I dont know why 12 rounds was made standard. Some people say it was because network TV required 12 so it could easily package it into a 1-hour slot. But with PPV it doesn't apply. Otherwise it was a token act towards increasing safety. I prefer 15 rounds as standard. I believe in SAME DAY WEIGH-INS. Fighters who dehydrate themselves too much should be sensible and move up a division. I dont believe allowing 160 pound fighters to fight as welterweights is the answer, or having one guy at a legit 147-150 at fight time fighting a guy who's 165 and calling it welterweight.
100% agree... Got soem friends into boxing by showing them some classic 80s fights (colour TV helps them get into it more) and the first thing they remarked on was how today's boxers seem more like sprinters in the way they are built and in the way they fight.
I'm not sure making the fight 3 rounds longer will make fights any easier to decide. If you can't seperate them (the fighters) after 12 rounds, then what difference will the extra 3 make? Close and controverial decisions will be a part of boxing forever, regardless of scheduled distance. I'm all for the extra 3 rounds, but can you imagine watching someone like Ruiz for 15 rounds? Pure torture.
The extra 3 rounds would mean you couldn't get a draw with 10-9 rounds all the way with no point deductions. You can get 6 rounds each over a 12 round fight, thus a draw. But with 15 being an odd number then someone would edge it by a point.
I have mixed feelings about same day weigh-ins. If all fighters would fight closer to their natural weights and not dehydrate to make a low weight, same day weigh-ins would work. But I fear that there would still be fighters looking for a perceived edge who would dehydrate and not have time to re-hydrate. 'Course I hate massive weight gains after the day-before weigh-ins, too. It's a tough issue. On the other hand, I positively without a doubt think all world championship fights should be 15 rounds. Those last three rounds can really separate the men from the boys, so to speak. I think a lot of fights over the last 20+ years would have had more decisive results had they been scheduled for 15. Imagine if fights like Tate-Weaver, Louis-Conn, Marciano-Walcott, Leonard-Hearns I, and many others had been scheduled for 12. Boxing history would look a lot different.
Cutting back from 15 to 12 rounds was a capitulation and accommodation to those interests who advocate an outright ban of boxing entirely. NEVER make any sort of concession to such opponents, because such a "strategic" retreat invariably turns into a rout. (How often has a corporation downsized into growth? How reasonable was it to expect boxing might benefit from a reduction in maximum number of rounds?) Boxing's abolitionists are getting their way, by virtue of the plummeting interest in the sport. 15 round classics on youtube certainly are not suffering from a lack of viewership. Boxing was a front page mainstream sport when championship fights were 15 rounds long. It's now a niche interest, a sports category for which Yahoo sports news usually has a blank page (unless the boxing news is negative). The 15 round distance improved viewership. The 12 round limit has destroyed it. Reinstalling the championship distance will enhance safety by requiring improved conditioning amongst competitors. Steroid use may well become more of a liability for those aiming to compete at the championship level, since steroids generally enhance anaerobic development, not respiratory and cardiovascular conditioning. (And it would be hilarious to watch how the weights of the top heavyweight boxers plummet once they had to face the prospect of having to go 15 rounds again.) A situation which rewards the use of growth enhancing substances does not promote good health. A situation which handicaps those who do use them, like a 15 round distance, would promote improved natural health and conditioning. I don't know if boxing has suffered irreversible damage with the irreplacible gap in it's history induced by the artificial and arbitrary imposition of the 12 round limit, but it has no chance whatsoever of returning to the sports mainstream without the restoration of the 15 round distance. (And not just for world championships either. It matters greatly that Ali had Bonavena and Mac Foster over the 15 round distance, adding tremendously to the prestige of those events.) Concerning weight, Emile Griffith frequently weighed in under the junior middleweight limit for his middleweight title fights. Griff was a fitness fanatic who got caught cold by Hurricane Carter and stopped only the first time by a peak Monzon (but went the distance in their rematch), but no referee ever came close to counting ten over Emile. SRR came in well under 160 pounds most of the time, and nobpdy punched him out in over 200 fights. Henry Armstrong came in under the lightweight limit for some of his welterweight championship bouts. If in peak condition at 142 pounds, somebody's probably going to be better off competing as a welterweight. Let the opponent weaken himself by trying to make weight. Randy Shields was in the lower 140s for his challenges of Cuevas and Hearns. He gave Pipino 15 rounds of hell, and was only stopped by Hearns because of headbutt induced cuts, not by Tommy's normally lethal punching at 147. Dehydration deprives the brain of the impact cushioning fluid which a fully hydrated body enjoys.
Well, I was watching boxing when they were standard and I dont remember everyone dying. Like I said fighters need to be sensible. Perhaps doctors should monitor a fighter's hydration in the build-up to big fights. When some fighters are "cheating" into lower divisions and going up against "legit" fighters in that division, then there's still a problem. If a fighter is over-matched AND forced to fight a superior opponent who is actually 15 pounds or two divisions heavier than advertised, that can be dangerous too.
I think 15 rounders should come back, they seperated the greats from the others, and they proved who was there to win. Just think, we never would have seen a great round like Holmes-Norton (15th), nor would Marciano ever have become the undefeated champion of the world. They also forced the people to be in shape, or they would get KTFO.
It would only make the fighters box at slower pace than they do at 12 rounds. Fights would become more boring.