No headguards after olympics?
 

I have read a thread an articles on this but can someone just clarify if all amature boxers will get rid of headguards. So aba rules will change aswell with the scoring?

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

No, it's just international tournaments like the Olympics that will go to no headgear from what I understand. At least in the US we'll still be wearing headgear at the national level.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

wearing headgear isn't a good thing. the quality of fighters has dropped dramatically since headgear became mandatory. Learn how to protect yourself or quit boxing.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

Yeah, because accidental headbutts that cause cuts in multi-day tournaments builds character. Headgear does nothing to stop you from getting hurt by a punch, it helps protect you from getting buster eardrums and cuts.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

I'm more excited about the 10 point must system. Who knows if any of this will happen at all though, from all I've seen it's just being talked about with no real plans for implementing it yet.

For reference, how much of a problem were cuts before amateurs wore headgear?

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

Not sure about that tbh, must absorb some force surely.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

True, it might absorb hits even at minimal levels. But there are cons too. It limits visibility and we all know punches not seen have greater impact. Also, more important, fighters get lazy thinking they're wearing a force field around their noggins. It causes instances where they'd rather get hit than move their waist/heads.
I'm undecided about the no headgear ruling.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

Without headgear, you learn to move your head inside, to put in places where those things don't happen. Archie Moore thought that headgear was a horrible idea. And you are right: from the start, the idea behind headgear was to keep fights from getting postponed due to cuts from sparring.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

The chin and face is exposed on headgear for a reason. It's the design of the gloves in amateur boxing that is intended to protect against concussions and brain damage, not the headgear.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

That's incorrect, everybody apart from novices, females and juniors will be changing to the new rules.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

Really? Because that's not what the US AIBA official that went to Beijing told me.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

I trust the official documentation over word of mouth, even if it did come from an AIBA representative. I think that would be very odd to have fighters fight with headgear then all of a sudden lose it for international competition.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

if i heard correctly at the last coaches clinic, the president of our lbc, who's also been involved with the technical rule talks, said that the 'no head guard rule' will apply to all aiba qualifying tounaments. that makes sense and doesn't make it so black and white, leaving a lot of grey area.

going off that thinking USA Boxing touneys for districts, regionals, nationals, etc will be no headgear. golden gloves, pal and military could use headgear in their tournaments unless it's an olympic selection year when when all organizations must abide by aiba rules to be considered for the olympic team.

"know the rules, win the game!" until the new rules are posted from aiba and i can read the facts, this is all fun, recreational conversation.

in my opinion, i like headgear because it reduces the damage from minor blows. for major hits the damage is still being done to the brain (when i get hit hard and my head snaps back, my brain is bouncing off the front of my skull. when a hard hook lands, rotational force rips some of the fibres from the stem to the brain) even with headgear.

and if 'no headgear' is so safe why would the women still use it? because it's really not? would that be an administrative contradiction? and why? just so we can get fans back in the seats by making it look like the pros.

and really, the 10point must system doesn't make any sense. it's all based on opinion. i prefer returning to the 20 point must system which is the balance between judging AND awarding points for clean scoring blows. as long as there are humans judging without a set criteria to judge from (like in gymnastics/figure skating) there's always going to be room for controversy.

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

People are gonna be getting robbed right and left but what this means is that power punchers will inevitably rise to the top. Kids are gonna be pissed about decisions and start taking it to their opponents, and thus out of the judges hands. It's going to breed better fighters, no doubt. It's gonna turn it from a game into a fight, which is what people want to see and to be honest, it's what most fighters want.

The headgear is meh...If I'm not wearing a headgear I'm gonna get pretty good at defense because I don't want my face slashed open. And like you said, little shots are gonna sting more, so people won't just do the rock 'em sock 'em robots bullshit anymore. Nothing is uglier than most novice fights in the last few years. Except the Olympic fights =D

Re: No headguards after olympics?
 

I tend to agree with most of this. I especially think that the 10 point must is going to be a disaster. At first it seemed like Wu legitimately wanted to clean up amateur boxing, now it seems like he just wants to make it more like pro boxing and move into that.