Yes, there is corruption in boxing. Yes, there are incompetent judges and referees. This is irrefutable, but why do so many fans in 2023 still overlook the most obvious reason why professional boxing gets it wrong so regularly? Boxing decisions are consistently controversial not (primarily) because of inept judges or crooked power brokers, but simply because of boxing's poorly-implemented rules and its vague and non-sensical judging criteria.
Within the U.S. the website is about the most authoriative source of information about how to conduct and score a professional boxing match, but this resource doesn't offer anything close to a comprehensive guide about how to evaluate a fight. The Unified Rules of Boxing Commissions provides a general framework for scoring but it doesn't provide a detailed breakdown of the scoring system or judging critiera. Fans need to go elsewhere for this information. Anyone who has watched fights for more than a week, however, has heard that boxing scoring uses the 10-Point Must system and that judges evaluate fights on the following four (4) criteria.
In reality, the only logical scoring criterion is Clean, Hard Punching. The other criteria are superfluous and incidental to Clean, Hard Punching. These extra criteria also create the most confusion and lead to wacky scoring because they allow fans to pick and choose which criterion they want to prioritize in any given fight or in any given round. If they are a Floyd fan, they probably prioritize Defense and Ring Generaliship (whatever that specifically means). In another fight they might justify their scores by citing punch stats which indicate that their guy threw more punches or landed at a higher percentage (as though either matter); thereby proving that he was more 'effectively aggressive.' This is inanity, of course. Nothing matters in this this sport more than clean, hard punching, and weighing any other competing criteria only serves to disregard and diminish the primacy of clean, hard punching. Imagine if similar criteria were applied to any other sports (football, tennis, basketball, etc). You don't win in any competitive sport by giving points for defense, effort or style, so why impose those critieria on the most serious sport of all? This is not dancing or gymnastics.
The second (and possibly bigger) culprit for crazy scoring in boxing is the complete disregard for even rounds. A majority of fans and judges completely disregard the fact that the 10-Point Must system acknowledges and allows for scoring of evenly-contested rounds; either because they do not know the rules or they simply regard it as weak and indecisive to score a round even. Fans and judges alike are so loathe to scoring even rounds that they will force a 10-9 score and justify it with the most insgnificant punch or cite some vague assessment of superiority in aggressiveness or ring generalship. Anything at all to not score an even round, even when the round was absolutely as even or uneventful as can be. The end result is wild scorecard variance and endless calls of robbery, just like this weekend.
Most fans, regardless of who they were rooting for this weekend, acknowledged that there were at least 5-6 extremely difficult "swing rounds" to score in the Haney-Lomachenko fight. How many of those fans scored 5-6 even rounds (10-10) on their scorecards? Imagine if they did?
Within the U.S. the website is about the most authoriative source of information about how to conduct and score a professional boxing match, but this resource doesn't offer anything close to a comprehensive guide about how to evaluate a fight. The Unified Rules of Boxing Commissions provides a general framework for scoring but it doesn't provide a detailed breakdown of the scoring system or judging critiera. Fans need to go elsewhere for this information. Anyone who has watched fights for more than a week, however, has heard that boxing scoring uses the 10-Point Must system and that judges evaluate fights on the following four (4) criteria.
- Effective Aggression
- Ring Generalship
- Defense
- Clean, Hard Punching
In reality, the only logical scoring criterion is Clean, Hard Punching. The other criteria are superfluous and incidental to Clean, Hard Punching. These extra criteria also create the most confusion and lead to wacky scoring because they allow fans to pick and choose which criterion they want to prioritize in any given fight or in any given round. If they are a Floyd fan, they probably prioritize Defense and Ring Generaliship (whatever that specifically means). In another fight they might justify their scores by citing punch stats which indicate that their guy threw more punches or landed at a higher percentage (as though either matter); thereby proving that he was more 'effectively aggressive.' This is inanity, of course. Nothing matters in this this sport more than clean, hard punching, and weighing any other competing criteria only serves to disregard and diminish the primacy of clean, hard punching. Imagine if similar criteria were applied to any other sports (football, tennis, basketball, etc). You don't win in any competitive sport by giving points for defense, effort or style, so why impose those critieria on the most serious sport of all? This is not dancing or gymnastics.
The second (and possibly bigger) culprit for crazy scoring in boxing is the complete disregard for even rounds. A majority of fans and judges completely disregard the fact that the 10-Point Must system acknowledges and allows for scoring of evenly-contested rounds; either because they do not know the rules or they simply regard it as weak and indecisive to score a round even. Fans and judges alike are so loathe to scoring even rounds that they will force a 10-9 score and justify it with the most insgnificant punch or cite some vague assessment of superiority in aggressiveness or ring generalship. Anything at all to not score an even round, even when the round was absolutely as even or uneventful as can be. The end result is wild scorecard variance and endless calls of robbery, just like this weekend.
Most fans, regardless of who they were rooting for this weekend, acknowledged that there were at least 5-6 extremely difficult "swing rounds" to score in the Haney-Lomachenko fight. How many of those fans scored 5-6 even rounds (10-10) on their scorecards? Imagine if they did?
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