Open scoring?

[BezO]

Re: Open scoring?

Open scoring sucks and this is why. It's simple. If I don't know how the judges are scoring my fight, then I need to be pushing it all the time. I don't mean letting my hands go all the time, but it's going to have me at a heightened sense of awareness all the time during the fight...

In theory...

But how many fighters have we seen not press and lose?
How many bad decisions have we seen where 1 fighter probably thought he was doing better than he was?

There are tactics for coming from behind in every other sport. Fouls & quick 3s in basketball, passing & no-huddle in football, more offensive players & maybe remove the goalie in soccer. But in all of these sports, teams are aware of the score. Boxers are at a disadvantage. How do you mount a comeback if you don't know you need to? We all know the perspective of the fighter & his corner can be off.

Late game heroics are some of the most exciting moments in sports. This element is almost completely missing from boxing. What we get in return is the "drama" of the score announcement. Problem is, the fight is already over by then. We've seen fighters shocked by the final score many times, whether because of a bad decision or simply not being certain of the score. I'm sure many losing fighters would fight differently if they knew for certain they were losing.

The closest we get to a game winning shot in boxing is when both us & the boxer know he's losing & he rallies for a knockout. But we & the boxer are still guessing when it comes to judging a fight.

[blackceasar]

Re: Open scoring?

In theory...

But how many fighters have we seen not press and lose?
How many bad decisions have we seen where 1 fighter probably thought he was doing better than he was?

There are tactics for coming from behind in every other sport. Fouls & quick 3s in basketball, passing & no-huddle in football, more offensive players & maybe remove the goalie in soccer. But in all of these sports, teams are aware of the score. Boxers are at a disadvantage. How do you mount a comeback if you don't know you need to? We all know the perspective of the fighter & his corner can be off.

Late game heroics are some of the most exciting moments in sports. This element is almost completely missing from boxing. What we get in return is the "drama" of the score announcement. Problem is, the fight is already over by then. We've seen fighters shocked by the final score many times, whether because of a bad decision or simply not being certain of the score. I'm sure many losing fighters would fight differently if they knew for certain they were losing.

The closest we get to a game winning shot in boxing is when both us & the boxer know he's losing & he rallies for a knockout. But we & the boxer are still guessing when it comes to judging a fight.

I see your point, however could you imagine if a round was close? What about the boxer who didn't win that round? It would be like Rasheed Wallace reacting to a foul called on him that was questionable, or Kobe driving to the lane, getting fouled and not getting the call. I could see the boxer loosing that close round jawing with the judges ringside. It would create distractions.

Maybe there is a happy medium here.. MAYBE (although I dont want any open scoring).

Option 1. don't show the official scores until a certain point in the fight. Maybe round 6 (halfway through most fights), or when then are three rounds left.

Option 2. Each round only show one judges score and alternate for each judge. If youre a boxer and you feel that last round was close and you see the one judge showing for that round scored it for the other fighter, it makes you wonder about the other two.

Again, if they implemented some sort of open scoring, obviously we cant do anything about it. So if it came to it, I would at least want to see some varition of it that is not literally showing every judges score for every single round.

OOOOR.. maybe you have three unnoffical judges, or in the likes of HBO, let the fighters see Harold Lederman's card (which is unofficial).

[BezO]

Re: Open scoring?

I see your point, however could you imagine if a round was close? What about the boxer who didn't win that round? It would be like Rasheed Wallace reacting to a foul called on him that was questionable, or Kobe driving to the lane, getting fouled and not getting the call. I could see the boxer loosing that close round jawing with the judges ringside. It would create distractions.

True. Take a point for communicating with a judge similar to technical fouls, with the difference being boxers can't talk to judges at all.

Maybe there is a happy medium here.. MAYBE (although I dont want any open scoring).

Option 1. don't show the official scores until a certain point in the fight. Maybe round 6 (halfway through most fights), or when then are three rounds left.

Option 2. Each round only show one judges score and alternate for each judge. If youre a boxer and you feel that last round was close and you see the one judge showing for that round scored it for the other fighter, it makes you wonder about the other two.

Again, if they implemented some sort of open scoring, obviously we cant do anything about it. So if it came to it, I would at least want to see some varition of it that is not literally showing every judges score for every single round.

I'd vote 4th round. There are 10 round fights, and if I were a boxer, I'd want open scoring to start before the half way point. Finding out you lost 5 rounds and have to win the next 5 for a draw or a knockout/down for a win is pushing it.

And start after round 5 for 12-round fights.

I want to see boxers have time to adjust. An active fighter vs defensive, efficient fighter. What do these particular judges like on this particular night? Fighter 2 might think his defense & connect % are winning the fight for him only to find out the judges like the busier fighter despite his inefficiency. Give fighter 2 time to change his game plan.

OOOOR.. maybe you have three unnoffical judges, or in the likes of HBO, let the fighters see Harold Lederman's card (which is unofficial).

This would suck for a boxer if it's too far off.

[pietasterp]

Re: Open scoring?

OOOOR.. maybe you have three unnoffical judges, or in the likes of HBO, let the fighters see Harold Lederman's card (which is unofficial).

I think they can probably already do that, no? If a corner asks Lederman what he's got, I don't see why he wouldn't tell them. Everyone involved knows it's not official.