Do KO's even matter any more?

[.Mik.]

If you at no point go for a KO, you dont really deserve to win a FIGHT unless its just a complete slaughter. Make it a fight, not just a fencing match with gloves, please. Thats how boxing was designed to be from the beginning, its why we have judges and not just punch counters.

I dont think thats strictly true at all. Ring technicians have been very respected pugilists from the early days of boxing.

Just cos the rounds went on forever doesnt mean that there werent tactical exchanges that dictated the matches and wore down the opponents so that the knockouts came more from fatigue and exhaustion than a killer single shot.

[Poet682006]

As entertainment value KO are important, but as for practical consquences no. A win is a win is a win. The only thing ultimately important is putting that W up on your record, how you get it is of no matter. A decision count the same as a KO when it comes to tallying wins and losses.

Poet

[BmoreBrawler]

I dont think thats strictly true at all. Ring technicians have been very respected pugilists from the early days of boxing.

Just cos the rounds went on forever doesnt mean that there werent tactical exchanges that dictated the matches and wore down the opponents so that the knockouts came more from fatigue and exhaustion than a killer single shot.

right, any boxer will eventually achieve a KO if they try.

[.Mik.]

Yeah...if the point of the fight is to keep going until someone is knocked out. They dont do that anymore you know?

[Randall_Hopkirk]

Of course they are more prestigious. I said that myself.

You dont think that people can make excuses for being knocked out? Lewis did. People made them for him too. I'd say that taking an mutual decision where you've took a beating over 12 rounds gives you less excuse and reason to complain than winning a fight for 8 rounds and then losing it due to one punch.

But I dunno.

Not sure about the McCall defeat but he took the Rahman defeat on the chin, literally

[LondonRingRules]

I quite often read threads noting how certain fighters havent had a genuine knock out in a long while. Two of the prime examples being two of the most popular topics of discussion on this forum: Joe Calzaghe and Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

My question is...

** Need to revise your question.

Joe had a KO his last fight and has a 74% career KO ratio. Purty Grrl don't have a KO in 2 yrs and only a 63% KO ratio that is dropping faster than an Imas joke at the NAACP convention.

[Mr. David]

** Need to revise your question.

Joe had a KO his last fight and has a 74% career KO ratio. Purty Grrl don't have a KO in 2 yrs and only a 63% KO ratio that is dropping faster than an Imas joke at the NAACP convention.

Calzaghe's stoppage victory over Peter Manfredo Jr. was probably the most blatant early stoppage we've seen in a while. No, Manfredo wasn't throwing back, but the best you can say is that Calzaghe's flurries had that air above Manfredo's head in some serious trouble.

Calzaghe's also been fighting at super middleweight for a long, long time. Mayweather began his career as a junior lightweight and is now pretty much a welterweight. And even then, he walks around near that weight so he needs to rely on his speed, skills, smarts and strength training to beat his foes.

Funny thing is, I was thinking of one of Calzaghe's non-KO wins -- his decision over Lacy -- as one of the more impressive unanimous decisions, right up there, in recent years, with Winky Wright's near-shutout of Trinidad.

[Panamaniac]

Long live the KO!

The KO puts the exclamation point in a victory! TKO's involving knockdowns are just as dramatic as being counted out. Sure, it's very exciting to see two fighters go at it toe-to toe, but the real pay-off uccurs when one of them is knocked on his ass!

Although early KO's can be somewhat disappointing, they're still better than a fight that goes the limit and remain inconclusive due to incompetent judging ("I wuz robbed") or a deadlock.

Every sport has it's own dramatic zenith. In basketball, it's the field goal (3 pts.) or slam dunk; in football, it's the touchdown; in baseball it's the homerun; in boxing, the knockout. In fact, boxing broadcasters often use "homerun" as a metaphor for the KO.

[.Mik.]

** Need to revise your question.

Joe had a KO his last fight and has a 74% career KO ratio. Purty Grrl don't have a KO in 2 yrs and only a 63% KO ratio that is dropping faster than an Imas joke at the NAACP convention.

Nah. Manfredo was a TKO. I explicitly stated a number of times that I was referring to KO's as being knockouts, ie when the opponent is unable to make the count.

[Cerullo G.O.D]

Ask McLellan if it matters.

Discuss.

Mind you, he quit, rather than got knocked out.