Should Women Fight 3-Minute Rounds?

[stevieO]

Several female boxers have said they'd like to fight three-minute rounds, the same as their male counterparts, rather than the current two-minutes duration.

What's the general opinion here?

[gilgamesh]

I mean in fairness to them as Athletes, yes. The rules are the same, the length of the round should be the same.

That being said In my personal opinion as a fan who doesn't even wanna see the fights as they are 95% of the time. I hate the idea of watching to watch an even longer Women's Boxing match when I'm just waiting for it to end.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I mean in fairness to them as Athletes, yes. The rules are the same, the length of the round should be the same.

That being said In my personal opinion as a fan who doesn't even wanna see the fights as they are 95% of the time. I hate the idea of watching to watch an even longer Women's Boxing match when I'm just waiting for it to end.

it would only benefit some.

Some are not strong enough for a KO.

But boxers like Shields, Taylor, Serrano would have more KO wins if it was 3 mins.

[1150004]

That being said In my personal opinion as a fan who doesn't even wanna see the fights as they are 95% of the time. I hate the idea of watching to watch an even longer Women's Boxing match when I'm just waiting for it to end.

Yes

[RScarf1]

I think it should be 3-minute rounds and also 12 rounds for world title fights instead of 10. It is not a surprise that Katie Taylor did not want to do that against Amanda Serrano. She surely would have lost and probably would have been stopped. I scored it 8 rounds to 2 in favor of Serrano, but two of the judges were biased in my opinion. I thought Taylor won the last two rounds because of work rate and she appeared to be exhausted after the fight. One advantage for 3-minute rounds would be the money increasing because they would be scheduled to fight longer. I think that would bring better athletes to women's boxing.

[Perseus]

I'm ok with 10 rounds and 2 minutes.

[pilight]

I'd prefer three minute rounds.

10 rounds is fine. The men used to do that sometimes. Both Dempsey-Tunney fights were 10 rounds.

[Ruthless-RKO]

one thing i like about the 2 min 10 rounds is that the women fights go quick.

But this is not the case when two of the best go at it..

eg. Taylor- Serrano or Shields-Marshall. Then they seem to end quick.

[HomicideHenry]

I think it was initially started because of this notion that the longer the rounds are the higher the probability for injury and brain damage, but I think the shorter the action is the more it forces the fighters to come out guns blazing like a tough man contest which increases the likelihood of damage.

I wholeheartedly believe that many women would benefit from fighting three minute rounds instead of 2 minutes, because let's be honest in the gym I guarantee they train 3 minute rounds not 2 minutes. The Taylor-Serrano match I think was quite eye opening where you had a woman who clearly would have benefited had the rounds been 3 minutes (Serrano).

Boxing is boxing don't treat the athletes any differently from one another. Don't make the championship bouts 10 or 11 rounds either that's just nonsensical. These 2 minute or 1 minute round bouts should only happen in Semi-Pro or tough man contest events.

[RScarf1]

When I ran cross country in high school, the girls races were 2 miles and the boys were 3 miles. I didn't know why and I still don't know. Now, the girls and boys run the same distance which is 5 kilometers (5K is 3.1 miles). The boys and girls don't race each other. They are in separate 5K races. This is in Florida and other states may be different.

[Perseus]

When I ran cross country in high school, the girls races were 2 miles and the boys were 3 miles. I didn't know why and I still don't know. Now, the girls and boys run the same distance which is 5 kilometers (5K is 3.1 miles). The boys and girls don't race each other. They are in separate 5K races. This is in Florida and other states may be different.

How long ago was that?

I am 54, when I ran cross country in the 1980s boys and girls were both running 3.1 miles. This was in Ohio. Boys and girls did not and do not race each other.

[RScarf1]

When I ran cross country in high school, the girls races were 2 miles and the boys were 3 miles. I didn't know why and I still don't know. Now, the girls and boys run the same distance which is 5 kilometers (5K is 3.1 miles). The boys and girls don't race each other. They are in separate 5K races. This is in Florida and other states may be different.

How long ago was that?

I am 54, when I ran cross country in the 1980s boys and girls were both running 3.1 miles. This was in Ohio. Boys and girls did not and do not race each other.

My senior year was 1988-1989. I ran track too and that sport also used yards and miles instead of meters in Florida at the time. The longest distance was 2 miles. That was a girls and boys event, separately of course. The girls could run the same distance in track as the boys, but not in cross country.

[stevieO]

I think it was initially started because of this notion that the longer the rounds are the higher the probability for injury and brain damage, but I think the shorter the action is the more it forces the fighters to come out guns blazing like a tough man contest which increases the likelihood of damage.

