Has dropping from 15 rounds limit to 12 increased boxers safety ?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Stevie G, Oct 8, 2010.


  1. Stevie G

    Stevie G Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I find this one tough to call. Thoughts ?
     
  2. dbouziane

    dbouziane ............. Full Member

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    of course you can make the argument that a warrior who refuses to give in after twelve rounds is only going to take more punishment over the next three. in that regards you could say yes. of course, you could also argue that refs today are more cautious (for the most part anyways) and are more apt to stop a fight than they were back then.
     
  3. Danny

    Danny Guest

    Obviously an argument can be made that is has improved the factor of fighters health, but if you want to get real technical about it, one could counter that by saying "Well, if you totally want to look after your health, then don't Box!"

    There is a big Nostalgia feeling when it comes to fifteen rounds. Back in his heyday, Tyson always wanted 15 rounds to be reintroduced!

    Ray Leonard wasn't such a fan of 15 rounds - Hagler wanted 15 rounds for their fight, but Leonard said there would be no fight if it wasn't 12 rounds!

    Remember, back in the day, guys fought a ludicrous amount of rounds, so its not as if fifteen is the maximum number of rounds that's ever been fought!

    I'd like to see it changed back to 15 but i think there's NO chance of that ever happening!
     
  4. Duodenum

    Duodenum Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    A 12 round limit wouldn't have saved Paret, Classen, Baroudi, Doyle, Jacopucci, Denny or Campbell. Classen, Baroudi, Doyle, Denny and Campbell wouldn't even have been saved by a ten round limit. Eight rounds wouldn't have saved Doyle, and Campbell only got as far as round five. Gee, maybe we should all just go back to California's decade long WW I era four round limit, where another Meehan can become the GOAT!

    Boxer safety was not ever a consideration with Jose Sulamain and the WBC cronies who started the 12 round downward spiral, only cited as an excuse in an attempt to create more commercial revenue (which Flash Gordon immediately noted), and it backfired.

    Increasing from 12 rounds back to 15 rounds would actually increase boxer safety by promoting improved conditioning. So can weigh-ins taking place early enough to allow for proper, brain cushioning hydration.

    Johnny Bumphus was on the survivor side of an amateur fatality. Does that mean amateur boxing should have been banned as well? Becky Zerlentes was killed by a not especially hard punch while wearing headgear. Like Zerlentes, Kim was killed by just one punch from Mancini.
     
  5. Leon

    Leon The Artful Dodger Full Member

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    The reason it was changed from 15 to 12 was because some korean ended up taking too much punishment in the rounds beyond 12, and then he ended up dying from all the damage he received in the fight.

    I don't remember the names of the prizefighters involved.
     
  6. reznick

    reznick In the 7.2% Full Member

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    I've always hated the fact that they don't do 15 round bouts anymore.


    Many fighters can't handle it, but I see fighters like Mayweather who are barely catching their breath after a 12 round fight. I remember seeing Mayweather after he fought Mosley, and thinking he could have gone at least another 10 rounds.

    I think they should bring back 15 rounds, for the major fights. Because when you hear "15 rounds" as opposed to "12 rounds", you get a sense of there being no escape. If your fighting 15 rounds, it's almost as if your really going to war.
     
  7. Duodenum

    Duodenum Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    That was Ray Mancini KO 14 Deuk-Koo Kim. Although it was a war, like many bouts involving Mancini, it has generally been accepted that only the final punch was the key blow. Kim did get back up on his own, and it was not immediately apparent that anything was seriously wrong, in sharp contrast to what happened to Paret and Classen.
     
  8. TBooze

    TBooze Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    The reason is, you can get a 12 rounder into a TV hour, which was important at the time, as boxing was actually shown on Terrestrial/Network TV...
     
  9. ChrisPontius

    ChrisPontius March 8th, 1971 Full Member

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    Of course it increased the boxer's safety. From completely terrible to pretty terrible.
     
  10. Duodenum

    Duodenum Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    The fact is that boxing became a marquee television attraction with championship distance features, and died out as the artificially and arbitrarily truncated 12 round limit became imposed. ******ed reasoning on the part of those idiots who were thinking along the lines of that hourly basis. They killed the goose that laid the golden egg, and pandered to those who advocate the abolition of boxing entirely. (They also lost me and many others as fans forever.)
     
  11. Vantage_West

    Vantage_West ヒップホップ·プロデューサー Full Member

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    ^ thats how i see it aswell. catered to the less professional i feel anyway.
     
  12. la-califa

    la-califa Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I think in the big picture it actually hurt boxing. by allowing fighters to hang on way longer than they should have & also many fighhters coming into bouts not 100 percent in shape as they should have.
    with so many belts also, fighters would stick around, eventually getting a title shot to one of the belts. 15 rounds was a true test and fighters would have to be in much better shape to go that distance. When fighters hang on way past what they should, that is when a fighter is vulnersble to serious injury.
     
  13. globenerd

    globenerd Guest

    I have no problem with reducing the rounds, but I always thought they should've just dropped it to 13. You could still get 13 rounds done in an hour with the minute breaks. That's 13 X 4 which 52 minutes. Plus you would reduce the likelihood of a draw with an odd number of rounds. Plus three full rounds was just too much to take away. That's a whole amateur fight.
     
  14. klompton

    klompton Boxing Addict banned

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    Exactly, it was to accomodate commercial television which is ironic since it is never shown on commercial tv anymore.
     
  15. TBooze

    TBooze Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    And yet there is no interest in bring back the classic distance. Modern day boxing is missing a trick...