Are body punches scored in the Olympics? what do they look for?

[reppa]

I haven't really followed any Olympic boxing. Do they score body punches? From the fights I have seen it doesn't look like it. Also what type of things are they looking at when scoring. I know it has something to do with the white part of the glove or something. Thanks for any help.

[totalownership]

Pretty much it's up for grabs man. A clean , flush hit with the white part of the glove is supposed to be scored a hit, head or body but it has to be the front of the head or body. But the system they have in place sucks big time. You can't even watch it for the pure boxing and just ignore the scoring because so much in the ring is dictated by the score. Guys will back off if they have the lead even though they may not have deserved the lead.

[ray_glenn]

The problem with the scoring in Olympic boxing is the computer system that's used to enter the scores.

There are 5 judges at ringside who score the fight. Everytime a boxer lands a clean punch* at least 3 out of the 5 judges must press a key within one second of each other indicating which boxer scored a clean punch. This is supposed to be more objective and prevent judges from awarding points after the fact or after speculation but it actually makes for some pretty ridiculous scoring, since some judges are too trigger-happy with their keypads while other judges just take too long to press the keys and invalidate legit scoring punches.

*a clean punch is defined as the white part of a boxer's glove making contact with the middle of the opponent's head or down the sides of the opponent's torso and between the hips through the belly button.

[Antaean]

I was just watching the fight between a Dominican boxer (Felix Diaz) and an Irish boxer (Johnny Joyce).

The way they scored that fight was a bit ridiculous. The Irish boxer had the lead for most of the fight, while Diaz was doing more damage/hitting more punches with the white stripe. At one point, the judges gave Joyce a point when Diaz hit him full flush in the face.

Even the crowd started booing :lol:

Glad that Diaz won it when they went to the computer (it was tied after 4 rounds).

[ray_glenn]

The Irish boxer had the lead for most of the fight, while Diaz was doing more damage/hitting more punches with the white stripe.

The thing about scoring in Olympic boxing is that the power behind a punch doesn't really affect scoring. A "more damaging" punch that lands cleanly is worth just as much as a cleanly landed love-tap. The only advantage to throwing more powerful punches is that it can lead to a KO, but with the thick vest and the helmet the boxers have to wear, the chances of a KO happening within 4 rounds is very, very small.

But yeah, even accounting for all the differences between judging in the Olympics and the pros (or even standard amateur fights), the scoring at the fights I've seen so far is probably acceptable at best, and outright horrendous at worst.

[Charlie Murphy]

I watched two fights earlier and the judges seemed to score the fights spot on, well a couple of clean, snappy jabs to the middle of the face weren't scored, but overall it was fair, but sometimes the scoring is atrocious.

[Antaean]

The thing about scoring in Olympic boxing is that the power behind a punch doesn't really affect scoring. A "more damaging" punch that lands cleanly is worth just as much as a cleanly landed love-tap. The only advantage to throwing more powerful punches is that it can lead to a KO, but with the thick vest and the helmet the boxers have to wear, the chances of a KO happening within 4 rounds is very, very small.

Ah I see now.

That fight just didn't seem fair though. It looked like he was getting ripped of a win.

[Goodfella2279]

I love boxing, but I can't even watch Olympic boxing because the scoring is the most horrible thing I've ever seen. I saw guys get credited with a point for punches that hit shoulders and the back of their opponenets heads. I also saw clean head and body shots not get scored. The main reason is that the judges have exactly 1 second to push the button to score the punch. If some of the judges are slow on the trigger, then it's extremely easy for some punches land and no points score. Also, the system can easily lead to corruption, as there is almost no accountability for these judges. They can simply say they hit the button but the particular punch didn't get the 3 out of 5 ratio needed to score. It's a joke and until they change it, it's going to continue to be one. That's why the USA boxing team hasn't really been good for a while. Kids don't want to train hard for a shot at the olympics and have some absurd, arbitrary scoring system cost them a chance at a medal. They need the 10 point must system. In my opinion, it's the only way that boxing should be scored. It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than the nonsense that they are using now in the olympics.