Howard Clark 42 lost his last 51 fights now terminally ill with dementia.

Any amateur show is more entertaining then most pro shows- that in itself is embarassing. These pro's are meant to represent the pick of the countries most fit athletes.

 

Amateurs aren't that entertaining for me.

Gloves=Too big

Headguards=Weren't used in previous era's, why now? And with the size of the gloves?!?!

Dodgy decisions at some of the shows I've been to. Although the same can be said of some pro shows of course :good

 

The reasons for those changes were to make amateur bouts more technical based. It's supposed to be a sport, not a blood sport at that level. I don't think the gloves or headguards are bad, its good to see young fighters protected rather than going an entire boxing life taking punches to the skull precisely to limit things like this.

The scoring is ultra lame though.

 

Thing is, you watch Leonard as an amateur and you realise why pro boxing is going downhill.

This new style is ABYSMAL to watch. I know hat you're saying, and I agree safety comes first, but amateur boxing nowadays is pretty poo IMO.

Lomachenko (spelling?!?) looks **** hot though :good

 

Yeah I agree.

Could you imagine Fulham (say) ducking an FA Cup tie with Arsenal in case they lost?

Losing isn't something to be afraid and/or ashamed of - you can learn from it and bounce back (in most cases) or wallow in self pity and delusion.

 

I'm not sure its a big factor in why pro boxing is struggling. Some great amateur talent is coming through at the moment. We've seen Gamboa and Rigondeaux recently, they have to be shining lights of the amateur system having been under it for so long.

It's best not to think of it as at all related to pro boxing or to really make comparisons between the two because there just isn't a comparison. Professional boxing is fighting and amateur boxing is a sport more in line with fencing or judo. The aim is not neccessarily to hurt people. I think the amateur game does a pretty good job in developing the things you'd want in young fighters whilst being very safe. I mean you can develop traits associated with pro boxing if you have the heart for it but its extremely difficult to develop skills late in the day.

I would like to see the scoring revised, specifically to score bodyshots to encourage diversity. I'd also prefer it scored on a round by round basis somehow because the scoring gets kind of ridiculous counting punches.

 

As always, a good post:good

 

I stand by my point, if you are a pro boxer your primary* reason for fighting should be money.

*Note primary, not necessarily only...

 

But Fulham know if they lose, and even lose horribly, they are still in the FA Cup next year...

For a boxer it is so different, a close defeat in this current environment can cost you a number of years in career development, a horrible defeat is sometimes something a fighter never gets over.

There is a need to change things, but losing Journeyman are a valuable tool to boxing promoters, they need to stay.

What needs to change is the 'He has lost his '0' he is ruined' attitude of many fans...

Most Great fighters lose, so by default those less than great are probably going to taste defeat as well.

Many a good British fighter has lost early bouts, and learnt from it, to come back better. McGuigan lost to Eubank's journeyman brother Peter, early in his career. Michael Watson lost to the underrated James Cook. Alan Minter and Maurice Hope both suffered a number of learning defeats on the way up.

Boxing fans need proper education to appreciate the sport, or perhaps they should look else where...

p.s. As I am sure you realise, the rant at the end of this post, is not aimed at you Beeston Brawler, you clearly have shown over a number of years, you know your stuff.

 

Yeah the example I gave probably wasn't the best.

I like winning journeymen, especially those that upset a ridiculously overhyped prospect or one that has been spoonfed weak opponents to avoid real challenges.

Losing journeymen are obviously a part of the game, but there comes a time when losing simply becomes a habit, and they might not even come to take a round, never mind to draw/win.

Given that I've not followed boxing for all that long (by comparison to others) it's an area I'm not all that sharp on.

Your 2nd to last paragraph is exactly my point - losing is a part of life in general, not just sport. Sometimes you benefit from having come up short in something, you knuckle down and fight back..... if you can't/won't do that, it reflects badly on the individual.