Home advantage for a fighter - why is it accepted?

That’s a good point. Crowd response can give the illusion of something happening or happening on a grander scale than in reality. I have seen fights live that I viewed a certain way and then had a different take upon video viewing at a later time. In the same way commentators can relay visual info in a verbal way that influences what we see or think we see. A quick study of advertising can validate this thought.

 

It’s hard to win anywhere away from home, it’s just the way it is. If we the fans know, then the fighters themselves know fully well what they’re up against. However, fighting as a foreigner in America is bordering on ridiculous, it’s almost impossible to win unless you knock the guy out.

Take Wilder v Fury. The worrying thing is Wilder was a nobody, almost unknown with zero draw. He wasn’t a protected superstar with a huge reputation yet the commission and judges still favoured him. I said I was done after Ward v Kovalev, then I came back for G v Canelo and now Wilder v Fury. It’s hard to keep away despite the obvious corruption

 

Unfortunately life isn't perfect and neither is boxing. Also, it makes for a great story when the away fighter can beat the hometown fighter on his own turf. Just think of Indongo going into enemy territory in Russia, England, and the US. Despite getting destroyed by Crawford it was still a great success story.

A few examples of guys going into enemy territory and getting the job done.
Schmeling knocking out Louis
Walcott beating Ten Hoff
Joe Frazier beating Joe Bugner
James Smith stopping Bruno
McCall stopping Lewis
Chris Byrd stopping Vitali
Corrie Sanders stopping Wlad
Fury beating Wlad

 

Usyk vs just about his entire resume.

 

I can't believe I left out Usyk. He's a perfect example of going where the money's at. If the money or opportunity is there for the taking he would fight anybody on their home turf.

 

Well one judge had Stevenson pretty far ahead, one other had it tie by the end of the 10th round, and the other had it 6-4. Plus, the ref missed not one but two legit KD. Gvozdik fall was stopped by the ropes and that should also have been considered a KD. The ref did a good job and two judges did also.

 

there was no way he should have been ahead on any cards. gvozdyk was ahead. and the ref ignoring gvozdyk's was wrong as well. his way of making up for stevenson getting dropped, maybe?

 

These days in America robberies are a norm.

 

I also think gvozdyk was ahead but on some people's card Stevenson was edging it. When the crowd is reacting to everything you throw, that is a home advantage which can influence judges without them being corrupt. I also think the missed both KD. The first one, if I remember correctly, the ref was behind Stevenson. He might have decided that he should give a pass for that second KD. Overall, a that bad day in the office, doesn't make him necessarily corrupt.

 

I wasn't aware until recently that many of the judges are also MMA judges (prob because I don't follow MMA that much)...and also that they are not particularly boxing/combat sport fans.
I wonder whether it would be better to change the system so that people who have been in boxing (trainers, ex boxers etc) are appointed as judges instead. At the very least you will get someone with a love of teh sport who may have a previous boxing reputation to uphold in terms of their credibility.

 

These recent high profile cases are not robberies. If you claim them to be, you will be purposely naive to see legitimate opinions supporting the decision, even if in the minority. Most people scored a lot of these fights 1 or 2 points. That's hardly unforgivable. It's logical for all kind of reasons that a competitive fight will go to the home fighter. It's not right. But neither was China's gymnastic gold medal count in the Beijing Games. It is what it is. A-side matters. Picking judges matters. I don't think anybody gives it a "pass," just what can we do other than literally stop watching boxing forever?

 

I do believe there's home advantages, but the only reason I understand how it could be possible is because the fans reaction when the home fighter lands could twist how a judge scores a round. In the case of Fury-Wilder, I don't understand how the judges could be twisted because Fury had great support in that fight.