Women's Boxing Club responds to allegations
Brittany Crawford
graduate student
As captains of the Women's Boxing Club and judges at this year's Bengal Bouts, we would like to respond to Mr. Bravo's letter to the editor on Tuesday. While Mr. Bravo and Brian Hobbins collaborated to write a retraction, many students have expressed disappointment with the decisions made in the finals of this year's Bengal Bouts. Therefore, we feel it is necessary to clarify the judging process.
Five judges officiate each fight. At any one time, no more than two of those judges are women's boxing captains. The other three judges, some of whom are alumni of the boxing program, are brought in from off campus. All judges sit ringside for a reason.
From such a short distance, we are able to see and count each boxer's scoring blows. The most equitable way to judge any boxing match is to count the number of punches that each boxer legally lands on his opponent. This eliminates any personal biases that a judge may have before or during a bout. For these reasons, we score each bout based on the rules set forth by the U.S. Amateur Boxing Association. The rules and scoring system are clearly explained to all of the boxers at practice just before the tournament.
While it is possible that a judge could "miss a few punches here and there," the team of judges is strategically placed around the entire ring so that the bout can be judged from every angle. If one judge's view is momentarily blocked, the other four judges are still able to accurately score the blows landed.
"The majority of the spectators" in attendance cannot see everything that happens in the ring. What the crowd perceives as "one fighter dominat[ing] the other" is often one boxer throwing sloppy punches.
Boxers often throw a flurry of punches in which only one or a few may legally land on his opponent. Spectators in the bleachers cannot always distinguish between a legally landed punch and a skillfully blocked one. Again, this is why judges have the seats that they do.
Ideally, every bout would result in a unanimous decision. However, as we have mentioned, judges are human and their view may be obstructed at times. Any decision that is unanimous can hardly be questioned, especially by a spectator seated up high in the stands of the JACC. Such a decision demonstrates that every single ringside judge was in agreement regarding the outcome of a match. Any boxer who wins by a unanimous decision can be comfortable with the fact that he out-scored his opponent.
Mr. Bravo "saw the student judges screaming in support for one of the fighters during a fight, a time when they should have been judging." We would like to correct this misunderstanding.
During the fights in which a student is serving as an official judge, that student has no conversation with anyone. Nor does she scream or cheer. All of the student judges take their responsibilities very seriously, and they would not jeopardize the integrity of the tournament by behaving inappropriately. Students who were seen screaming were not judging at the time.
Every year the tournament is criticized for its "bias" towards the men's captains and the returning champions. None of the captains are guaranteed championships, and a few went without them this year. Past captains have graduated without ever winning a championship. Several of the returning champs from prior years did not make it to the finals this year.
These facts suggest that captains and returning champs are not unfairly favored in the tournament — they actually have to win their bouts on merit, just as every other boxer must do.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Bravo believes that the only way a boxer could win a bout "was to knock out their opponent." In reality, the only way to win a bout is to box — to move around the ring, to successfully throw and land combinations and to defend against the punches thrown by an opponent.
In the spirit of the Bengal Bouts, no boxer's goal should be to intentionally hurt another boxer. That would not be a sign of generosity or charity. It wouldn't even be a sign of good sportsmanship. Each boxer who has the courage to endure a season of demanding practices and to step into the ring to help raise money for the people of Bangladesh is a winner. No judge's decision can change that.
Brittany Crawford
graduate student
off-campus
Kari Jerge
junior
Badin Hall
Jessica Stimac
senior
Welsh Family Hall
Women's Boxing Club
March 20, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, March 23, 2001
