Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Boxing: Controversial Judging?
We all have come to know the sport of boxing all too well and the other new forms that have come along with it like UFC and Pride Fighting. The difference between boxing and the other two is there isn't any judging taking place in the UFC or Pride Fighting you fight till you give up or get knocked out. Sports that are judged to declare a winner are just not sports to me. I don't agree with skating, boxing, and any types of gymnastics. My view is how do you know whose better? How do you give a 8.5 to one competitor and a 8.4 to another. That one tenth of a point has caused athletes to either lose a match or lose a medal and I don't agree with it one bit. There have been many bouts that have been questionable in the history of boxing to name a few there were "Sugar Ray Lenoard D12 Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield D12 Lennox Lewis, and Matt Vanda W10 Sam Garr" http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2371376. We can not have these types of matches anymore. People want results, not what a judge thought. People watch football to see hard hits and long balls for touchdowns because then that shows them that their team did it and there was no exceptions about the win. There is no question on who is better when the game is over. In boxing you don't really know who is better if the final score is 95-97, 96-96,and 97-99. Those results are all from opinion. Opinion. That is not the right way in my opinion on how to finalize a win or a loss. Something has to be done because the sport of boxing will diminish if we don't.
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3 comments:
Nick - I never thought of this before. I see where you are coming from. Opinions can ruin games completely. I like the idea that people should fight until there is an obvious winner. This may be the most fair, however it isn't the healthiest. People care about being healthy. Little points can cause winning and losing of games and it's just not a fait way to do it. Boxing used to be a huge sport. Fans used to order boxing on PPV every good fight that was on. It doesn't happen like that. I feel that boxing should make a change so it can become big again and people can get into the game. I think you had a great idea with this and it's an idea that I never thought about.
This is an interesting blog, Kevin. I see where you are coming from but also in a way I disagree with you. I don't know much about boxing, but I did do gymnastics and I think the judging is very fair. The judges are experienced in the sport and know what things to look for when watching a routine, match, or certain event. I myself have had to judge cheerleading at one point and on the score sheet were set points for how well an athlete or team performed in an aspect of their performance. Each category added up to a final score. I know not all of these sport’s scores are determined that way, but most of the time judges have a mental score sheet in their head and know what things to look for while judging. Some judges are biased and it is not fair, but life is not always fair. The good thing about boxing is that if you have a bad match but impressed the judges, you can still win, it gives everyone a chance. These sports should not be diminished, it is just about trying to perform your best and preparing for anything.
Nick, this was a great blog. I had thought of that aspect of these sports before and never liked it either. I think boxing is so open ended when it comes down to a decision. The only thing in boxing that is sure is when another guy gets knocked out. That is definitive and irrefutable. However, when it comes down to the opinions of a judge, there is always room for error and bias. These events are high stakes and should not be left with room for error. Gymnastics and figure skating can be the same way. Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the French figure skating judge who unfairly crowned the Russian pairs team of Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze champions at the 2002 Olympics, was corrupted in her judging. This shows that since it is human based, there is room for bias to enter. This should not be the case in high stakes competition and is an area which must be considered for improvement in the future. Great post.
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