The "12th Round Syndrome"

[TitoFan]

Let me try another way of looking at it. 12th round syndrome is one of boxing's great gifts to the fans.

In most every other sport? Once one gets far behind, it really is over. Down 28-0 in the second half to a good football (the one where you use your whole body) team? Game is over.

Down 3-0 to a good football (the one where one doesn't use the whole body) team? The game is over.

Behind by five yards with ten yards to go in the 100? No shot.

But in boxing? The whole past can be erased with a single punch, a single flurry, a little luck, a single mistake. It really is not over until it is over.

Anybody buying that?

Nice try, and good comparisons. However, football (the contact kind) HAS had it's share of miraculous comebacks. And yeah, if the margin is too great, the last few minutes of the game are boring. But that doesn't mean that all of a sudden the losing team starts making plays they weren't making before. Well... let me take that back. The defense might go into a "prevent" mode, in which case the offense can make tons of yardage. But no matter.

Point is.... why wait until the final three minutes to do something you could've (and should've) been doing the whole fight long? Are judges (and fans) supposed to be THAT gullible?

[Howlin Mad Missy]

you're not sure how much you've got left to give till you get there.


Evil training thing a coach used to do. Tell you it was your last round on the bags, sparring etc. So people had that final push! Only to be told 'one more'! Surprising how much extra you can bring.

[captainanddew]

I blame the fighter and the trainer in many fights. I want a trainer to show urgency by the middle rounds. I want the trainer to tell his fighter he needs a KO by the 10th round if that is likely the case. Get on him to leave it out there. Too often you watch a fight and the trainer is acting like the fight is even when everyone knows a decision is out of the question (unless you are PW).

[TitoFan]

you're not sure how much you've got left to give till you get there.


Evil training thing a coach used to do. Tell you it was your last round on the bags, sparring etc. So people had that final push! Only to be told 'one more'! Surprising how much extra you can bring.

You might be on to something here.

Naww, just kidding... I know this technique wouldn't fly in real fights (not that I wouldn't want to try it). But what other radical measure could be taken to force the fighters not to wait until the 12th round to actually fight? Maybe bring back the failed "live scoring", where the fighters know the score at key points during the fight. I know it didn't work then, but maybe with some sort of twist. Ah, what the hell.

Just saying...

[marbleheadmaui]

you're not sure how much you've got left to give till you get there.


Evil training thing a coach used to do. Tell you it was your last round on the bags, sparring etc. So people had that final push! Only to be told 'one more'! Surprising how much extra you can bring.

You might be on to something here.

Naww, just kidding... I know this technique wouldn't fly in real fights (not that I wouldn't want to try it). But what other radical measure could be taken to force the fighters not to wait until the 12th round to actually fight? Maybe bring back the failed "live scoring", where the fighters know the score at key points during the fight. I know it didn't work then, but maybe with some sort of twist. Ah, what the hell.

Just saying...

Open scoring is always a terrible idea if you want more action. The fighter who is ahead gets on his bike and a guy doing that is almost impossible to be effective against.

Want a radical solution? Make each succeeding round more valuable in terms of points. That makes the fighter always look ahead to winning the next round because he can cut a gap drastically.

[TitoFan]

you're not sure how much you've got left to give till you get there.


Evil training thing a coach used to do. Tell you it was your last round on the bags, sparring etc. So people had that final push! Only to be told 'one more'! Surprising how much extra you can bring.

You might be on to something here.

Naww, just kidding... I know this technique wouldn't fly in real fights (not that I wouldn't want to try it). But what other radical measure could be taken to force the fighters not to wait until the 12th round to actually fight? Maybe bring back the failed "live scoring", where the fighters know the score at key points during the fight. I know it didn't work then, but maybe with some sort of twist. Ah, what the hell.

Just saying...

Open scoring is always a terrible idea if you want more action. The fighter who is ahead gets on his bike and a guy doing that is almost impossible to be effective against.

Want a radical solution? Make each succeeding round more valuable in terms of points. That makes the fighter always look ahead to winning the next round because he can cut a gap drastically.

Now THAT'S the spirit.

Great ideas often come from thinking outside the box. It may or may not work, but wouldn't it be worth a try? The assignment of points per round would probably have to be tweaked a little bit here and there.... but the intent is good.

[marbleheadmaui]

you're not sure how much you've got left to give till you get there.


