By Dave Cacciatore: I have long been a fan of HBO boxing, from the days of the great Gil Clancy to Naseem Hamed’s dance marathon to the latest edition of 24/7. HBO has a long history of bringing the biggest and best stars to the ring and putting on a premier boxing telecast. However, this does not put HBO beyond reproach and it does not mean that their broadcast could not be greatly improved. If I could play Ross Greenburg for the day this is what I would do.
Get rid of Arm Length
HBO has several unique boxing promotions and this misleading statistic is one of them. Arm length is the distance between the armpit to the end of the fighter’s fist. HBO uses this stat in place of the traditional “reach” statistic, which measures the entire distance across a fighter’s back in addition to what HBO calls arm length. They started using this stat in the Tua versus Rahman rematch several years ago and have stuck with it ever since. While there might be some use to arm length, reach has always been the historical measure used in boxing. Arm length can also lead to some deceiving results like Wladimir Klitschko only having a one and a half inch arm length advantage over Samuel Peter. In terms of reach Klitschko had a four-inch reach advantage. However, after watching Klitschko dominate with his jab and straight right hand, any boxing fan that saw the first fight can attest that the more accurate statistic was reach. The use though of arm length is a venial sin and not that big of a deal in the end. Annoying and not as useful but arm length is not really that prejudicial. It is more about HBO cultivating their cutting edge image but it still should go.
Leave Compubox for the Olympics
If arm length should go because it is misleading, then Compubox should go because for a number of reasons. First, it should go because it is not objective as it is portrayed to be. It relies on some guy to sit ringside just like an Olympic judge and count what he thinks is a punch and what he thinks landed. Further, Compubox has no measure for the quality of a punch other than to classify everything that is not a jab as a power punch. In other words, a Micky Ward left hook and a Paulie Malignaggi left hook would score exactly the same if landed according to Compubox. Second, Compubox scoring can be as crooked as a Gale Van Hoy scorecard. There are too many instances when the promoter’s fighter just happens to coincidentally win a fight according to Compubox that they clearly lost in the ring. Third, Compubox scoring distracts from the four criterion used to score a round. Most boxing fans can probably hear Harold Lederman’s Bronx voice in their sleep ‘clean punching, effective aggression, ring generalship, and defense.’ However, a stat like Compubox creates the impression that judges are counting connects.
Punch Stat only belongs on Nintendo
Punch Stat is this computer-generated outline of a body divided into sections. The subjective data complied in Compubox is now fed into these generalized sections of where some clerk thinks they landed on a fighters body. A left hook to the short ribs, a shot to the solar plexus, and a right hand to the body could all be scored in exactly the same generalized region without distinction. This again creates the perception of objectivity and precision while actually undermining it. Professional boxing is not like the bout between Little Mac and Glass Joe on Punch Out! The blows are real, the power is not easily quantifiable, and small centimeters of distance can make all the difference in the severity of a blow. Just ask any fighter if there is a difference between being hit on the point of the chin or just slightly to the left or right side of the chin, or whether it made a difference if the punch was a right hand or left hook. It is an attempt to distort boxing into the form of the simulacrum that has followed the sport.
Fights are not scored by one Judge
Great respect should be given to Harold Lederman for his knowledge of the squared circle, but he is not the alpha and omega of scoring boxing matches. In fact, he may not even be the best judge in his own family. Regardless, HBO should dump the one unofficial scorer at ringside in favor of a diversity of opinions on the scoring of rounds. This could give the audience a better picture into how a fight is actually scored. It is also less arrogant than portraying one experts boxing opinion as the only authority when it comes to scoring a bout.
Politics and House Fighters
This has become one of the biggest banes in the sport today. The internal business dealings with fighters and promoters are only thinly veiled during a broadcast. It is often apparent very quickly to the audience whom HBO has a business relationship with and whom they want to win their fights. The victim is the integrity of the sport of boxing. HBO’s cheerleading for house fighters is infamous and turns people off from the sport. How many times does Jim Lampley have to say the word “bang” for this to be obvious? Showtime clearly has the superior business model by avoiding these arrangements and taking each fight and fighter on an individual basis.
Without outside alliances, the commentators are much more free to criticize the parties involved. This was evident this past Saturday in the reticence displayed by Max Kellerman in interviewing Devon Alexander after the Andriy Kotelnik fight. Mr. Kellerman who is one of the brightest commentators in boxing, carefully worded questions to Don King’s charge in the post-fight interview. Mr. Kellerman never confronted him directly about the fact that he arguably lost the fight in his hometown. The problem of asking the hard questions has never been an issue for Mr. Kellerman’s colleague Mr. Larry Merchant. And HBO could definitely benefit from his greater appearances in their broadcasts.
Bring back the Heavys
We all know it is a two brother (Vitali and Wladimir), two chickens (Povetkin and Haye), two Nutrisystem candidates (Peter and Arreola), two little guys (Adamek and Chambers), and two leftover hit men from a James Bond movie (Valuev and Chagaev) division right now. But people want to see the heavyweights because people want to see the biggest men in big brawls. This is especially true of the American audience. Even if the two top contenders are afraid to fight the Klitschkos other interesting fights could be made. Valuev versus Arreola would be a fun fight, as would Adamek versus Haye, as would Povetkin versus Peter. Or HBO could give some up and coming fighters like Denis Boytsov and Odlanier Solis some airtime. HBO has no room to bemoan the state of the heavyweight division when they close up their market to it by not putting on fights. By making good fights in the heavyweight division more interest will be generated and momentum will build for reluctant contenders to man up and face the Klitschko brothers.
What’s Wrong with the Round Card Girls?
We are talking about boxing. Men watch boxing and men want to feel like they are at the fights. And when men go to the fights they invariably want to see what the round card girls look like. Sure, they maybe interested in what the corners are saying to the fighter but they are also interested in what color swimsuit the girl holding the round two card is wearing. HBO should know that the vast majority of their audience is praying that Laurence Cole moves out of the way in time so that we can all catch a glimpse. Quit being so prudish, a few seconds in between rounds is only going to give a little flavor especially to some of the dull fights the fans have had to sit through recently.