15 rounds, 20 rounds or 25 rounds ?

[Unforgiven]

If they were going to increase the distance for world title fights which would you prefer - 15, 20, or 25 ?

[McGrain]

Fifteen.

Once you're in the region of 20 and 25 you're skewing things in favour of the endurance athlete in my opinion. Good punch resistance and stamina (obviously absolutley crucial as things stand) come to be as important as speed and power.

15 rounds is the perfect distance for boxing in my opinion.

[JohnThomas1]

Where's the 10 and 12 round options?!?!?!!

[TBooze]

Originally Posted by McGrain

Fifteen.

Once you're in the region of 20 and 25 you're skewing things in favour of the endurance athlete in my opinion. Good punch resistance and stamina (obviously absolutley crucial as things stand) come to be as important as speed and power.

15 rounds is the perfect distance for boxing in my opinion.

Surely at World Championship level, fight to a finish (or 45 rounders) would be the ultimate test and define each fighter?

[McGrain]

Originally Posted by TBooze

Surely at World Championship level, fight to a finish (or 45 rounders) would be the ultimate test and define each fighter?

It's not unreasonable.

I just think there will be to many fights where, for rounds 1-15, nobody will want to overcommit. You'll have a load of Klistschko's running around the place.

[Duodenum]

Originally Posted by McGrain

Fifteen.

Once you're in the region of 20 and 25 you're skewing things in favour of the endurance athlete in my opinion. Good punch resistance and stamina (obviously absolutley crucial as things stand) come to be as important as speed and power.

15 rounds is the perfect distance for boxing in my opinion.

This reflects my view as well. On his very best day, Jess Willard was no match for Jack Johnson as a boxer, but prevailed only by outlasting him. This also accounted for the outcome in Jeffries/Corbett I. But these are two of the rare instances in which the result of a championship contest changed because they were scheduled for a longer distance.

The Ring Record Book makes it very clear as to why 15 rounds became the accepted standard. By the end of 15 rounds, the identity of the superior fighter was usually established in bouts scheduled for longer distances.

Give Chuvalo 25 rounds, and he might dethrone Ali. Ditto for Cobb against Holmes.

Gans/Nelson I went 42 rounds, but all of the truly meaningful action which revealed the eventual winner took place within the first 15. During the 15 round era, that one would have likely been stopped in the final round, if for no other reason than Nelson being unable to be competitive with Gans.

Ted Lewis registered four knockouts between rounds 15 and 20, but very few other boxers during the Queensbury era had the energy to take out an opponent by the time a match went beyond 15. The 27 other times Kid Lewis went beyond 20 rounds, he wound up going the distance.

From an entertainment standpoint, 15 rounds is the optimal distance for spectators as well (andboxing is a spectator sport).

[Dempsey1238]

Willard is underrated, it had more too Willard's victory than just out lasted him. Willard was landed some heavy shots on Johnson though out the fight(And vice vesa)

I sure we all see the fight on espn, and the 5 or so rounds does not tell the whole story. First they mess up the rounds(Round 18 is round 1.) When Johnson is beating Willard and landed on him, shaking Willard, and Willard is retreated, and the commentary says, Johnson is trying to end it in round 1. Never happen, because it was round 18 when Johnson was making a last effort in brining Willard down before he gas out.
The real round 1 was nothing of note, nothing happen. Both got in a few fair jabs, but most of the round, both Willard and Johnson were feeling each other out with jabs and feits. And moveing to try when to strike or not.

Over all I think it was Willard's power punchings, and Johnson not being in his 25 round plus shape that did Johnson in that day.

[Lobotomy]

Originally Posted by Dempsey1238

Willard is underrated, it had more too Willard's victory than just out lasted him. Willard was landed some heavy shots on Johnson though out the fight(And vice vesa)

I sure we all see the fight on espn, and the 5 or so rounds does not tell the whole story. First they mess up the rounds(Round 18 is round 1.) When Johnson is beating Willard and landed on him, shaking Willard, and Willard is retreated, and the commentary says, Johnson is trying to end it in round 1. Never happen, because it was round 18 when Johnson was making a last effort in brining Willard down before he gas out.
The real round 1 was nothing of note, nothing happen. Both got in a few fair jabs, but most of the round, both Willard and Johnson were feeling each other out with jabs and feits. And moveing to try when to strike or not.

