Boxing used to be 15 rounds

[Alexandoy]

I remember watching the Thrilla in Manila – the heavyweight championship fight of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. It was a slambang bout of 15 rounds that was truly world class. I think it was a year after that fight when the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association started limiting the boxing matches to 12 rounds only. The reason is to prevent injuries to the boxer. To a boxing aficisionado, there’s not much difference between 12 rounds and 15 rounds. What matters is the quality of the fight. If you have seen the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout, it was boring since nothing much happened in the 12 rounds. What we are after is the punches since it is a boxing match. As with the 12 rounds maximum, I think it is okay even if they reduce it to 10 rounds.

 

[pwarbi]

Like you say, the difference between a 15 round fight and a 12 round one might not be that much difference to the spectators, but for the boxers the extra 9 minutes is quite a lot. Even now in the latter stages of a 12 round fight the boxers are exhausted and that's when the injuries can happen more frequently. We all love the sport, and I think the last thing we want is to see a boxer injured and in a 15 round fight that is more likely to happen.

Personally I can see the argument for dropping it to 10 rounds, and in this world of health and safety that we live in now it wouldn't surprise me if they did, but the governing body also have to think about the actual spectacle. Some of the major boxing events cost a lot of money to go and watch, so would people be prepared to pay the same if they know they are getting a shorter amount of entertainment? I'm not so sure...