elgigante
03-25-2005, 03:35 AM
this is kind of a guide to several different aspects of the game. BADrew, Necro and others feel free to add in stuff that you feel will help educate newer posters to this forum
[B]1.Organizations
Unlike in MMA, where fighters are attached to various organizations, there are no set groups like that in Boxing. However there are many sanctioning bodies, Four of which are considered major, that all fighters are ranked by and aspire to be champions of. I am going to detail each of the four major sanctioning bodies briefly.
1.WBA-World Boxing Association- Based out of Panama, the WBA is the oldest of the major sanctioning bodies having been around since 1962. Its president, Gilberto Mendoza, has been a lightning rod for criticism due to fighters from Latin American nations such as Colombia and Venezuela with questionable opposition achieving high rankings. Past notable WBA champions have included Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya and others too numerous to mention
2. WBC-World Boxing Council - Established in 1963 and based out of Mexico City Mexico. Its president Jose Sulamian has been criticized heavily as well for suspected ranking fixing(especially Benefiting Don King fighters) but he has accomplished some major innovations in boxing. The WBC's medical convention which involves ring doctors from all over the world has helped in establishing new and improved safety guidlines for years. Another innovation that the WBC started was a pension system to help retired boxers long after their in ring days were done. A memorable(maybe not from their perspective) moment in WBC came in 1992 when then WBC Heavyweight Champion Riddick Bowe threw the WBC belt in the garbage rather than defend it against Lennox Lewis.
3.IBF-International Boxing Federation- Started back in 1983 by a man named Bob Lee and based out of New Jersey. Currently an organization that is being run by federal regualtoes due to rankings fixing and other bribery related charges. Its first recognizable champion was Larry Holmes .
4. WBO-World Boxing Organization- The newest of the four sanctioning bodies, it has been around since the late 80's but did not really begin to get recognized until the late 1990's when champions such as Naseem Hamed and Marco Antonio Barrera and Wladimir Klitschko helped give the organization some credibility.
2.How fights are won
There are similarities on how fights are won in Boxing and MMA. I mean KO's are universal. If you get knocked the hell out it doesnt matter if it is MMA or Boxing your still knocked out. However there are some differences id like to point out.
JD- Judges decision- Pretty much the same as MMA except that all rounds are based on a ten point must system and points can be taken away for low blows, headbutts and the such. Judges usually look for the fighter landing the cleaner shots and not always the guy throwing punches in bunches.
TKO- Technical Knockout- a fighter can be TKO'd if he is knocked down three times in a round
TD-Technical Decision- This is one way of winning a fight in boxing that is very different from MMA. Under the unified Championship rules which all four of the major sanctioning bodies use, if a fight is stopped due to a accidental headbutt before or during the fourth round, the fight is considered a technical draw. If this occurs after the fourth round then the fight will go to the scorecards and whomever is ahead at that time will win a technical decision.(credit for this part goes to straightjab.com)
3.Where to watch the fights.
So you want to watch the fights and are not sure where to turn in order to get your pugilistic satisfaction without having to always shell out for a 40 pay per view to do so. Below ill give you a few networks and their coverage level of boxing
HBO- They have been covering World Championship fights for over 20 years. The fights on this network are usually World title bouts or a showcase for those fighters on the cusp of a World Title Shot. Jim Lampley is their lead play by play man and is probably one of the two or three best boxing analysts in the world IMO. Fighters often appearing on HBO include Roy Jones Jr, Oscar De La Hoya, and The Klitschko brothers
Showtime- They also have been in the fightgame for well over a decade. For many years they were the showcase network for all fighters involved with promoter Don King but they are involved a lot more with other promoters as well now. The production level of Showtime boxing to me is a notch below HBO but they still bring top level fights to their network. Fighters that have appeared on their network include Mike Tyson, Felix Trinidad, Kosta Tszyu and Zab Judah
ESPN/ESPN 2- The only network on basic cable in English that is still fairly involved with boxing. The main boxing series on this family of networks is called Friday Night Fights This series mainly showcase up and coming fighters or rough and tumble club brawlers that make for entertaining TV with the occasional minor world title clash thrown in. Teddy Atlas is one of my favorite color analysts in boxing as he brings a great deal of emotion and a trainers perspective to his analysis of each fight. Fighters that have appeared on FNF include James Toney, Brian Villoria and many others.
Telefutua/Univision- The two Spanish networks have becomed heavily involved with series mainly featuring lightweights over the last few years. The only thing that i really know about fighters on that network is that Oscar De La Hoyas promotional company- Golden Boy Productions- has a lot of his guys showcased there. Maybe someone here who speaks Spanish and follows those networks could help me out a bit with more info?
VERSUS- This network has entered the fray in terms of basic cable boxing coverage over the past two years or so. They are affiliated with Top Rank promotions for the most part and offer fights involving fighters such as Humberto Soto and Hasim Rahman amongst others usually on Thursday evenings. They also provide a series on non fight weeks called "Legends of The Ring" that provides insight and recaps of classic fights from the Top Rank library including fighters such as Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler among many
Well that is gonna do it for right now. Ill add more stuff as i think of it or as it is suggested to me. Hopefully now you know what boxers are striving for in terms of championships, a little better grasp of the rules and where you can check out your favorite fights. . I hope that this guide helps you in your enjoyment of the sport i love so much: The Sweet Science
[B]1.Organizations
Unlike in MMA, where fighters are attached to various organizations, there are no set groups like that in Boxing. However there are many sanctioning bodies, Four of which are considered major, that all fighters are ranked by and aspire to be champions of. I am going to detail each of the four major sanctioning bodies briefly.
