2008 Olympics Boxing: Pointy, Pointy Birds

[MemphisVol]

There will always be complaints about any sport that relies on judges. It's simply unavoidable.

That said, and with all respect, this year's Olympic boxing matches make it clear that we should not confuse a woman's right to choose with the fact that sometimes when rednecks screw lower life-forms, they get pregnant.

And the off-spring grow up to be IOC officials.

I'm not complaining because America's boxers lost time and time again. In fact, that may be one of the few justifiable results of the competitiion. America treats Olympic boxing linke, at best, a stepping stone for a pro-boxing career. In international terms we don't just suck, we, in Paris Hiltonesque fashion don't care that we suck.

But what about all the other teams & boxers, the teams and boxers from countries that unlike America do give a damn?

This year, for the first time ever, I gave up on Olympic Boxing before it even reached the quarterfinals. I gave up because it seemed like to me that, thanks to the new absurd scoring changes, all of a sudden Olympic boxing had been converted from a matter of skill to a matter of almost random chance. No matter how many blows actually landed, or how talented the boxers acutally were, the only thing that you could be sure of was that the judges' scores wouldn't remotely match the fight that had actually happened.

[cotton]

Originally Posted by MemphisVol

This year, for the first time ever, I gave up on Olympic Boxing before it even reached the quarterfinals.

I gave up on it very early as well, but mainly because we suck. The scoring system, however, is very bad. The one US match I did watch featured the US fighter as heavy favorite (Rashee Warren?) who lost to a Korean in the first round. The scoring for the Korean was an absolute travesty, as he seemed to get points by hitting the American in the gloves with his face. The only thing worse was the scoring for the American, who actually received a point at one time by falling down.

That being said, there is something wrong with amateur boxing in the US. I recall the US being jobbed (Seoul,) and disappointng others (Athens,) but I don't remember them ever being off-the-radar. What has changed in the last decade that the US doesn't produce a medal conteder at every weight class like they did such a short time ago?

[doozer]

i haven't watched a second of it because boxing is dead in America. until there is MMA in the Olympics, there won't be many young folks watching.

[VOLatile]

Hmmm... I thought Mike Tyson had retired, but apparently he's competing in the Olympics.

A light heavyweight boxer from Tajikistan was disqualified for biting his opponent on the shoulder during their Olympic quarterfinal bout.

[Svengali]

Yeah the scoring system leaves alot to be desired. It's really an international thing though, not an amateur thing because I can tell you that in the States, amateur fights are generally scored in a more straight forward manner. True, you dont get points for knockdowns, but they at least recognize body shots.

To boot, there have been lots of rob jobs against Americans in the Olympics. Holyfield in 84, and Jones Jr in 88 standing out as the worst I've ever seen. So even if one of our guys manages to get through the tournament and score the constant pitty pats the judges want, he could still go home without gold just because it's screw USA day.Very frustrating.