what would it take to change olympic boxing?

[ИATAS]

From the complete bull**** they have now to what was in the glory days - no headgear, judges, and real fights not pitty pat shoe polishing for points?

All of america fell in love with this fighters smile:



Now it's like "who the hell is in the red? Who the hell is blue? Ahhh this boring as hell, let's turn it and watch figure skating"


I also think this sissifies modern day fighters. They spend their lives fighting with headgear and trying to score points just by "touching" their opponents. Then they turn pro and people wonder why there aren't that many big knock out artists these days.

[Check]

Olympic boxing has fallen harder than any other sport in the olympics. The crowds for boxing in the Olympics back in day were some of the largest crowds but now they are only a small percentage of what they used to be. Boxing is a sport that has always been rather easy to identify fighters because there are no helmets but in the Olympics it doesn't exist. The scoring is garbage now too. Olympic/AM boxing is like a completely different sport than Pro Boxing. You can no longer say that a good Olympic boxer will be a good pro because they are nothing a like.

[ИATAS]

Olympic boxing has fallen harder than any other sport in the olympics. The crowds for boxing in the Olympics back in day were some of the largest crowds but now they are only a small percentage of what they used to be. Boxing is a sport that has always been rather easy to identify fighters because there are no helmets but in the Olympics it doesn't exist. The scoring is garbage now too. Olympic/AM boxing is like a completely different sport than Pro Boxing. You can no longer say that a good Olympic boxer will be a good pro because they are nothing a like.

Yep, exactly.

I do like that new amateur boxing thing they got going (can't recall the name of the league) where guys can fight (no headgear, 3 judges) but it still counts as amateur fighting. It's a nice transition for guys from the am's to the pros.

[Repeddled]

Yeah they really need to get rid of headgears and bring judges back, give them bigger gloves if needed but no headgear.

[ModernTalking]

You can only train in the US.

[BattleAxePurist]

It's the scoring system they use that makes it so awful whoever came up with that idea should be flogged.

They need to judge the fights as they do the pros on a ten point scoring system that would allow fighters to develop the skill set you need in professional boxing.

With the way it's set up now it doesn't benefit you to land clean hard shots just rattle off flurries with your head down and hope you get a point for it.

[CubanGuyNYC]

From the complete bull**** they have now to what was in the glory days - no headgear, judges, and real fights not pitty pat shoe polishing for points?

I also think this sissifies modern day fighters. They spend their lives fighting with headgear and trying to score points just by "touching" their opponents. Then they turn pro and people wonder why there aren't that many big knock out artists these days.

Olympic boxing has fallen harder than any other sport in the olympics. The crowds for boxing in the Olympics back in day were some of the largest crowds but now they are only a small percentage of what they used to be. The scoring is garbage now too. Olympic/AM boxing is like a completely different sport than Pro Boxing. You can no longer say that a good Olympic boxer will be a good pro because they are nothing a like.

It's the scoring system they use that makes it so awful whoever came up with that idea should be flogged.

They need to judge the fights as they do the pros on a ten point scoring system that would allow fighters to develop the skill set you need in professional boxing.

With the way it's set up now it doesn't benefit you to land clean hard shots just rattle off flurries with your head down and hope you get a point for it.

It used to be that the winner of Olympic gold was the kid to watch when making his pro debut. For good reason: amateur boxing used to be very similar to pro boxing. Then headgear was introduced to Olympic boxing with the 1984 games. That watered things down somewhat, but it wasn't the killer. What finally did amateur boxing in was electronic scoring. It came about as a result of the atrocious decision against Roy Jones, Jr. in the 1988 games at Seoul, Korea. The corrupt judges that blatantly robbed Jones were subsequently suspended. But the damage was done...and the cure was worse than the disease.

Electronic scoring prompted the silly notion of scoring "points", instead of landing effective punches. The last great Olympic boxing was seen in the 1976 games. That was the team that included gold medal winners Leo Randolph, Howard Davis, Leon and Michael Spinks and Ray Leonard. The U.S.A. won five gold medals, while the Cubans won three. The medal winners of those games were rightfully expected to do well as professionals. Leon won the heavyweight title, while his brother Michael became one of the greatest LHW boxers of all time. "Sugar" Ray became an ATG.

Today, an Olympic medalist has fought in a style so far removed from real boxing that his chances in the pros are far from certain. In fact, if a boxer has fought in the ams for too long, as many of the Cubans do, their professional prospects can be damaged. IMO, there's little point in mandating headgear. Virtually every boxing Olympian is seeking to move on to a professional career. How many gold medal winners box as a "hobby" and really have their sights set on a law career?

I believe the International Olympic Committee must admit their mistakes and go back to the old ways: no headgear, and a five man international judging panel. There will always be controversy, but this would bring Olympic (and amateur) boxing back to it's old glory.

[Shadows]

Xenophobic Americans are just upset that the amateurs are dominated by Eastern European fighters. FACT.

[ThePrince]

The AIBA announced recently that they are getting into professional boxing and want the pros to compete in the 2016 Olympics.

[ИATAS]

The AIBA announced recently that they are getting into professional boxing and want the pros to compete in the 2016 Olympics.

Does that mean no headgear? If not I don't see too many pros doing it