounds and put up more punches in rounds 11 and 12 then. Maybe the real serious damage was already done in the first 12 anyway. It doesn't always show right away. The weigh-in procedures are more of a necessity to fix, IMO.

People should not be even discussing this. Fighters put themselves through such rigorous training and conditioning for 12 rounds, to expect or ask them to do more is a joke. Fighters already risk brain damage and injury by squaring up against world class opponents for 12 rounds, adding three more rounds where injury can be caused is again a joke. Instead of increasing rounds we should more concerned about fixing our judging system (which is evidently flawed). In this era of technology surely a merger of man's judgment and a computer for counting punches should be contemplated. I'm not saying adopt Amateur boxing's system but create our own one. Maybe instead of a console with two buttons (one for each time a boxer lands a punch) they should have a console with four buttons, two buttons for each fighter. One button for a medium punch landed and one for a hard punch laded. Awarded medium punches a point value and add a greater point value for hard punches.

13 rds would be better. There are fights that would have been great if they went 15, but there are others that would bore me into a coma. John Ruiz hugging for 15 rds would be cruel and unusual punishment.