Do people REALLY do this?

[Kev]

You hear it all the time on these boards, people claiming that they turn off the sound when watching fights to avoid hearing the bias.

But do they really? I mean, really?

I can't imagine getting any enjoyment whatsoever out of watching a fight in absolute silence.

And even if you did watch it that way, how do you really think it makes it more accurate to totally switch off one of your main senses?

It's lunacy imo, turn off the sound and you lose 50% of the information available to you, I'm not talking about the commentators, but the sound of the punches, the atmosphere and feelings of the boxers.

If your ears pop you suddenly feel detached from the world, like it's less real. How can watching a fight in silence bring you closer to the purity of the action?

It's fuking ridiculous, and I bet nobody actually does it. Sitting in silence watching a fight in mute, come on really, nobody does that

[killersheep]

The only time I have the sound off is when there's a fight on TV and I'm streaming a second on my computer, I still have the TV volume on though.

[amat]

When I do RBRs I HAVE to tune out the sound or I find myself literally stuck.

[CutMeMick]

I have a handful of fights where they have no sound so I have no choice. Some because they are really old fights and others because of a bad upload but since I haven't found good replacements I still have them.

So sometimes I have no choice but to watch them without sound.

I did the NO sound on several occasions years ago. I don't do it anymore as with time I've learned not to let commentators influence me on the way a fight is going.

Example this past Sat. I didn't think Pavlik won 1 or 2 of those rounds where Emmanuel Steward felt he did and Emmanuel throughout those rounds emphasized on anything Pavlik did as did Lamps.
Still I didn't let that influence my scoring.

Been watching boxing for far to long now to let them dictate to me how the fight is going. I just view commentators now as sound effects to a movie. They are there to build up and add excitement but don't make the movie what it is.

[Dizaster]

Not in a million years would I bother turning down the fight.. Biased or not, good commentating makes a fight a lot more interesting... And if their bias is completely one sided, it's usually really obvious and you can have a bit of a laugh at it....

I download a fight the other day and the commentating was in chinese and it drove me insane, as well as took about 80% of the excitement out of the fight for me... And just writing that line, I realise how much a part of the entertainment of a fight that the commentating is...

HBO is my favorite by far.. If it's not HBO, I feel like i'm missing out on something.. They are really the most tied into the fighters and their stories, and they bring all that into the fight and just make it that much more of an event to watch...

Although, I guess I understand how if people are REALLY big on scoring the fight themselves, they might turn it down so they can 100% analyze it on their own without any outside input to affect their judgement... But i'm personally not fussed with that, and most of the time commentators aren't that bad.. You can often hear them rooting for a certain fighter, but I think they are generally fair with their call/analysis... It's often the f'n judges who stink up scoring and somehow distort a fight one way which clearly went another..

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

If im re-watching a fight... I do it most times to be honest. I actually like peace quiet if im trying to score a fight, or reeeeeaaaaaalllly get a good look at what is going on.

If i'm watching the fight live, then that's different, im all for the atmosphere.

[rjj tszyu]

Not me. I have a mind of my own and if I disagree with what the commentators are saying (Jim Watt is on my mind right now) I just shout at the TV calling them fucking retards and so on. But to me you need the sound to get the full feel of the fight.

[Cerberus]

I only turn the sound off if I am analyzing the fight closely, and this is only cause I am still very green at all of this

[Taeth]

I end up watching a lot of fights without sound simply because I have them on portable devices/my phone and when I am in a work situation or at a place where its inappropriate to have the sound on I watch it in silent mode.

I think silent mode lets you see more of whats happening, I think the sound of the punches can often be misleading and same with the cheering of the crowd which having been at fights is almost always uncalculated. Also the commentating makes me mad often because of their ineptitude for seeing what's going on, its nice when you are seeing a fight live, but mostly its just annoying to listen to guys who speak just, or so it seems, to hear themselves speak.

[Cressa121]

I can't turn the sound down when I'm watching fights, it sucks some of the entertainment value out of it for me. I can see why some people would if they're big on scoring the fight themselves, but I prefer to just abuse the commentators if I don't agree with what they're saying

[JazMerkin]

I've never watched a fight live with no commentary, although when I re-score fights, I usually do it without the comms. I also think that no matter who we are, the commentary does make a difference on how we score fights even if its only slight.

Pretty much no one in Germany watching on national TV had Valuev beating Haye, they and those in the stadium were all pretty unanimous that Haye had won a clear, close decision. Those watching in the UK or via a SkySports stream were all going on about how Haye didn't deserve the win. Why? Jim Watt.

Similar things can be seen with a number of Oscar De La Hoya fights, where HBO were always 'favourable' to him, particularly the Mayweather & Mosley fights.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

OMG Jim Watt does my fekin nut in!!! Now he is one Miseranle Kunt

''He is looking really negative Ian... He's not doing the things he's supposed to be doing Ian... This is a pooour performance Ian''.

That's all he ever says!!!

[HattonTheHammer]

Ive always done it

Especially with fights on showtime. They can convince you very easily that the man on the backfoot is somehow in control of the fight. I even go the extreme lengths of turning away when HBO`s ledermans scorecard pops up to avoid being swayed in any way

Im almost always superior to the commentary team in attendance because they have the domino effect of all agreeing on a scenario

[mnmc10]

i dont turn the sound off but i dont watch fights with filipino commentators. heck i even watched one fight of pac with chinese commentators.

when a filipino boxer is not involved then i have no prob with biased commentators.

[johnmaff36]

If im re-watching a fight... I do it most times to be honest. I actually like peace quiet if im trying to score a fight, or reeeeeaaaaaalllly get a good look at what is going on.

If i'm watching the fight live, then that's different, im all for the atmosphere.

Thats exactly what i do mate. only if im re-watching to score myself