NEW YEAR WISHLIST
Highlighting six issues that boxing needs to get right
DRUGS The issue is already out of control. The only way to regain control is to bring in 365-day random testing. While it’s good to see boxers report that they’ve had a knock on the door at 6am and been asked to pee in a jar, it’s always boxers who are in training for a fight. By then, the chances of rumbling a cheat is minimal.
A universal testing practice would be a bonus, too. There can be no doubt that certain bodies have a better strike rate than others. VADA have caught many more boxers than USADA, for example. Or at least they’ve gone public far more frequently. Why is this? You can form your own decision with the minimum of research but it’s fair to say it doesn’t look good for a body that has only declared one positive drug test in a decade.
BOGUS TITLES The WBA are the worst offenders for this. The mixture of ‘regular’, ‘super’ and ‘world’ titles is more confusing than buying sanitary towels for your wife.
There is no need for a sanctioning body to recognise more than one champion per division. But they only get away with it because promoters use these stupid belts as fuel for their marketing campaigns. In turn, all media end up reporting that certain fighters are world champions when they’re nothing of the sort. This is not the boxers’ fault. If the WBA gave me a regular belt I’d stick it on my mantlepiece and invite everyone I’ve met since primary school over for tea. It’s the titles’ existence that is the problem here. Seriously, get rid of them.
PAY-PER-VIEW I completely understand why certain fights need to be on a Box Office platform. I don’t understand why we’re now at a point where almost every contest with a backstory or a semblance of importance has to come with an added price tag, though. Ultimately, it will drag down the numbers watching boxing by diluting the platform where punters can try before they buy.
Not so long ago, only the equivalent of Real Madrid v Inter Milan-style matchups would get the pay-per-view treatment. Nowadays, even Brighton v Southamptontype fights are being elevated to something they are not. And just because a fight might turn out to be a half-decent scrap doesn’t mean the decision to force punters to pay extra is then vindicated.
PROMOTER WARS While competition is healthy to an extent, the battle for power does little for the sport or the fans when rival broadcasters end up staging separate Box Office events on the same night. This kind of clash would not occur in any other sport. Because the heads of every other sport have more respect for the fans who line their pockets.
The solution here is not an easy one, but TV companies handing all the power and decision-making to promoters is unlikely to prevent this happening again.
OFFICIALS AND SCORING I don’t subscribe to the notion that every controversial decision is due to a judge being corrupt. However, the faces of certain officials fit with certain teams and promoters and commissions. That is not a good fit when outrage follows the announcement of scores. Therefore, officials should be independently sourced and not permitted into the boxers’ circles whatsoever.
Furthermore, when a stinking scorecard is turned in, the subsequent investigation must be made transparent. The official should be made to explain themselves and, if they keep doing it, be thrown out or punished. Perhaps a league table of officials is the answer.
And while we’re on the subject, what is wrong with scoring a round even? Judges, particularly in the USA, are encouraged to avoid 10-10 scores. When so many rounds are nip and tuck, it’s little wonder controversy is so common.
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL AIBA absolutely, positively must do everything in their power to ensure that amateur boxing retains its place in the Olympics. If it doesn’t, the effects may not be immediate, but they will ultimately be damaging, and farreaching.