Has the World Grown Too Soft For Boxing?

[Tony Trick-Pony]

parrying punches.

ducking and slipping punches.

being skilled and confident enough TO ALLOW INSIDE FIGHTING WITHOUT CLINCHING LIKE AN UNDERCOVER ****SEXUAL.

that is real defense.

not this andre dirrell floyd mayweather LITERAL RUNNING AWAY andre ward kbro level excessive clinching passed off as boxing wizardry.

You hit the nail on the head. I watched old films of Sam Langford feinting and make his opponent move this way and that and spend needless energy. To me, that is what all the movement is. It is making up for lack of skill and a needless waste of energy. If you're a defensive wizard, you have no need to leap and skip about or hold behind the head, use elbows, head butts or of course, hug up next to a sweaty man opponent. I mean damn, after a while, the opponent has to be wondering the real reason this punk is staying up on him so much.

And of course, the fans are left with a dreadful show. You can't drink enough beers to make it exciting.

[GoldenGloveLove]

Boxing is either better than you think or the world ain't nearly as good as you think.

[Jc8804]

Here is how i would fix boxing

1.smaller rings- any fighter 130 and below in 16x16 rings 135 lb- 147 lb fighters have to fight in 18x18 rings,154lb-168 lb fighters in 20x20 rings 175lb-heavy 22x22 rings

2.refs have a universal way to be a ref like nfl refs and nba refs. Have and create a ref camp and ref school and grade them like the nfl does their refs. Fix the excessive clinching issue to more than 3 clinches a round gets a warning and the 4th gets a point deduction.elbows ,low blows and headbutts get point deductions .

3. 5 judges per fight instead of 3. 4 judges ringside and the ref himself is the 5th judge.

4. Open scoring -giving the fans a scoreboard every single round . This would cut out corruption and bad decisions.
This gives the fighters better in fight adjustments to have to make knowing they are behind or ahead. It would make for more exciting fights (the few fighters that would try and stink up fights would lose fan base and future money and tv slots ala rigo)

5. Have a 13th round for any draws in which a fight with open scoring is 6-6 at the end of 12 rounds,with the 13th round being a tie breaker round .

6.State athletic comissions do drug testing and there can be no confidentiality. All top 20 fighters per division are subject to year round random drug testing .

7. Avoiding mandatories are subject to 8 months suspension at minimum first offense. 2nd offense is 1 year.
(No ducking or avoiding or weaseling). I never seen an nfl team duck the 2nd round of the playoffs.

8.have a 2nd ref ringside that oversees the entire fight
As a on site supervisor to the judges and ref himself as well as the fight doctor.


This is how i would fix boxing

[Bigg Rigg]

boxing has gotten too soft for the world

Bingo!! Went from going to War to playing Chess.

[Ham Porter]

There's nothing wrong with chess matches. Leonard-Benitez & Whitaker-McGirt 1 are examples of enjoyable chess matches, and Toney-McCallum 1 is one of the most aesthetically pleasing boxing matches ever recorded on film.

So many boxers today are either ****-scared to actually take risks with their offence or simply don't know how to properly set traps or set up their combinations & power punches.

[Deevel916]

Bingo!! Went from going to War to playing Chess.

Certain fight fans chalk it up to being "smarter". If I wanted to see competition between "smart" people. I'll watch Jeopardy. This is the fight game. Now I'm not asking that 2 guys act like cavemen swinging wildly once the bell rings, but this notion of tapping your way to a points decision while clinching, running, and avoiding engaging really has to stop. It's killing the sport and turning off fans across the board. You can avoid taking punishment by slipping/bobbing/weaving/blocking. Now THAT takes skill. One doesnt need to gallop half way across the damn ring to avoid a punch. I have nothing against defensive fighters so long as you're using you're defense to set up your offense to strike! Strike back with meaningful punches. Dont just stick your arm out to touch your opponent to rack up points. For that become a fencer. Not a boxer.

[Deevel916]

Another issue I'm having is how boxers are babied too much. On top of having an extensive amateur career, many of these fighters nowadays take on 20-25 pro fights before they even face a live dog. It's pathetic.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

Certain fight fans chalk it up to being "smarter". If I wanted to see competition between "smart" people. I'll watch Jeopardy. This is the fight game. Now I'm not asking that 2 guys act like cavemen swinging wildly once the bell rings, but this notion of tapping your way to a points decision while clinching, running, and avoiding engaging really has to stop. It's killing the sport and turning off fans across the board. You can avoid taking punishment by slipping/bobbing/weaving/blocking. Now THAT takes skill. One doesnt need to gallop half way across the damn ring to avoid a punch. I have nothing against defensive fighters so long as you're using you're defense to set up your offense to strike! Strike back with meaningful punches. Dont just stick your arm out to touch your opponent to rack up points. For that become a fencer. Not a boxer.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. Real defense happens close, not far away. Making an opponent miss by an inch is much more effect when setting up counters. Leaping half-way across the ring wastes energy and most smart pros are going to try to get a leaper to tire themselves out. Of course, if the leaper has unreal stamina, this is hard to do. But has anyone ever gained a fan by doing this? I highly doubt it, unless you have a fan based on something other than their actual fighting.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

Another issue I'm having is how boxers are babied too much. On top of having an extensive amateur career, many of these fighters nowadays take on 20-25 pro fights before they even face a live dog. It's pathetic.

Often times, this is a big set-up, too. When they do get in with a live dog, they are going to choke or try to run their way to a decision. I'm not saying match a guy with a champion in his first fight by any means, but a natural progression must be made to get him prepared for the tough fights. And hey. Undefeated isn't everything. Most of the greats lost at one time or another. Sometimes, I think the game would be better if most of them started out with a loss and then we could get the 0 out of the way and get to making real fights.

[Deevel916]

there is a proper way to be a great defensive fighter without being a repugnant fight spoiling son of a b*tch.

i wish more fighters fought like salvador sanchez.

PERFECT BLEND OF OFFENSE AND PROPER DEFENSE.

This is why I appreciated Sweetpea. Yes he was a defensive fighter but an entertaining one. He would make you miss all the while standing right in front of you. He didnt need to run around the ring or grab on to you for dear life to avoid punishment.