Comments Thread For: Teddy Atlas Calls For Federal Boxing Commission in Wake of Officiating Mishaps

[BoxingParadigm]

I agree with Teddy. I know many dislike this, but it's a step in the right direction.

[maguirre]

Atlas is wasting his time. Boxing will always be boxing as it is. It is corrupt, it's not a sport it's business full of part-time boxers.

[SteveM]

Atlas honestly believed Horn robbed Pacquiao in Brisbane

Huh - that's general consensus knowledge

[SteveM]

Standards could and should be higher.

One of the problems that makes oversight difficult is the fractured nature of boxing. The US major leagues are closed shops, unified franchises. You can play baseball professionally anywhere you want, but unless it's under the (almost entirely American) umbrella of the MLB, then you are not playing major league baseball -- and the players agree to stick with this. Mike Trout only plays in MLB, for example.

But in boxing, even if you created a Federal Boxing Commission, it won't mean anything if Fury fights down under, or if Joshua fights Wilder in Saudi Arabia, or if Beterbiev fights Smith in Quebec, or when Canelo fought Ryder in Mexico. Unless they are talking about boxing creating a single commercial entity in the US and try to tie boxers down to fight exclusively as part of this enterprise -- but that is a whole different story and would completely change the nature of boxing permanenetly, turning it into something more akin to UFC.

Well, it would be a start - then maybe other countries or continents will follow - solving half the problem is better than nothing

[macmike100]

I hate layered organizations on top of more organizations that argue and disagree and charge more fees. It's clear the judging was not fair (Loma-Haney).
Grill those judges. Grill who pays them. Investigate this.
Yeah, I'm for one belt, and I don't like the micro weight divisions where a boxer can squeeze up or down like they do. Just more ways to cheat.

[paulf]

The dream died with John McCain

[Boxfan83]

Lol, Federal commission? We will for sure have a ****** league.

[ELPacman]

I for one, would LOVE to see boxing's scoring/judging system be turned upside down on its head for the better of the sport. Yeah, you can say what you want about close rounds, but at the end of the day, when thousands/millions of viewers feel cheated about something, as though something doesn't feel right, it's not a good look at all for the sport. I'm not specifically talking about the Loma-Haney fight, but any others in the past.

Why do we need to have that feeling so often in boxing? This leads to the speculation of corruption and why even give attention to a sport that doesn't feel right when it comes to the way fights are scored in the end? There needs to be a serious checks and balance practice within boxing and a more definitive reasoning a guy wins a rd. Hell, put the damn mic on the judge at the end of a fight and have him explain to the millions watching, why he felt so and so deserved the rounds he gave them. Put those judges up at the post press conference. Let the public/press grill them and get answers out of them.

Granted, that doesn't change what we currently deal with because they'll just act like Trump and believe they saw something that nobody else saw to justify their reasoning until you can't ask them the same question anymore. So I'm still all for a whole revamp of the system.

[Monty Fisto]

Then a central body under a single belt organization and a governing commission. You can keep the multitude of promoters but a singular commission that provides oversight over fight scoring, judges and referees. Make the single belt org charge super cheap monthly dues for all fighters and enroll all into VADA 24/7. Make it mandatory that any professional boxer must fight under this singular entity and all state and country commissions must ensure its integrity.

In its present state, boxing is just as bad if not worse than fight fixing in the 20s, 30’s and 40’s. Boxing is already on its last legs. Continuing its unchecked corruption and criminal activity ensures its demise within the next decade

I agree boxing is in a bad state. I'm not at all convinced what you are suggesting is workable. You're talking about passing Federal laws to create a monopoly? That enforces the company to set low sanctioning fees for its fighters? This already sounds like an extremely unusual restriction on trade for the boxers themselves. And how do you stop the WBC, who operate out of Mexico, and the WBA , who operate out of Panama, and the rest of the alphabets from continuing with their belts?

I'd add: the nationwide oversight body in the UK doesn't suggest such a body will guarantee any better judging anyway.

[Floyd is TBE]

I never saw Atlas do any of this when Norton got robbed against Ali or when Marquez got robbed against Pac. Seems like he only cares about "corrupt" officiating when his favorite fighters lose.