Boxing Should Be Less Rounds For Safety & For Simplicity

[Eff Pandas]

I'm wondering though if deaths and serious injuries have decreased since boxing went from 15 to 12 rounds.

Its hard to say. If you just look at fighter deaths then yea they have gone down, but I'd argue thats not a great way to measure it. I think guys fight less & there are less fighters so to truly see if things have gotten better since the end of 15 round fights youd have to know how many deaths happened per x number of fights.

I also wonder if smaller gloves could help. I think it's the sustained pounding that does the brain the most damage. Smaller gloves would mean faster ko's and less sustained shots to the head. I don't even recall the last time I heard of serious injury or death in UFC.

I agree. I think thats one of the reasons MMA & this new BK sport have and will have less deaths & severe injury.

For some reason a lot of people think that more glove gives less injury, but the thing is the brain is getting slushed around the skull whenever the head is getting kicked back by a punch no matter how big or small a glove is. If its a 5 outta 10 strength gloved punch or a 9 outta 10 strength BK punch doesn't matter & I'd argue is better to get hit with the 9 a few times & get your lights shut off then to get hit all night with 5's & never get dropped.

That another thing I don't think people look into much either. Its not the Tyson's & Foreman's with the heavy hands that kill people all that often. Its these light to strong punchers who don't actually KO a guy legit all that often that end up killing guys. That sustained attack & damage all night that leads to deaths & severe injuries. Those KO King types just turn peoples lights off early & the guy wakes up not feeling great, but not fighting for his life.

[New England]

Maybe the breaks between rounds should be 2 minutes. More oxygen to the brain, better recovery, and more time for a doctor to examine the fighters. I wouldn't mind if the 12-rounders are 11 minutes longer if it helps prevent injuries and saves lives.

my guess is that this would produce exactly the opposite effect. only positive i see is allowing doctors more time than the 5-10 seconds they get to look a fighter over.


it's in between the rounds that you sweat the most! you'd be increasing the time these guys have an elevated heart rate, increasing the amount of water they lose. it's boxing so you're not going to be able to hydrate adequately. not sure how athletic you were growing up and if you understand that, but you can't hydrate as much as you lose while you box! you're letting their arms and lungs get a break, but are you really benefitting the brain? the answer is almost surely no!



what the TS is proposing would make boxing safer. there's no arguing that. a shorter fight means less damage to the vital organs, less fighting through fatigue and brain injury.

[BoxingTech718]

The problem is 98% of boxers make no money and cant afford USADA at all times.

Same day weigh ins is a good step in the right direction

That’s why we need a single boxing organization similar to the UFC in MMA.

[_Rexy_]

Same day weigh ins, rehydration limits24/7/365 random PED testing, and better health education. Do those first

agree with all except for the same day weigh ins. That's been proven more harmful.

[_Rexy_]

I always thought weight cutting was the major factor in brain injuries and deaths in the ring. Cutting rounds does seem like a effective way to decrease this problem. I'm wondering though if deaths and serious injuries have decreased since boxing went from 15 to 12 rounds.

I also wonder if smaller gloves could help. I think it's the sustained pounding that does the brain the most damage. Smaller gloves would mean faster ko's and less sustained shots to the head. I don't even recall the last time I heard of serious injury or death in UFC.

15 rounds to 12 had nothing to do with safety. They had been wanting to do it because you can fit a 12 round fight in an hour TV block. A death was just what it took to push it through.

And smaller gloves may KO guys faster, it may not. But it will definitely cause a big increase in eye injuries.

[Eff Pandas]

And smaller gloves may KO guys faster, it may not.

Go watch some BK fights. There would for sure be more KO's with smaller gloves. I've seen a higher % of legit lights out KOs in BK fights than I see in boxing. Maybe about the same as I see in MMA.

I don't buy that bs that boxers got stronger chins than other humans like some boxing fans argue. I think they just got bigger gloves than other combat sports competitors making them harder to be legit KO'd.

[Marchegiano]

3 3-minute rounds with two 30 second breaks. 10 minute fights.


honestly I like boxing where it is just fine.

[Dariusz]

Yes, I agree, less rounds (max. 8) and 2-minutes breaks between rounds -- would be perfect, but not in the current world of indolent judging by humans, will be even more misjudged fights.

[SplitSecond]

Athletes play all kinda of sports all the time at less than 100% & don't die. Its not entering at less then 100% thats the problem that makes boxing so different. Its the sustained punches to the head over too long a period of time thats making boxing a more dangerous sport then it needs to be.

Useless post. Yes. Lots of punches = brain damage, 12 rounds is nothing compared to the 100 rounds in the leadup to a fight though, and in boxings case a lot of the issues are in fact due to coming in with an underlying problem. If you don;t know how to take care of yourself you get hurt.

A lot of “boxers” also dont know how to absorb a punch or even get into proper condition, and the clueless coaches are usually the issue there. Dumbasses actually think being loose is good for absorbing a punch.

I’m not willing to shorten fights and ruin my entertainment for this. Revoke 40 year olds licenses, put a penalty on draining fighters or something, hire better refs, stop fights quicker. But not shorter fights.

[SplitSecond]

Who?

I mean in theory you could argue it played a part in a death in boxing I'm positive. I 100% agree its a contributing factor. I don't at all believe its the #1 cause of severe injuries & deaths in boxing.

ONE Championship had a guy die WHILE CUTTING WEIGHT. Not during a fight. There wasn't a IMO to be had with his death.

Boxers are generally more reasonable than MMA guys are with cutting weight. A lot of MMA guys wrestled in HS & College & as a cat from a wrestling city coming up I can tell you the low level mfers with that weight cutting are serious mfers. I can't imagine what the high level guys are doing to make weight. And I don't doubt there are some boxing cats taking more risks then others with it, but the cherry on top of their severe injury or death was a sustained attack to their brain for longer then they need to be taking shots to the brain.

So if the weight cutting was the real problem I suspect we'd be seeing more deaths in the cage.

Mma guys get ko’d with one punch, drained or not, it’s better than your dome rattling on and on. Considerably so. And being struck isn’t the only way to take the fight to an early conclusion.