Very interesting observation.

I remember reading an interview with a male boxing trainer (can't remember which one) a few years ago, in which he referred to women boxers as "fighting like animals". He meant this as a compliment to their all-out aggressive approach.

Would a change to 3-minute rounds produce less ferocious action as women paced themselves better? If it did there would probably be calls to return to two minutes per round, where hard-hitting brutality is guaranteed.

[HomicideHenry]

I think it was initially started because of this notion that the longer the rounds are the higher the probability for injury and brain damage, but I think the shorter the action is the more it forces the fighters to come out guns blazing like a tough man contest which increases the likelihood of damage.

Very interesting observation.

I remember reading an interview with a male boxing trainer (can't remember which one) a few years ago, in which he referred to women boxers as "fighting like animals". He meant this as a compliment to their all-out aggressive approach.

Would a change to 3-minute rounds produce less ferocious action as women paced themselves better? If it did there would probably be calls to return to two minutes per round, where hard-hitting brutality is guaranteed.

It would certainly give the women time to rest a bit in the rounds like the men do. In a way I'm reminded of when prizefighter was all the rage with three round matches, and it basically forced the competitors to swing for the fences because every minute counted when you have fights that are that short.

There's been much literature on the subject of brain injuries and deaths correlating with gloves getting bigger over time as well as fights getting shorter over time. For example punch drunk syndrome was something virtually unheard of at the turn of the 20th century even though boxing had been around for hundreds of years prior to the creation of 3 minute rounds and gloved fists.

When the fights are shorter and the rounds are shorter it forces the combatants to fight at a harder and faster pace where power punches are unloaded at a more frequent rate. This increases the likelihood of brain damage or deaths.

I'm reminded of a video that used to be out on YouTube with Lenny McLean talking about bare fists versus boxing gloves, where you can hit somebody all day long as hard as you wanted with gloves whereas back in the bare knuckle era you had to be very particular with your shots and you didn't throw as many as you would today because you would risk breaking your fingers and your hands.

Crazy as it sounds I think if the rounds were increased in time that would actually be to the benefit of the overall health of boxers than these shorter round fights.

I'm reminded of how professional wrestling matches used to be judged back in the old days where if you had a 60 Minute time limit every 20 minutes or so you had a panel of judges score who they thought won that particular segment of the fight.

True it was all staged, at least after the 1920s anyways, but I think a similar concept could be adopted into boxing if only some organization was put together with those rules in mind.

[Perseus]

So you guys would rather see fewer punches thrown in boxing matches?

More standing around staring at each other would be an improvement?

[Ruthless-RKO]

So you guys would rather see fewer punches thrown in boxing matches?

More standing around staring at each other would be an improvement?

you're saying there's more urgency if its 2 mins.. where-as 3 mins, they just spend a minute staring.

[RScarf1]

The women have the stamina to fight 3-minute rounds because they spar and train for 3-minute rounds. There would be more knockouts if the rounds were longer. If 2-minute rounds are really more exciting, then let's have the men do it.

[Perseus]

The women have the stamina to fight 3-minute rounds because they spar and train for 3-minute rounds. There would be more knockouts if the rounds were longer. If 2-minute rounds are really more exciting, then let's have the men do it.

I wouldn't object to men doing two minute rounds
It's not about stamina, that's the fighter's problem not yours or mine.

It's about the boxing being entertaining enough to be worth my time.
In recent times the women with their 2 minute, 10 round fights are worth my time more often than the men's boxing.
Plus the best women actually fight each other on a regular basis vs posting garbage on social media for years on end and knocking out no-hopers between the Twitter spats.

[RScarf1]

I wouldn't object to men doing two minute rounds
It's not about stamina, that's the fighter's problem not yours or mine.

It's about the boxing being entertaining enough to be worth my time.
In recent times the women with their 2 minute, 10 round fights are worth my time more often than the men's boxing.
Plus the best women actually fight each other on a regular basis vs posting garbage on social media for years on end and knocking out no-hopers between the Twitter spats.

I agree. The top talent in women's boxing is fighting each other and unifying the titles. That is not happening as much lately with the men.

[stevieO]

So when the poll closed yesterday there was a 73%-27% majority in favour of extending women's rounds to three minutes.

Thanks for the feedback.

[skanksta]

Of course they should. Missed the poll.

[Noxy]

No

[damage]

Surely it's demeaning to women to treat them differently to the men.

[joshj909]

[RScarf1]

Katie Taylor will never agree to 12x3 minute rounds, especially against the elite. If the Serrano fight was 12x3, Taylor would have been stopped.