The International Amateur Boxing Association has confirmed that headguards will be removed from men's amateur boxing but not for women. Headguards were first introduced into competition in 1984 but will be removed again for October's World Amateur Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan. The decision was based on two separate studies which put forward evidence that the removal will decrease concussions. Women and male boxers below senior level will continue to wear headguards.
Word is that it's going to be optional for elite boxers competing in Australia whether or not they wear headgear, but it won't be worn in international competition. London 2012 was suppose to be the last international tournament that elite boxers wore headgear in. AIBA seems to be going more the way of pro boxing, with the headgear and supposed dumping of the computer scoring system for pro style scoring.
On a side note I had a head guard on yesterday ( first time in 30 years ) lol how the **** can anyone spar in one of these ?
Strange that they state it will reduce concussion then add that woman and juniors will continue to wear them.
It will make the fighters more visible to the viewers, as it is hard to recognise a fighter in headgear and it will be more exciting to watch as there should be more knockouts. It seems to me the long term plan of AIBA has more to do with financial gains and producing boxers for their professional arm, rather than what any health studies say.
Do you think the sound of glove/glove and glove/headgear are very similar to the casual observer? With the scoring changes to pro style, combos will count because they hurt so do you think this is also related to the removal of headgear? The fighter will have to do enough to win consecutive rounds not necessarily rely on single counters or jabs to even the score
The pro scoring system will influence fighting styles more than whether a boxer is wearing headgear or not. Will be interesting to see how many senior boxers still use headgear when the optional rule applies. The so called "studies" gave AIBA the answer they wanted to hear. Headguards were introduced to protect the boxers. Wonder if anyone from AIBA bothered to ask them ?
Body punching was a waste of time under the amateur scoring system. How many points did you see fighters get awarded for body shots? It was a waste of effort aiming anywhere but the head.
That's true, but I don't think that was the objective of the scoring system, rather it was a case of ineffective judges. How many times have you been to an amateur show and seen the wrong fighter awarded the decision because of incompetent judges. Not just in Australia but it happened at the last Olympics aswell. The state amateur boxing bodies really need to look at the quality of their judges and put steps in place to train them to an acceptable standard or better they could actively recruit former amateur fighters and train them up. Although the issue of incompetent judges isn't just isolated to the amateurs, as Australia has its fair share of incompetent pro judges, just watch the scores on any Aussie fight card.
The problem was far bigger than just body shots not scoring, but it was an annoying byproduct of the system none the less.
Thanks Fasty mate , My town went ballistic you will probably get to see a few of our boys down under later in the year . :good
Looks like will have more fighters punch drunk, no need to punish yourself if your making no money from it
