Embarrassing Scoring May Mar Boxing Tournament

 For anyone who truly cares about the Olympic Boxing tournament, watching Friday nights first round scoring was nothing short of horrifying. Unfortunately for all, as bad as the scoring can be in professional fights, it is no where near as bad as it is at the Olympics, and that has all to do with the system. For those who are not aware of how amateur boxing is scored, a quick explanation is in order. In the amateurs, and thus the Olympics, the fight is broken down into four two minute rounds. Fighters get points for clean blows landed, but only if three of the five judges see the blow, and hit an electric buzzer within one second of each other. Furthermore the blow must be considered a clean blow, and only counts if the part of the glove that lands is the white part on the fist of the glove. This system, as NBC analyst Teddy Atlas repeatedly and correctly pointed out, is misleadingly called electronic scoring.

 This system has so many problems in it, it's hard to know where to start. One of the most egregious elements of this system is that fact that it's nearly impossible for fighters to get the proper credit for landing a good combination. Simply said, it's hard for three judges to hit a buzzer within one second of each other. Not only is this unfair to the boxers themselves, it works against one of the fundamental values of the sport by not rewarding them properly for doing something right. Another aspect that makes the scoring system horrible, is that it is a deceptive name. By calling it electronic scoring, it gives the idea that the human element has been removed from the scoring. Sadly, this is not the case. Blows were repeatedly scored that everyone saw on TV, yet these athletes did not get credit for themselves.

 Still for all those flaws, perhaps it would not be that bad if there was no viable alternative. If all that was available, was this system relying on human fallibility it could be forgiven. Alas, that is not the case. Anyone who watches professional boxing knows of the system called Compubox which measures the amount of blows thrown, and blows landed. Not only that, but Compubox, is able to distinguish from jabs and “power punches”. It is insanity that this system cannot be used to score the Olympics. Fans, and more importantly, athletes deserve a system that accurately measures the blows, so someone doesn't get jobbed out of medal due to human fallibility. Will it be perfect, of course not, but it's hard to imagine it being worse than the current system.