Jabs were not scored in the early 20th century.

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by janitor, Feb 26, 2012.


  1. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    The convention in the early 20th century was that jabs were not acknowledged on the score card.

    A fighter could use the jab to further his agenda, but he would not get any points for it.

    Points were only awarded for punches that were seen as "damage scoreing punches", such as hooks and crosses.

    So two questions:

    1. What effect did this have on the fight game?

    2. What effect would it have today?
     
  2. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Are you sure about this? To me, this is the interesting part of the thread.
     
  3. GPater11093

    GPater11093 Barry Full Member

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    'Damage scoring blows' so would Hagler's or Liston's jab count?
     
  4. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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  5. GPater11093

    GPater11093 Barry Full Member

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    Yeh, well anyone can use the jabas aweapon instead of a tool
     
  6. lufcrazy

    lufcrazy requiescat in pace Full Member

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    My interpretation of that quote is basically how fans score fights today right?

    Pitter patter doesn't count and can be negated by a solid counter shot.
     
  7. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    I find it's difficult for a fighter to "come back" on my scorecards with jabs alone after he's been hurt even if it's just with one punch.
     
  8. kingfisher3

    kingfisher3 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    mcgrain, how pro boxing actually gets scored is a bit of a mystry to me (obviously i know the rules but it dont fit with too many real life examples), are you saying that if a guy has been hurt and lost the round big, in the next round it would count against the score even if it was even fight again, because one is hurt (say other guy tired or low workrate or whatever)
     
  9. lufcrazy

    lufcrazy requiescat in pace Full Member

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    I think of alexander v kotelnik. Devon threw hundreds of punches and the vast majority bar jabs were blocked. Andrei on the other hand was landing solid counter shots back at alexander.
     
  10. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    No, i'm saying if a guy gets hit hard with a left hook in the first ten seconds of round 1 and is stunned but lands 30 jabs in the round whilst the other fighter lands 0 punches, I still feel odd about scoring the round to the guy landing all the jabs.
     
  11. Nightcrawler

    Nightcrawler Boxing Addict Full Member

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    which is the tough part about comparing scorecards. i totally see what lufcrazy is saying above but i scored the fight for alexander and felt he simply landed more. having said that, i can very much see why he would lose though based on criteria

    one round i had trouble with was the 6th or 7th round of gatti/ward 3. ward is one of my all time favourites but he was getting beating up by gatti until he scored a flash knockdown. i have a lot of trouble scoring it a 10-8 round for ward or even 10-9 based on the previous 2 minutes and 50 seconds of the round
     
  12. DonBoxer

    DonBoxer The Lion! Full Member

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    I always get the impression that jabs were kind of scored as ring generalship, if fighter A jabs fighter B 25 times in a round and lands 5 big punches, it trumps fighter B and then 10 big punches he landed.
     
  13. Surf-Bat

    Surf-Bat Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I'm not so sure this is true. If so then Mike McTigue would have never won a single fight, let alone the light-heavyweight championship of the world.
     
  14. PowerPuncher

    PowerPuncher Loyal Member Full Member

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    They still say 'Vegas doesn't score the jab', I don't score it in the same way I score a power punch
     
  15. greynotsoold

    greynotsoold Boxing Addict

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    I don't think that that is true at all. Jem Driscoll and jim Corbett were known for their 'straight lefts'...Maybe the confusion is in that statement. The 'jab" has become, over the years, a flicking thing thrown from afar and landed at the very end of the punch. Watch Tunney and some of those guys; they used 'straight left hands' that involved a slight turn of the shoulder, landing the punch with the arm partially extended and following through, and pushing off the rear foot (while not shifting the weight to the front foot).