I doubt this thread will be to most peoples tastes, but i find it interesting.

What great developments has boxing had apart from the physical performance aspect of training and diet?

I was thinking the other day about compression suits, the kind used by some sprinters and most swimmers these days. They arent just designed to reduce wind resistance when running or drag when swimming in the pool. They have been shown to increase endurance and prolong an athletes ability to perfrom explosive power movements. Why havent these been incorporated in boxing? I would have thought that having more endurance in your legs keeping you mobile for longer in a fight would be an advantage, especially if it improves your ability to perform explosive movement for longer (ie: jumping in and out of range quickly for attacks and defence). I cant recall there being anything in the rules saying that compression leggings being illegal, and as they would just cover your legs they wouldnt offer any impact protection, so why arent fighters using them. There is a range of scientific evidence supporting there benefits.

Is boxing getting left behind?

Boxing isn't being left behind...it's staying true to itself.

That's why mythical matchups of fighters from different eras are vaild.

there really isnt too much technology that could go into boxing... maybe training facilities but other than that what else is there?... i saw some type of so called state of the art mouth peice a while back or maybe better boxing shoes... boxing is such a great sport because its so pure... you can have one fighter that trains at a state of the art training facility and another that trains old school beating on tires and running the mountains an etc... they both have an equal shot at winning.. it still comes down to total skill level and who wants it more... the only other technology thats in other sports and has showed its ugly face in boxing is steroids and we certainly dont want that in the sport...

Modern mouthpieces are great...there is one called the brain pad that cushions the brains impact when hit.

wow imma have to look that up.. does it actually work?

IMHO, there are many areas within boxing that can be improved by technology. Not only the equiptment used by modern fighters, but also the way fights are governed.

We see many advances in glove design, footwear, protective gear, training aparatus and the like. But boxing is a unique sport that pits one against another in combative competition. If you take the incorporation of technology into boxing too far then it will ultimately become a battle between technology and its use. Where the human element plays an ever diminishing role.

out of curiosity how can technology improve the way boxing is governed?...

Caution --- I may be going off on a tangent here, but I'll try to explain what I mean.

The one area that has always needed improvement is the process of judging fights. The fact that personal opinion can and does influence score cards, exposes boxing's most serious flaw -- Judges that are fallible and subject to influence.

Technology {similar to whats used in the Olympics} can be used at the pro level to gauge both the quality of the contact and the volume of contact more accurately than a human judge who may have eye issues {Because of age}. It also, can be commissioned to gauge certain other elements {Via Sensors} that are missed by human judges -- such as activity level, a fighters physical state, awareness and more importantly danger levels, which can lead to or prevent a coma or death.

The incorporation of technology in the the sport of boxing isn't only a matter of, if its possible, but whether its wanted. Because it is definitely possible to apply sensors to every piece of boxing equipment that is used and reliably feed that information for on-site analysis for a true sense of what is happening within the ring. On the other side of the coin, many situations will cause protest, because of unfavorable outcomes. The more control promoters and commissioners lose, the more they will object. And bringing technology that can be used to validate specifics without question, into a sport ruled by both corruption and greed goes against the very long tradition that has already been established.

Boxing has never been an up and up sport. Money, greed and corruption has influenced judges, boxers and even referees. That is the nature of things in boxing and every active participant have accepted that reality. Incorporating oversight in the form of technology will ruffle many feathers -- Because technology doesn't lie, cheat or steal. Technology, once programmed correctly will call a spade a spade without prejudice and that is an element that cannot be tolerated into a sport who's very nature is questionable.

i might be off on this but isnt boxing such the contact sport that what ever sensor the fighter would wear could and probably would be knocked off?.. in theory its a good idea tho as long as we would stay away from the olympic system.. thats even worse.. i'd rather take my chance against a judge than go against that system... its the reason i dont watch amature boxing now... i really wish they would go back to actual judges scoring... also as i think you touched on there will always be contr. over the fights.. just because fighter A lands more than fighter B dont mean fighter A wins the fight.. truth is adding some of this stuff will take away from the fun of the fight.. similiar to the new wbc rule calling out the scores after 4 rounds... thats bs right there..

Sensors are now being made out of synthetic fibers which could easily be incorporated into the gloves and other items.

My main point and issue with the judging system is that it is behind the times. Not only that, but for some reason that totally escapes me, all the judges seem to be geriatric. And if I were a boxer, I would be leary of any old-man or lady judging my fights.

With modern technology, statistical analysis can help judges improve their scoring system enough, where the correct credit is given. And I agree with your point that the most connects don't and shouldn't equal a win. But that information coupled with aggressiveness and dominance should be factored in to help calculate the winner.

The system we have now is both inefficient and inaccurate and its because it relies totally on human perception ...... The perception of a senior citizen, no less.

I've got nothing against senior citizens ........ But they shouldn't be judging high profile fights.

I would prefer to see a return to bare knuckles & no mouthpieces myself. Or Tong Po style rope & resin wraps with broken glass deathmatches.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing. It helps when punching too. My brain used to get rattled whenever I sat down on a right hand, but now I don't feel it anymore.

It's pretty comfortable...I wear it all the time...even when hitting the bags.



Tong Po! Tong Po! Tong Po!

My Dad used to bust on me sometimes while I was watching fights, saying how it was boring and stuff and he could improve it so everyone liked it. He would tie there bodies together so you could only get about 3' distance apart at all times so there was not all this running from one another. Then there was a counter mechanism on the gloves so the first person to reach 100 punches to the head, the glove would explode and blow the other guys head up. That was so more fighters would be more inclined to throw more punches instead of just posing. Stevenski, you would have loved my Dad's personality.