Fighting For Fun

I was in Chicago earlier this week, where the World Boxing Championships are being held. On Tuesday night we went along to check out the action. It was a load of fun. This competition is the first opportunity for the world's best amateur boxers to qualify for the Beijing Olympics next year. Said Rachidi of Morrocco was rather happy about making it after beating Bosko Draskovic of Montenegro on points. There was a large and rowdy Eastern European contingent in the crowd who felt their man was robbed.

Fights are 4 two-minute rounds. In pro boxing, you win a round, usually 10-9, but in amateur boxing, every punch can count and a fight can turn quickly. Still, once a fighter gets too far behind, his only hope is to go for a knockout. Between rounds trainers often wave wet towels in the face of their fighters to cool them down, probably a more productive use of the minute of rest than offering sage advice such as "hit him" and "stop letting him hit you"

The fights are intense, only the small white part of the glove scores a point, a judge who thinks a punch landed pushes a button and if all 5 ringside judges agree the score goes up. Stephen Simmons of Scotland led for his entire fight against Milorad Gajovic of Montenegro before a spirited fightback in the last round and a couple of hard blows that didn't meet much resistance led the referee to stop the fight with 14 seconds left and award it to Gajovic. I thought Simmons could have held on as he still had a 3 point lead, but I suppose the refs should err on the side of caution. Two fights later Ihab Al Matbouli of Jordan went down hard after taking a few heavy blows in his fight and was stretchered out of the ring. He spent a night in hospital, but was back with his team the next day.

A very enjoyable evening all in all. Well worth checking out if you get the chance.