THE SCORING DEBATE
IN your feature on scoring (November 16), journalist Steve Farhood asserts that ‘If Fighter A throws 50 punches and misses all of them, and Fighter B doesn’t throw a single punch, no judge is going to score the round for Fighter B, despite his defensive expertise.’ In my opinion, this is really an admission that judges are openly ignoring the rules.
A boxer is supposed to win points for ‘effective aggression’. However, the key word here is ‘effective’, not ‘aggression’. Swing and miss? Not effective, so no points. Coming forward, trying to make the fight, throwing punches but never landing? Not effective, so no points. That’s if the rules are applied correctly. Steve seems to suggest that the rules should be changed so that points are no longer scored for ring generalship or defensive expertise, just for punching and aggression, whether effective or not. But who needs boxing for that? You can already see it outside pub. Michael Stenton
NO YOUNG TIGERS
IN Steve Thomas’ letter (November 16), he says that Anthony Joshua “hasn’t really beaten a young top 10 tiger.” However, finding one isn’t easy. Current top 10s tend to include heavyweights whom, as far as I’m concerned, are neither young nor tigers. Joseph Parker is young at 25, but I’d back Joshua all the way to beat him. It’d be great if a fight between Joshua and Deontay Wilder can be arranged, but don’t hold your breath. Les Carr, Liverpool
ONE PULL-OUT TOO MANY
AT what point do the BBBOFC step in and revoke David Haye’s licence? Multiple pull-outs caused by injuries affect the credibility of the sport, but more importantly affect other fighters. If the whole Haye-tony Bellew II show no longer goes ahead, the boxers on the undercard will lose their payday, yet they’ll still have to pay the expenses of their training camp. Any talk of rescheduling the Haye-bellew rematch is nonsense. Haye’s body is clearly not suitable for top-level boxing anymore. Kevin Clarke, Crawshawbooth
UNLUCKY HAYE
DAVID HAYE may be the most unlucky boxer at the moment. As we know, he has suffered a lot of injuries in the last few years. Haye intends to be back, and hopefully he’ll return a better fighter. At least he is honest and didn’t try to just fight injured in order to keep his payday. Maybe 2018 will be his year. Ian Owen, Wallington