Boxing to scrap computerized scoring and headgear after 2012 Olympics

LONDON (Reuters) - A computerized scoring system designed for the boxing competition at the London 2012 Olympics will be scrapped after the Games as the sport's governing body seeks to encourage fighters to win with style.

International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) president Ching-Kuo Wu is determined to bring the amateur ranks more in line with professional boxing and he believes kicking out rigid computer scoring is essential.

Headguards for male boxers are also set to disappear after London while the governing body will launch AIBA Professional Boxing (APB) in 2013 which will mean amateur boxers can earn money from the sport without turning to the established sanctioning bodies of the professional game.

The computerized scoring system developed to reduce the risk of bouts being rigged at London 2012 was used for the first time at last year's men's world championships.

Despite being described by Wu as "impossible to manipulate" it will be replaced by the "10-points must" system used in professional boxing.

"The current scoring system is based on the punches (landed) so the judge has no other way to judge the boxer," Wu said in an interview in Thursday's Boxing News.

"10-points must is comprehensive, with the style of the boxer and their fighting spirit and also the score.

"At the moment there's no way to judge these boxers as performers, showing their style. Muhammad Ali, why is he (great)? Because of his style.

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This is great news.

good. hopefully we will get rid of those amatuerish style fighters in a few years so it wont be such a hard adjustment to become professional.

Great news for sure. When you watch the old Olympic boxing before they totally screwed it up there were some really good fights. Excellent for the sport in terms of developing pro talent, exposing new fans to the game and creating the next generation of stars!

Tobe wrote:Great news for sure. When you watch the old Olympic boxing before they totally screwed it up there were some really good fights. Excellent for the sport in terms of developing pro talent, exposing new fans to the game and creating the next generation of stars!

....yes indeed. i like the no headgear stuff also.now this is a great start in developing a strong farm system like baseball for fighters to learn the craft in a proper way.goodby slaps hello real punches.in 5 or 6 years yes potential stars will arrive and possible greatness or excellent fighters in numbers could return.its a intelligent move.

For sure. AM and Olympic boxing has hurt pro boxing. The computerscoring was horrific. And if you fought in a pro style, you were not going to win.

I remember watching a fight at last Olympics, and one guy was throwing actual powerful punches, yet only 5 of them were being scored, while the other guy was just throwing slaps. And as we know, the guy throwing the slaps won.

YES! less slap boxing.