2008 Olympic Games Beijing 8.8.08-8.24.08 (with spoilers)

[holeymoley99]

The 1976 Olympics when I was 7 hooked me on them. The U.S.A. had a great team that year in Boxing but really had great performances in other sports as well.

[Canada]

Marijo SIVOLIJA-JELICA (Croatia) vs Farani Tavui (Samoa)

After recieving a standing 8 in the third round, Tavui collapased and had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher, hope he is ok, I didnt see him moving.

[Canada]

Abbos Atoev(Uzbekistan) - Dzhakhon Kurbanov (Tajikistan)

ATOEV IS OUT!! Defending world champ was upset 10-3 by Kurbanov. Kurbanov was very aggresive through the first two rounds, out bullying Atoev. He then used his legs and reach advantage to build on his lead and pull of the upset.

[holeymoley99]

The Olympics put mental pressure on a fighter like nothing else.Some people respond well others do not. Kurbanov now stamps himelf as a serious gold medal contender.

[Canada]

Im still hoping the Samon, Farani Tavui is ok. Ive seen guys collapase like that before and it never ends well. Brings back thoughts of Oscar Diaz and Victor Burgos, if you guys know who Im talking about. Lets hope its not serious.

[Canada]

The Olympics put mental pressure on a fighter like nothing else.Some people respond well others do not. Kurbanov now stamps himelf as a serious gold medal contender.

He was very impersive and made it look easy. He was get the better of Atoev fighting toe to toe and from a distance, showing toughness,speed, and good footwork. Maybe it will be the first of many upsets, who knows

[a87star]

Degale's victory was made more impressive because he beat an experienced guy in Hikal. That was not a upset like some people think.

[emile]

Surprised, but not shocked to see Atoev lose to Kurbanov. As I said in my predictions, Kurbanov might have been a medallist in Chicago but got DQ'd in a fight he was winning. He'll have a rematch with Shynaliyev if they can both get by their next tough opponents.

Surprised by Benchabla getting an RSCOS - would like to see his next bout. Tavui might be fine. A fighter at Chicago also collapsed and looked terrible, but was fine. I think the combo of heat and nerves can take a lot out of guys. Hopefully he'll be fine.

I'm interested by the scoring and what others think. The scoring is definitely being done differently. In Chicago, the judges were clicking anything close, and undoubtedly scored a share of points that didn't meet the criteria.

Negatives:
Obviously a lot of landed punches will not score, which looks bad. No reward for flurries or inside punching.

Positives:
Keeps the scores closer, which perhaps better reflects the actual competition. In Chicago, you had some fairly even fighters and one blew out the other because they got an early lead and just scored and scored. By only counting power shots to the head, you might be rewarding more aggressive fighters instead of pot-shotters, and encouraging work to set up these punches such as jabs and body punching.

[locoxelbox]

Haven´t been able to see many fights but at least saw both russians win. Artayevs right hand knockdown was also nice in a close bout up to that point. Don´t think he´ll handle Korobov though. Also noted the low scores, at least the tournament won´t be ruined by a lot of RSC-OS bouts.

[boxmel]

Negatives:
Obviously a lot of landed punches will not score, which looks bad. No reward for flurries or inside punching.

I'm not sure what you mean by "a lot of landed punches." Please remember that judges might be pushing the buttons at a fast rate but if three of the five don't see the same punch, it won't get "accepted." Flurries are very hard to judge and have never been scored much. In the old manual scoring days, if any points were given, it would be to the boxer who stepped back and threw a punch first. IF a judge can see an inside punch, the button will be pushed. Inside punches are not easily seen - arms in the way, backs to judges, etc. I thought, for instance, that the scoring was very fair in Estrada's bout. It was easy to determine the scoring blows and they popped up on the scoring quite nicely.

From a NBC report, ringside physician Dr. Charles Butler believed that Tavui's injuries weren't serious but he exercised caution by sending the boxer to a hospital for evaluation and a CT scan. Butler was quoted as saying he believed the boxer will recover fully but he couldn't take the chance of sending him mome.

[holeymoley99]

Again never underestimate the veterens who have been on the biggest stage with pressure and come through before. Every other tournament pales in comparison. Expierence with a good draw = Olympic success.

Georgiev and Rachimov have very favorable draws, as much as I like Javier Molina it would be a tall order for him to upset Boris right out of the gate. Boris is only 25 and I dont think shot at all. Saunders is talented and had a good World's but not much other then that to hang his hat on. Brad is no Gavin to be sure.

Rachimov has no one of note in is his half so if he performs even close to his ability he is in the finals. If he were in the other bracket I wouldnt like his chances nearly as much. In essence he needs to only be 100% for that 1 bout which is much easier to do.

Artayev/Korobov is one bout everyone who follows the sport is interested in watching for sure. Korobov is as tough as they come while Artayev is not only the defending
Olympic champion but the Val Barker award winner. Hard to go against him when it really counts. Age isnt a factor in this one as they are nearly the same age,size could be but now Artayev as been at this weight awhile and should have adjusted.

