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Philippines, 20 Apr 2024 |
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SCORING STANDARDS NEED TO BE REFORMED: Comments on the De La Hoya-Mayweather decision By Joe Koizumi PhilBoxing.com Sat, 12 May 2007 This is to suggest the current scoring standards to be reformed for the sake of better decisions to be accepted by the general public, not only by the ringsiders. I was a TV commentator of the Oscar De La Hoya versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight on a live telecast in Japan. I, along with great majority of TV watchers, thought De La Hoya the winner because of his continual aggressiveness. During the broadcasting in Japan, we, after the eighth round, got shocked to hear an HBO commentator’s intermediate score of 77-75 in favor of Mayweather, as we saw De La Hoya winning by 78-74 on watching the screen signaled from Las Vegas. We admit it was eventually a close affair in the end due to Mayweather’s surge in the last four rounds. It was also surprising for us that many of ringsiders favored Mayweather as the winner even if it was close. Usually boxing bouts are broadcast by TV people and reported by press people. Where do they watch the fights? At ringside, of course. They are limited “RINGSIDERS.” Assume a situation that some 1,000 ringsiders close to the ring see Boxer A as the winner, while people in the balcony and TV watchers around the world, on the contrary, see Boxer B as the victor. It actually happened in the case of “The World Awaits” in Las Vegas. Boxing is a sport to be watched not only by limited ringsiders but by the general public in the world. People cannot afford to pay $2,000 to buy a ringside ticket, so they watch the fight on TV. Ideally, the views of the ringsiders and the general public should be identical. Ironically, however, the current scoring standards sometimes make the respective views different. The scoring standards consist of: (1) clean effective hit, (2) aggressiveness, (3) defense, and (4) ring generalship. Furthermore, there is a tendency that even a very close round is given to either of the two boxers. It may be sometimes difficult to judge whether a certain punch (or combination) was effective or not, and which of the boxers was superior in terms of ring generalship. People watching from the second floor or on TV feel that the aggressor should be the winner. But the ringsiders, including the judges, see it differently in favor of the other boxer. It means that the rich and the poor see a different thing in the same fight. Yours truly wonders if currently declining popularity of boxing may be caused partly by the complex scoring standards or understanding thereof. The judges occasionally pick the winner that people don’t agree with. Then TV watchers and/or majority of spectators (except ringsiders) get disgusted and frustrated by the decision. Boxing should be simpler to the eyes of all the general public in order to regain the popularity. Boxing used to be a manly sport to compare strength, speed, fighting spirit, durability and skills. But it is turning into a different sport since the current scoring standards evaluate slick-punching and sly boxers more favorably than game and aggressive punchers. In the near future all world champs may become Floyd Mayweather stylists. We may have to reconsider the current scoring standards, its application, or the validity of forcibly scoring an even definitely close round for one of the contestants, etc. in order to revive the popularity of boxing among the general public. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joe Koizumi.  |
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