One of boxing’s biggest superstars has offered to test ‘live’ scoring in the pro game, meaning judges’ scores will be available throughout the competition.
We’ve all seen boxers take a half break because their team thought they were playing cards – and we’ve all seen that turn out to be a huge mistake. Maybe it’s the sport’s conspiracy that no one really knows until the final bell rings, or maybe it’ll be helped by score updates throughout the game.
It’s been an age-old conversation in boxing – whether this different form of scoring will work or just degrade the viewing experience. Anthony Joshua is on Instagram to think about it, and recommend it for a test run at least on some level of the sport.
“In a lot of sports, you know the winner when the game is on. In a sense, it creates a very competitive environment. Should boxing introduce a live scorecard (shown) so you know what you need to do to win? Since there is so much boxing around the world, boxing can be introduced at any level to test it out”.
The WBC – which is ironically the only organization where Joshua has never won a world title – has an open scoring system in which fighters and their corners are scored after the 4th and 8th rounds. It is used. used around the world in various countries, however has not yet been accepted as a standard for all their games. Perhaps its climax was for Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez against Austin Trout, where Canelo won the WBC super belt in 12 rounds. The response of the scoring system has been mixed with the negative.
Using ‘AJ’ as an example – many fans thought his corner kick in the first Oleksandr Usyk loss was too easy for him, refusing to let him know the fact that he was down. the point. In fact, he even came out later to say that he believes he won the fight. In that case, his theory of direct scoring would surely light the fire he desperately needed that night.
Another potential benefit of scorecards being available to audiences and competitors across the board could be accountability. Famous referees are scrutinized in the boxing world, rarely justify their scores to fighters or fans. Maybe a little more pressure might not be such a bad thing.
All of that said, don’t we all love the feeling of really not knowing what might happen next when the bell rings and the announcer announces the gym address to read the results?