[holeymoley99]

Prince Octopus Dzanie a 4'7 126 lber from Ghana ? Anyone seen this kid fight, he starts of and likely finishes off vs Cuban Idel Torriente. Giving up 14 inches is tough.

[Kolya]

I didn't think the judges did such a bang up job in the Correa-Fletcher match. They were clicking away like crazy for the Cuban and practically ignoring the Aussie.

[therealPunchDrunk]

Correa was clearly getting the better of Fletcher in pretty much every aspect of boxing. He was in another class, and I think the points ratio was spot on (by that I mean that both fighters didn't get every punch they landed counted, but they did get the same percentage of their actual hits registered).

[emile]

Prince Octopus Dzanie a 4'7 126 lber from Ghana ? Anyone seen this kid fight, he starts of and likely finishes off vs Cuban Idel Torriente. Giving up 14 inches is tough.

Several of the Ghanaian fighters are listed as sub 5'0, so I think it's a mistake.

[emile]

Negatives:
Obviously a lot of landed punches will not score, which looks bad. No reward for flurries or inside punching.

I'm not sure what you mean by "a lot of landed punches." Please remember that judges might be pushing the buttons at a fast rate but if three of the five don't see the same punch, it won't get "accepted."

Well, obviously I understand the scoring and you understand the scoring, but Teddy and Papa (who did suggest once that punches were landing outside the scoring area) do not. Teddy has already suggested that the scoring is fixed and they are harping on it every fight. There are some missed scoring punches, because of blocked judges or whatever, and they will show them to back themselves up.

Right or wrong, perception matters. And I think generally people react better to seeing a lot of points, even though it makes the bouts more uneven. For the reasons I stated above, I'm happy enough with the scoring so far.

[boxmel]

Well, obviously I understand the scoring and you understand the scoring,

True. 8)

but Teddy and Papa (who did suggest once that punches were landing outside the scoring area) do not.

So they've started being negative about the scoring......I was hoping it would be different this year and am glad I didn't get my hopes up. I'm not an Atlas fan any way - but if these guys even began to understand, or even learn about, computer scoring they might lighten up - and, then again, probably not.

Teddy has already suggested that the scoring is fixed and they are harping on it every fight.

No kidding! Good thing I have a mute button on my remote. That is so sad. It takes away from the boxing and the athletes and makes the watching public focus on the "bad" things. I'll have to watch on of my tapes and see how he figures out the scoring is "fixed."

There are some missed scoring punches, because of blocked judges or whatever, and they will show them to back themselves up.

Oh, BS! I think I'll have a headache the rest of the tournament.

Right or wrong, perception matters. And I think generally people react better to seeing a lot of points, even though it makes the bouts more uneven.

I don't believe anyone, AIBA or IOC, would tell the judges to rack up points. Just to make the viewing public happy? Just to satisfy Teddy and Bob? It really doesn't matter how many punches you tally up to win - it matters that you do.

For the reasons I stated above, I'm happy enough with the scoring so far.

Well - that's two of us.

[Kolya]

It's all of them, Mel; Teddy, Bob, and Jim Grey. I've never seen so many people who don't know what they hell they're talking about act like they do.

[boxmel]

I was just replaying some of today's bouts (DVR's are wonderful!). Correa is typical Cuban - hit and run with fast hands. He had Fletcher stymied.

Teddy just doesn't understand how a boxer can only get 6 points when punches are obviously being thrown? Some one needs to explain "accepted" score vs. "raw" score - that might help some. And, yes, he's right. A judge could just not push a button but, Teddy, the judge DOES leave fingerprints - on an end-of-bout report that shows he isn't pushing the buttons. The jury also sees the monitor where both raw and accepted scores are shown (those are the three guys with the screens) - they watch and monitor the scoring on every bout.

I have never liked Jim Grey and if Teddy says "physicality" one more time, I'm liable to throw up!

[generic screen name]

Marijo SIVOLIJA-JELICA (Croatia) vs Farani Tavui (Samoa)

After recieving a standing 8 in the third round, Tavui collapased and had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher, hope he is ok, I didnt see him moving.

Any reports on Tavui??

[boxmel]

From a NBC report, ringside physician Dr. Charles Butler believed that Tavui's injuries weren't serious but he exercised caution by sending the boxer to a hospital for evaluation and a CT scan. Butler was quoted as saying he believed the boxer will recover fully but he couldn't take the chance of sending him home.

He's fine.

[generic screen name]

whew! good news. I wouldn't like to see a guy go all the way to the Olympics suffer like that!

Oh yeah, Jim Grey has always sucked!

[Kolya]

Jim Grey is an ass. Someone needs to fire this shmuck.

[a87star]

Carvahlo/Colin was a nice little scrap. The scoring system is perfectly fine. Just ignore the buffoons announcing

P.S. Jim Grey is a douchebag. He was completely rude to the Colin camp during the interview.

[rmz]

Does anyone have a sopcast or stream link they can PM me? Thanks.