Short History of Film and Computers

[HomicideHenry]

Edison's Kinetescope September 7th, 1894

In Edison's film studio he dubbed the "Black Maria" which the interior of the building was strung up with black wall paper, so that the images on film could show up clearly, champion 'Gentleman' Jim Corbett was matched against Peter Courtney. In six rounds of this exhibition, Corbett knocked his opponent out. This film could also stand out as possibly the first concept of pay-per-view, as Edison charged five cents per round per person to view the fight.

Jack Johnson vs Jess Willard: Legit or Fixed Controversy?

After Jack Johnson had dropped former champion James J. Jefferies three times in their epic 'Fight of the Century', race riots spread throughout the nation, leaving several hundreds dead and injured. This was the sole reason that for many decades to come, that all boxing films, no matter the division, could not cross state lines for viewing. Many films were lost. In 1915 Havannah, Cuba champion Johnson fought Jess Willard, winner of the 'Great White Hope' tournament. Johnson would later claim that he had thrown the fight, as he was offered a lesser jail sentence if he done so. For many years it was speculated if this was true, but since all fight films could not be moved, it was considered a lost cause to find the film, if it even existed, to determine if it was a fix or not. It wouldn't be until Bill Cayton managed to find an Australian who owned the film and Cayton paid $5,000 for it. The film determined that Johnson had NOT thrown the fight.

Max Schmeling: Thinking Outside the Box

Whenever a fighter had to prepare for his opponents back in the olden times, he had to either watch his opponent fight live at an arena, or have sparring partners who fought similar to his opponent, just to get an idea of what he was up against. Max Schmeling is possibly the first boxer of note, to sincerly use film as a major tool in his training camp. In 1936, at the age of 31, Schmeling knew he was up against alot of odds against Joe Louis, a man who had previously defeated two former champions and was undefeated. At his "advancing" age he took no chances. He asked for every fight film of Joe Louis and constantly watched them for hours, writing notes on paper of his views on Louis. When asked of his upcoming match with Louis, and that if he could win, Schmeling simply replied "I see something." What he saw on film was that Louis dropped his hand when he threw a jab---that one weakness, from a near perfect fighting machine, was all Schmeling needed. He won by KO in 12 rounds.

Instant Replay: Liston vs Clay 2

While I cannot surely say when 'instant replay' had came about, but for sure the fight that has been watched over and over and over again for the last 30 plus years is Clay vs Liston 2. The debate continues still to this day whether it was a phantom punch or that Clay really did land his "anchor punch", and still being viewed as to whether Liston took the fall or was truthfully hurt. Did Nat Fliescher have the right to tell Walcott that Liston had been down for 20 seconds? This fight will always go down as it's most controversial for both these fighters, if not in history.

Computer NCR-315: The Future?

In the 1960's the NCR-315 was the most advanced computer on the planet. Murry Woroner, a Miami fight promoter, had conjured up the idea to have computers determine, based on over 129 different probabilities and on fight records, if boxers from different eras could have beaten eachother. Woroner's computer tournament suggested that Rocky Marciano, the only Heavyweight to retire undefeated, would be the "All-Time Heavyweight Champion." Muhammad Ali aka Cassius Clay and Rocky Marciano were both offered to simulate a special bout between the two, as Woroner was trying to branch out on the television market, since his NCR-315 computer fight radio broad casts did so well.

After doing 75 rounds of sparring, the film, as well as the two men's careers, was fed into the computer. The result was Marciano winning by KO in the 13th round, just as he had done to Walcott all those years before. Despite Ali saying such remarks as "That computer must have been made in Alabama!" the fight was a huge success across the globe. Woroner genuinely believed that the computer would revolutionise the business.

In 1970 however, Woroner and his NCR-315 computer made a vast mistake. When Light Heavyweight Bob Foster turned Heavyweight and was to face Joe Frazier, Woroner, partially as a publicity stunt, had the computer "determine the winner", which said it would be Bob Foster by KO around the 6th round. It was not to be, as Frazier vaporised Foster inside of two rounds, and Woroner became the laughing stalk of boxing.

CompuBox: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

Throughout history, there have been some odd outcomes to fights, some so ridiculous that it gives the sport a black eye. For years, and even still to this day, there have been "Las Vegas Decisions" and "German Decisions" as fighters "lose" by decision, though they were the aggressor and seemed to land the more solid shots. The computer was once again brought into the sport, this time not so much to determine who would win based on their records, but based on punch numbers alone. It first came about in 1985.

CompuBox bases it's analysis on power punches, as well as body punches, jabs, hooks, uppercuts etc that whomever fighter amasses the most solid punches is the winner. Though, the computer is NOT the official judge of the fight, it is taken into consideration.

What Does The Future Hold?

With this great advancement in computers, filmography and mathematics, it wouldn't surprise me none that another Murry Woroner will come into boxing again. This time they will look at each one of those fighters on film, and try to judge their velocity, strength etc all by computer and make computer visuals of these old fighters and put them up against fighters of today---holographic images of the fighters facing off with the men of today. I had to smile once watching an Adidas commercial some years ago, that had Laila Ali face her dad in a boxing match, using stock footage and computer imagery---it looked so real. It wouldnt surprise me if they do it again, but this time far more accurate to the truth, though I believe no computer, nor can any programmer, determine a fighters heart.