Jose Sulamain

Well known as one of the most innovative of the organisations that run professional boxing, the World Boxing Council (WBC) has made two changes in their rules that are designed to make the sport more spectator friendly.

They have adopted a modified version of open scoring, and will use video tape to assist officials who have to make final decisions with regard to fouls that were not seen by the referee.

For years, the WBC has toyed with the idea of open scoring for its title bouts and has experimented with different versions, with mixed results. Some boxing commissions liked the idea of giving a running score as the fight progresses but others did not agree and have refused to give it a try.

At their annual Convention in Las Vegas recently however, it was agreed by the international delegates, that effective immediately, the official scores in a title bout will be revealed after the fourth and eighth rounds. Fully supporting the change, WBC president Jose Sulamain commented that boxing was the only sport in which the scores remained secret up to the end of the contest.

So as to keep boxers, trainers and spectators abreast of what was happening in the fight under the revised proposal, instead of making the information available after each round, the scores would instead be disclosed after the fourth and eighth rounds and then at the end of the fight. This, he said, now gives everyone an idea of what is happening during the fight.

He pointed to the fact that if this had been done in the recent Manny Pacquiao versus Juan Manuel Marquez fight, the Marquez camp would have known after round eight that the scores were even on two of the judges' scorecards 76-76, and that Pacquioa was ahead by two points on the other, 77-75. Believing their fighter to be ahead, the trainers in the corner of Marquez adopted an air of complacency and Pacquiao went on to win by way of a majority decision.

It was also agreed that available technology such as video tape, will in future be used to help make decisions with regard to infractions in the ring such as low blows that were not seen by the referee. The reference point used, was the recent title fight between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson. In that fight, Hopkins was fouled and suffered a shoulder injury. He eventually lost by TKO because he could not continue.

Hopkins appealed the decision and after a video tape of the fight was reviewed by the WBC appeal panel, it showed that he had really been injured by the foul, and could not have continued, on medical grounds. The WBC overturned the TKO decision and changed it to a technical draw. Hopkins therefore retained his title, and a return fight is now being negotiated by both camps. The consensus at the convention was that "if the technology is available, use it for the good of the sport."