If 15 rounds had been 12

[shuggt]

I've been thinking of how different boxing history would be if the World Title bouts of the past had been 12 rounds instead of 15.
1941 WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE JOE LOUIS V BILLY CONN - Conn miles ahead on points after 12 rounds tries to Ko Joe in the 13th and gets Ko'd himself.
1950 WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE JAKE LA MOTTA V LAURENT DAUTHILLE - Again great boxing French middleweight Dauthille has only got to stay on his feet to beat La Motta in the 15th round when La Motta suckers him into the ropes,feigns tiredness, then unleashes a terrific barrage of punches which Kos Dauthille with seconds left of the fight!
1952 WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE ROCKY MARCIANO V JERSEY JOE WALCOTT - In this their first fight Walcott bamboozles Marciano with his sideways movement and slick boxing skills-not to mention a knockdown -until the 13th round when he's pulverised by probably,one of the best ever left hooks thrown in boxing history.
1980 WBA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE 1980 JOHN TATE V MIKE WEAVER - Tate coasting to victory in the last round when Weaver produces the perfect Ko punch-lights out!
There's many others of course-be glad to hear of them.

[Miburo]

You can say the same about plenty of fights. Slow starters and fighters who broke down their opponents over the course of the fight all benefited from the 15 round system. Sanchez-Nelson was another fight which would have gone the other way as a 12 rounder. But the reverse can be said as well in the 12 round era, which favors fighters who win rounds early. Ultimately they have to be looked at as two distinct en******.

[StarshipTrooper]

They had 15 round fights for a reason: To separate the men from the boys. To whole point was to weed out the ones who started fast but couldn't last. Frontrunners need not apply.

Poet

[Kid McCoy]

With only 12 rounds to fight, Sugar Ray Robinson wouldn't have succumbed to heat exhaustion against Joey Maxim and would have won the light-heavyweight title having been comfortably ahead after 12. Duran-Hagler is another, when Duran was ahead on two cards after 12 rounds (although, much as I like Duran, I don't know how he was).

However, those fights you cited wouldn't necessarily have been different had they been over 12 rounds instead of 15. For one, the fighters would know it was 12 rounds and therefore make their "last stand" earlier. Chances are LaMotta, Weaver and co go for broke earlier against a retreating opponent and still land their Hail Marys. Angelo Dundee would still be giving his "you're blowing it son" speech to Leonard against Hearns, only before the 10th rather than before the 13th.

[wmute]

Leonard-Hearns 1 is another.

But we are assuming fighters would have fought the same way if they knew the fight was scheduled for 12, which is not a reasonable assumption IMO.

[Southpaw Stinger]

Ali Frazier 1 and 3. No knockdown in the 15th and in the 3rd fight no stoppage after 14.

[Pharoahe]

Duk Koo Kim would likely still be alive.

[billionaire]

you also have to remember that fighters paced themselves for 15 rounds.....like leonard-hearns I you cant say hearns wouldve won in 12 because leonards plan was to give away the first 5 rounds.......

[KostyaTszyu44]

you have to remember fighters choose their tactics depending on how long the fight is....in alot of those examples, if it was a 12 rounder the tactics used for the fight would no doubt have been different