Wednesday, August 13, 2008

DEAR IOC PRESIDENT JACQUES ROGGE

Amateur Boxingban this shady sport called amateur boxing

Sir:


Please remove boxing from the Olympics. It is a useless sport and only thing it does is damage the good name of the sports extravaganza. Other writers call it the "red light district of the Olympics"

Scoring in the Olympics makes me cringe : It's one of those things that upset me as a boxing writer; when you see these young guys with all the talent in the world, step into the Olympic spotlight only to come out on the losing end due to some preposterous scoring method. Let me enlighten you for a moment. In the Olympics, there is a more or less new scoring system whereby there are five judges at ringside each with a little clicker. When a punch has landed (and by punch I mean one where the white part of the fighter's glove makes clear contact and the judge actually sees it), the judge will push a button to signify that he has counted it. This has to be done within seconds of the punch for it to count. The problem is however, that three out of the five judges has to also push that button within the allotted time frame for the punch to officially count, giving the fighter one point. You can see where this can become a problem. Say a fighter has Roy Jones like speed (and believe me, Roy can tell you a thing or two about the Olympics), and connects a clear five-punch combination. Well unless three of the judges clearly see each punch and push their little button, this fighter will be lucky to get one point. Sounds ridiculous right? Well point taken – in fact, I saw this happen twice this week while watching Olympic Boxing on CNBC and MSNBC and whatever other channel hidden deep within the channel lineup is.

Someone needs to take a good look as to how to better manage the scoring. I saw a poor Brazilian kid cry his eyes out after dominating a fight only to lose by close decision because some pissant judge couldn't click a button fast enough. It makes me sick, but hey, Olympic Boxing isn't what it used to be so for those of you talented amateurs that wind up without a medal, remember this: getting a medal in the Olympics doesn't guarantee you'll be successful or rich in the pros and there have been plenty of great fighters who never even bothered with the event. Keep your heads up high and good luck to those still in the tournament...for full story

This sport doesn't deserve to be in the Olympics. It should be played in prison cells and casinos where it richly deserves.

If needed I will supply more attachments from others on why this sport should go the way of Softball and Baseball (in 2012). This is written out of frustration that some talented boxers (not necessarily from my country) are not given their due. For the sake of fairness sir, kindly obliterate this sport from the Olympics.

Sincerely,

Fair Play Jr.



Tanamor lost (so he won't be such a threat to his Chinese competition) 3-6.

I thought so judging from the funny scoring system in the Olympics with incompetent Chinese boxers suddenly winning.
Tsk...