Evil training thing a coach used to do. Tell you it was your last round on the bags, sparring etc. So people had that final push! Only to be told 'one more'! Surprising how much extra you can bring.

You might be on to something here.

Naww, just kidding... I know this technique wouldn't fly in real fights (not that I wouldn't want to try it). But what other radical measure could be taken to force the fighters not to wait until the 12th round to actually fight? Maybe bring back the failed "live scoring", where the fighters know the score at key points during the fight. I know it didn't work then, but maybe with some sort of twist. Ah, what the hell.

Just saying...

Open scoring is always a terrible idea if you want more action. The fighter who is ahead gets on his bike and a guy doing that is almost impossible to be effective against.

Want a radical solution? Make each succeeding round more valuable in terms of points. That makes the fighter always look ahead to winning the next round because he can cut a gap drastically.

Now THAT'S the spirit.

Great ideas often come from thinking outside the box. It may or may not work, but wouldn't it be worth a try? The assignment of points per round would probably have to be tweaked a little bit here and there.... but the intent is good.

OK here's an even more strange one. Roll dice or spin a wheel between rounds to determine how many points the next round is worth? Wheel of Fortune Boxing? Then a fighter has NO WAY to calculate just how far ahead or behind he really is. Of course it also runs the risk of low point rounds being stinkers and the last round not being valuable enough to have a guy behind win by decision...though I guess that is no worse than where we often are now.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

you're not sure how much you've got left to give till you get there.


Evil training thing a coach used to do. Tell you it was your last round on the bags, sparring etc. So people had that final push! Only to be told 'one more'! Surprising how much extra you can bring.

You might be on to something here.

Naww, just kidding... I know this technique wouldn't fly in real fights (not that I wouldn't want to try it). But what other radical measure could be taken to force the fighters not to wait until the 12th round to actually fight? Maybe bring back the failed "live scoring", where the fighters know the score at key points during the fight. I know it didn't work then, but maybe with some sort of twist. Ah, what the hell.

Just saying...

If you're expecting to work for a certain length of time you pace it even if you think you're working flat out hence there is often more left in the tank than you think = you need a ko in the last round = guy comes out swinging

[marbleheadmaui]

Let me try another way of looking at it. 12th round syndrome is one of boxing's great gifts to the fans.

In most every other sport? Once one gets far behind, it really is over. Down 28-0 in the second half to a good football (the one where you use your whole body) team? Game is over.

Down 3-0 to a good football (the one where one doesn't use the whole body) team? The game is over.

Behind by five yards with ten yards to go in the 100? No shot.

But in boxing? The whole past can be erased with a single punch, a single flurry, a little luck, a single mistake. It really is not over until it is over.

Anybody buying that?

Nice try, and good comparisons. However, football (the contact kind) HAS had it's share of miraculous comebacks. And yeah, if the margin is too great, the last few minutes of the game are boring. But that doesn't mean that all of a sudden the losing team starts making plays they weren't making before. Well... let me take that back. The defense might go into a "prevent" mode, in which case the offense can make tons of yardage. But no matter.

Point is.... why wait until the final three minutes to do something you could've (and should've) been doing the whole fight long? Are judges (and fans) supposed to be THAT gullible?

I didn't think anybody'd buy it

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

I kinda love it and hate it. They're not all the same.

You often see particularly tactical battles ending with both guys basically purging all their energy in the 12th, which I don't mind (infact I quite like) but there are some fights where it goes way beyond tactical and the fighter(s) are just plain cautious and so then it just appears that suddenly a degree (very rarely most) of that caution is lost for the final 3 minutes. Which definitely sucks because indeed as TitoFan said ''If you had it in you for the last round, you should have brought it out BEFORE then''

Of course then there are the real-deal big 12-rounders where fighters literally FIND the energy after an exhausting and gruelling battle.

[TitoFan]

I kinda love it and hate it. They're not all the same.

You often see particularly tactical battles ending with both guys basically purging all their energy in the 12th, which I don't mind (infact I quite like) but there are some fights where it goes way beyond tactical and the fighter(s) are just plain cautious and so then it just appears that suddenly a degree (very rarely most) of that caution is lost for the final 3 minutes. Which definitely sucks because indeed as TitoFan said ''If you had it in you for the last round, you should have brought it out BEFORE then''

Of course then there are the real-deal big 12-rounders where fighters literally FIND the energy after an exhausting and gruelling battle.

Holmes-Norton comes to mind.