If you've been listening to the show over the past month or so, you know that I've been eagerly anticipating the Olympics. After watching a few bouts, I came to the conclusion that my memory must be going, beacause I forgot how assinine Olympic scoring is.
It appears Olympic judges wouldn't know an effective jab if Larry Holmes planted one on their kisser. I don't think I've seen one jab scored a point, despite plenty landing cleanly. Same can be said for body shots.
In one fight, a boxer got knocked down and the judges didn't give him a point.
I've seen boxers' heads turned around from hard rights to the jaw, with no movement on the scoreboard. Why is Olympic boxing relegated to CNBC at 3:30 a.m.? The scoring is absolutely one of the reasons people are not interested. Even my mother can watch a fight and discern what is a clean and effective blow. When they don't get scored as points, fans lose interest, believing they either don't understand it, or it is rigged.
The current system does nothing to eliminate biases. They need to change the scoring system, if they want to grow interest in Olympic boxing.
3 comments:
Marc, I absolutely agree with you: the scoring is silly. How does this system prepare boxers for professional bouts? As far as a following by the general public or lack thereof because of the times and the fact that it is on CNBC, it all goes back to the Mayweather/DLH syndrome: what happens when you reach out to millions of people and get them hyped about something they will ultimately be disappointed in? I have not seen a good fight yet, and I have been watching. I have seen two decent fighters: the guy Molina lost to, Georgiev, and the British guy who knocked out his opponent with the left hook to the body. But you are right, how are people going to get behind the team, and in turn follow their stories into the pro's with coverage in the middle of the night? ~justin
Justin,
I'm not sure the amateur game has to prepare them for the pros. They can be two different styles as far as I'm concerned.
However, I continue to watch the fights and see hard, nose-denting jabs be ignored as well as body shots.
It seems the only time you get credit for a punch is when you land a power shot that turns the guys head. I actually find it frustrating to watch.
It's like watching a baseball game, seeing with your own eyes a guy cross the plate, but the ump was looking at the ball and didn't see it, so no run is scored.
I do agree that Georgiev looked good. I was a bit disappointed in Andrade.
By the way, my guy Deontay Wilder got a great draw. Hopefully he boxes well and makes it to the medal round.
I agree that there needs to be some type of change in the amateurs. I enjoy the pro and the amateur ranks. Like you said Marc, they aren't the same sport. Its even more suspect than the scoring for figure skating. There needs to be some type of change, but I don't follow it close enough to have a valid suggestion. I do enjoy going to the golden glove fights - nothing like seeing kids go balls to the wall to make it to the next level.
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