A Solution for Amateur Boxing.

There is no reason, given the present state of technology, that headgear cannot be embedded with an accelerometer, in conjunction with a jersey with pressure sensitive pads located in the scoring areas of the torso would be capable of finally delivering accurate scoring of both head and body punches. This would indisputably measure both when, how many times, and how hard a fighter has been hit in the bout. It would provide an concrete measurement of which fighter has delivered the more meaningful blows, as well as who has delivered more damage in a round cumulatively. The instrumentation could easily be programed with a minimum sensitivity level so that pawing, blocked, and glancing blows would not be registered as well. Fencing has been using an electronic foil and vest for years now (since 1936 to be exact!) to eliminate any doubt as to what the results are. It is time that boxing implements a similar system that will eliminate once and for all subjectivity, poor eyesight, bribery, and incompetence from the scoring of Amateur boxing.

Comments (13)

Tmann400

At end of the day, a GREAT fighter will find a way to win regardless. There's a reason that that some of the ATG have been Olympic gold champs... Wlad Lennox Ali etc. When you got that pedigree you will find a way to adjust and win in AM system... Some of these robberies happen because fighters not that dominant that its so obvious. The truly talented will get it done...While I agree with the general idea of what you're saying, that really isn't the case exactly. Look at Roy Jones for example, he was completely and utterly, inexcusably robbed of a gold medal win against Park Si Hun. Roy turned out to be not only one of the best fighters in professional boxing, but a multi-divisonal champion with virtually incomparable speed and athleticism. Roy dominated Si Hun, completely dominated him. There was LITERALLY no way you could excuse that. So, really, while I agree with "Great fighters find a way to get it done" that's not the case a lot of the time. I mean, look at the robberies we've had just recently in the pro's. INEXCUSABLE. There was NO way you could make a case for Rios to have even scored a draw against Abril, let alone a "win". There was NO way you could make a case for Williams scoring a win over Lara, and the list goes on. So, like I said, while I agree with the general idea of what you're saying, a win is a win, a robbery is a robbery, and it's not fair to put blame on the fighters when the case is really incompetence, and so much as corruption on the judges part. If a fighter shows up, does his job, and technically wins a fight, the judges should at the very least do THEIR job, it's not that hard, and there job is even easier when you compare it to the fighters job. Just my opinion, though By the way, Shawn, I thoroughly agree with your idea. I think that is a very valid point, and a great idea.

13y ago

01samuelc

I guess i'm one of the few who feel there is nothing wrong with it. Its just up to the fighters to adjust to this new system and fight the way they're supposed to.

13y ago

theproof

i love the golden gloves, juniors, amateur, olympic boxing. but as long as there are not fighters from cuba, us, russia the governing bodies don't care.

13y ago

Medved

13y ago

Null

The solution for every flaw in every scoring system in boxing is to knock your opponent the fu*k out. Hopefully with no headgear we see more KO's in 2016. That's right. But, the idea that is brought up is great. I always wondered why they didn't use some instruments and sensors to measure punch output, punches landed, punch force, etc. This is a great idea. It would be great to implement in both amateur and professional boxing, though.

13y ago

edgarg

I'm sorry, but fun to watch, is much less important than fairness to fighters. The amateurs are the breeding ground for future pros. Its important to reward their hard work with fair scoring. I think that this is a system which should be at least experimented with. I don't know why it hasn't been proposed years ago as soon as the fencing scoring proved successful.

13y ago

Sparked_26

I'm sorry, but fun to watch, is much less important than fairness to fighters. The amateurs are the breeding ground for future pros. Its important to reward their hard work with fair scoring. Not sure if it is so much a breeding ground for future pro's as it traditionally has been - seems like a different sport to me. The emphasis by and large is on scoring single shots from the rear hand that are easy to score. Not sure some accelerometer device would change that.

13y ago

_Shawn

True, but at the least it would be more fun to watch and fighters would be more inclined to punch in combination instead of fiddling around. I'm sorry, but fun to watch, is much less important than fairness to fighters. The amateurs are the breeding ground for future pros. Its important to reward their hard work with fair scoring.

13y ago

Sparked_26

But fellas..........it's not like there arent problems with the 10pt system...Same **** can and will go down... True, but at the least it would be more fun to watch and fighters would be more inclined to punch in combination instead of fiddling around.

13y ago

Banderivets

But fellas..........it's not like there arent problems with the 10pt system...Same **** can and will go down...

13y ago

Sparked_26

that would work for the current system but I'm reading 2016 Olympics will be a 10 point must scoring system and no headgear. So no more of this fencing with gloves crap. That's pretty much the solution to it all anyway.

13y ago

AntonTheMeh

that would work for the current system but I'm reading 2016 Olympics will be a 10 point must scoring system and no headgear. So no more of this fencing with gloves crap. that's good news.

13y ago

PBP

The solution for every flaw in every scoring system in boxing is to knock your opponent the fu*k out. Hopefully with no headgear we see more KO's in 2016.

13y ago