Over all I think it was Willard's power punchings, and Johnson not being in his 25 round plus shape that did Johnson in that day.

Yes, Willard was underrated, and Johnson certainly lacked the physical conditioning of his early reign.

I believe Johnson's power was somewhat overrated, and that he could never have taken out Willard, even in peak condition. But he did outbox Willard over 15 rounds in the best performance Jess ever produced. In shape, Lil' Artha' would have simply extended his mastery of Willard over a longer distance.

However, I'm not sure Johnson could have ever defeated Jess over the 45 round distance. Willard was no Ketchel, Burns or Flynn, but one of the most durable men in history at the Havana Race Track.

[redrooster]

Originally Posted by JohnThomas1

Where's the 10 and 12 round options?!?!?!!

Because thats for pussies like Leonard who need 12 oz. gloves.

Give fans their money's worth and make fighters work harder for their pay. Duel to the death or at least 25 rounds like the good old days

[natonic]

I'd like to see the traditinal 15 round limit come back. It seems like the 12 round distance has robbed of us some dramatic finishes.

[Dempsey1238]

Originally Posted by Lobotomy

Yes, Willard was underrated, and Johnson certainly lacked the physical conditioning of his early reign.

I believe Johnson's power was somewhat overrated, and that he could never have taken out Willard, even in peak condition. But he did outbox Willard over 15 rounds in the best performance Jess ever produced. In shape, Lil' Artha' would have simply extended his mastery of Willard over a longer distance.

However, I'm not sure Johnson could have ever defeated Jess over the 45 round distance. Willard was no Ketchel, Burns or Flynn, but one of the most durable men in history at the Havana Race Track.

Well Burns was pretty durable, he just lack the "Weight" needed in order to defeat Johnson.
Even in the 14 rounds of the fight I have, I dont think Johnson show any mastery over Willard, Outside of the few rounds Johnson went after Willard(18, 17 and perhaps round 20??) Most of the rounds were pretty close, and could go either way. The whole fight it seem was one or the other was trying to bait the other into attacking, so the defender could counter punch. I belive one of the biggest myths was Johnson winning 25 rounds before Willard got lucky. It was a close fight.

[red cobra]

15 rounds is what it SHOULD be, by all rights. Anything more than that would reduce many a fight to a sloppy, grappling affair.

[guilalah]

Duodenum post #6 wrote

On his very best day, Jess Willard was no match for Jack Johnson as a boxer, but prevailed only by outlasting him. This also accounted for the outcome in Jeffries/Corbett I.

Hi, Duodenum! Well, a number of sources had Jeffries getting off to a good start in his 1900 defense against Corbett; and some of the sources could be reasonably construed as supporting that it was a close fight at the time of the KO. We had a thread on the subject

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

I don't know who was having the better of it, but I certainly don't buy Corbett's 'I was pitching a shut-out' yarn.

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In the poll, I voted for 15 rounds.

What I'd like to see is: 1) cards announced after round 12, and any rounds there after; 2) after round 12, the fight ends when one fighter: a) is not loosing on any card; b) is ahead on atleast two cards; c) is atleast 5 points ahead on the combined scores of all cards.

[Mendoza]

Originally Posted by natonic

I'd like to see the traditinal 15 round limit come back. It seems like the 12 round distance has robbed of us some dramatic finishes.

Amen. I have often said boxing is full of alphabet politics, but if a new one comes out that sanction 15 round title fights, I give them credibility right out of the gate.

While 15 rounds can be dangerous ( especially in the lower weights due to fighters de-hydrating to make weight and taking too many punches ) , I would love to see boxing allow if for special occasions, such as a title unification fights.

[RockyJim]

As I seem to remember...maybe not....main events were 10 rounds....US title fight were 12 rounds..and world title fights were 15 rounds...