Changes to AIBA scoring system coming

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

The much-maligned International Boxing Association (AIBA) electronic scoring system now being used in amateur boxing, is to undergo substantial changes in 2011. It was announced at their 2010 congress that was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, last month.

Following a long and comprehensive review of the existing system, details of a new scoring system were presented to the congress by the chairman of the AIBA's Technical and Rules Commission. The proposal was accepted by the congress, and it has been agreed that a new scoring system would be implemented early next year.

Scoring in amateur boxing has had a controversial history and came to a head in 1988 at the Seoul Olympic Games, when American boxer Roy Jones was beaten in the final by a Korean boxer. The general feeling, however, was that Jones had won easily and that the decision against him was unfair.

Under the rules, however, the decision could not be altered but it became a catalyst for change. New ways of scoring, designed to remove what some persons perceived as either dishonesty or incompetence by some judges were examined, and the previous manual scoring system gave way to electronic scoring. Under this system, the five judges are given key pads with blue and red buttons by which they register scoring blows during the contest.

For a boxer to be awarded a point, however, three of the five judges have to record the scoring blow within a time period of one second, and this has proved difficult, leading to controversy and calls for change. The chief complaint has been that many scoring blows are not being recorded, and this has raised questions about the accuracy of some decisions. Various new scoring methods were therefore examined over a period of years, and a final decision for a new system has now been made.

The full details will not be made known until early next year, but it has been made clear that the requirement for three judges to hit the key pad within one second for the boxer to score a point will be removed. The judges will now score all legal and effective punches as they see them, and these will be taken into account individually.

The lowest and highest scores by the five-judge panel will be removed from the mix and the other three scores will be used to determine the outcome of the contest. It has also been decided that the scores being made public after each round will be discontinued, as this has led to coaches and seconds encouraging passive defence when they know that their boxer is ahead, particularly in the last round.

Tests in selected competitions will be carried out throughout 2011, and the projection is that the new machines and scoring system will be in full use in 2012.