Will Boxing Headgear Become History?

Will amateur boxers no longer wear headgear in the ring? The AP reported on Thursday that the International Boxing Association (AIBA) is giving thought to taking away headgear, once the symbol of amateur boxing, from boxers.

A reform committee of the AIBA recently proposed this and it is currently under review. At the same time, the AIBA is also deliberating on extending rounds from the current two minutes and four rounds to three minutes and three rounds to make amateur boxing more intense.

If the proposals are approved by the committee, changes will be applied as soon as August to some games, but not for this year’s World Boxing Championships and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The AIBA is also set to change the current electronic scoring system after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Currently, scores are tallied up when three out of five judges simultaneously press score buttons. With the changes, each judge will mark separate scores and the final score will be added up after excluding the highest and lowest scores.

bluesky@donga.com