Ring sizes

[BigStereotype]

There's something I've always wondered about boxing: Why are there all different sizes of rings? I've seen bouts being fought in anything from 16 feet to 32 feet rings. Why don't they decide on a standard sized ring for every match?

A 32 foot ring?!

[Jim Jeffries]

Thanks for this, I was positive Ray chose 12 rounds, never really looked into it, just thought it would make more sense for Hagler to pick 15 if he had the option.

I still maintain that the fight was close enough that Hagler would've won had he gotten a smaller ring and lighter gloves. Will try to look into this as it seems 12 rounds would favor the very inactive Leonard as well.

Seems to me Marvin let him have whatever he wanted, because he was so confident of victory. And he was so affected by the loss, that he didn't have the drive to fight anymore.

[Barn]

I still maintain that the fight was close enough that Hagler would've won had he gotten a smaller ring and lighter gloves. Will try to look into this as it seems 12 rounds would favor the very inactive Leonard as well.

Seems to me Marvin let him have whatever he wanted, because he was so confident of victory. And he was so affected by the loss, that he didn't have the drive to fight anymore.

Hagler was thinking of retirement before the Leonard fight and his only motivation was breaking Monzons record. After the Leonard fight there wasn't much hope in that unless he pulled some Archie Moore-esque Age defying career.

[TBear]

Thanks for this, I was positive Ray chose 12 rounds, never really looked into it, just thought it would make more sense for Hagler to pick 15 if he had the option.

You would think but Hagler also went with the WBC's 12round distance for the Hearns and Mugabi fights too. The WBA and IBF distance was 15 awhile still after the Leonard fight.

[New England]

Just something that's agreed upon before the fight such as glove sizes. There will be maxiumum and minimum sizes though.

For example when Leonard was going to fight Hagler he wanted a much bigger ring so he could pull of his running tactics more efficiently without Hagler being able to cut of the ring as efficiently which he was exceptionally good at.

glove size is dependent on the weight class

professionals weighing over 147 on the night of the weigh in are forced to use ten oz gloves and those weighing 147 or below are forced to use 8 oz



margarito and pacman fought with 8 oz gloves recently at a 150 catchweight (for a title at 54, if that makes any sense,) because of an agreement between the promotors (arum and himself)

but that's a rarity


it's frankly dangerous and a liability.
if a man sustains a lethal beating with smaller gloves than those specified by the commission it's going to get messy


to address the OP:

ring size is a means of leveraging toward an advantage in the ring and financially for promotors

as a general rule 20 feet is the standard size boxing ring for a club level or off television type fight.

20-25 feet is what you'll see in world championships on television, because of the increased advertisement space, and the fact that most contemporary, champion level boxers want to use their legs and the ring more in a defensive manner to avoid confrontation



if the best fighter in the world (or the most popular / richest one) was a close range brawler you'd see smaller rings for his fights
bigger ring's for the fights of the best fighter in the world if he was a longer range mover.

[New England]

and i too want to see this 32 foot ring



was it hosting a tall german on german soil against a foreign midget by any chance?

i've seen some big rings in germany to protect their boxers
and when they're painted white they look monstrous