1.WBA-World Boxing Association- Based out of Panama, the WBA is the oldest of the major sanctioning bodies having been around since 1962. Its president, Gilberto Mendoza, has been a lightning rod for criticism due to fighters from Latin American nations such as Colombia and Venezuela with questionable opposition achieving high rankings. Past notable WBA champions have included Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya and others too numerous to mention
2. WBC-World Boxing Council - Established in 1963 and based out of Mexico City Mexico. Its president Jose Sulamian has been criticized heavily as well for suspected ranking fixing(especially Benefiting Don King fighters) but he has accomplished some major innovations in boxing. The WBC's medical convention which involves ring doctors from all over the world has helped in establishing new and improved safety guidlines for years. Another innovation that the WBC started was a pension system to help retired boxers long after their in ring days were done. A memorable(maybe not from their perspective) moment in WBC came in 1992 when then WBC Heavyweight Champion Riddick Bowe threw the WBC belt in the garbage rather than defend it against Lennox Lewis.
3.IBF-International Boxing Federation- Started back in 1983 by a man named Bob Lee and based out of New Jersey. Currently an organization that is being run by federal regualtoes due to rankings fixing and other bribery related charges. Its first recognizable champion was Larry Holmes .
4. WBO-World Boxing Organization- The newest of the four sanctioning bodies, it has been around since the late 80's but did not really begin to get recognized until the late 1990's when champions such as Naseem Hamed and Marco Antonio Barrera and Wladimir Klitschko helped give the organization some credibility.
2.How fights are won
There are similarities on how fights are won in Boxing and MMA. I mean KO's are universal. If you get knocked the hell out it doesnt matter if it is MMA or Boxing your still knocked out. However there are some differences id like to point out.
JD- Judges decision- Pretty much the same as MMA except that all rounds are based on a ten point must system and points can be taken away for low blows, headbutts and the such. Judges usually look for the fighter landing the cleaner shots and not always the guy throwing punches in bunches.
TKO- Technical Knockout- a fighter can be TKO'd if he is knocked down three times in a round
TD-Technical Decision- This is one way of winning a fight in boxing that is very different from MMA. Under the unified Championship rules which all four of the major sanctioning bodies use, if a fight is stopped due to a accidental headbutt before or during the fourth round, the fight is considered a technical draw. If this occurs after the fourth round then the fight will go to the scorecards and whomever is ahead at that time will win a technical decision.(credit for this part goes to straightjab.com)
3.Where to watch the fights.
So you want to watch the fights and are not sure where to turn in order to get your pugilistic satisfaction without having to always shell out for a 40 pay per view to do so. Below ill give you a few networks and their coverage level of boxing
HBO- They have been covering World Championship fights for over 20 years. The fights on this network are usually World title bouts or a showcase for those fighters on the cusp of a World Title Shot. Jim Lampley is their lead play by play man and is probably one of the two or three best boxing analysts in the world IMO. Fighters often appearing on HBO include Roy Jones Jr, Oscar De La Hoya, and The Klitschko brothers
Showtime- They also have been in the fightgame for well over a decade. For many years they were the showcase network for all fighters involved with promoter Don King but they are involved a lot more with other promoters as well now. The production level of Showtime boxing to me is a notch below HBO but they still bring top level fights to their network. Fighters that have appeared on their network include Mike Tyson, Felix Trinidad, Kosta Tszyu and Zab Judah
ESPN/ESPN 2- The only network on basic cable in English that is still fairly involved with boxing. The main boxing series on this family of networks is called Friday Night Fights This series mainly showcase up and coming fighters or rough and tumble club brawlers that make for entertaining TV with the occasional minor world title clash thrown in. Teddy Atlas is one of my favorite color analysts in boxing as he brings a great deal of emotion and a trainers perspective to his analysis of each fight. Fighters that have appeared on FNF include James Toney, Brian Villoria and many others.
Telefutua/Univision- The two Spanish networks have becomed heavily involved with series mainly featuring lightweights over the last few years. The only thing that i really know about fighters on that network is that Oscar De La Hoyas promotional company- Golden Boy Productions- has a lot of his guys showcased there. Maybe someone here who speaks Spanish and follows those networks could help me out a bit with more info?
VERSUS- This network has entered the fray in terms of basic cable boxing coverage over the past two years or so. They are affiliated with Top Rank promotions for the most part and offer fights involving fighters such as Humberto Soto and Hasim Rahman amongst others usually on Thursday evenings. They also provide a series on non fight weeks called "Legends of The Ring" that provides insight and recaps of classic fights from the Top Rank library including fighters such as Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler among many
Well that is gonna do it for right now. Ill add more stuff as i think of it or as it is suggested to me. Hopefully now you know what boxers are striving for in terms of championships, a little better grasp of the rules and where you can check out your favorite fights. . I hope that this guide helps you in your enjoyment of the sport i love so much: The Sweet Science