CWG 2014: No more headgear for male boxers

Male boxers at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will fight without headgear under a pro-style 10-point scoring system, as part of rule changes made by the sport’s governing body last year, the Games Information network reported on Tuesday.

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) removed the use of protective headgear, adopted before the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.

The changes were made in an effort to modernise and progress the amateur sport, and to align it with professional fighting.

The 10-point scoring system replaces the much-criticised computer punch-count systems, implemented after the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Each fight will be scored by five ringside judges, with the traditional 10-9 or 10-8 counts familiar to fans of professional boxing.

AIBA has dropped the word “amateur” from its title and competitions, as it continues its effort, led by President Dr Wu Ching Kuo, to make the sport more appealing to young boxers seeking professional careers.

Its new professional boxing ventures, the already established team-based World Series of Boxing, and the individual APB Boxing, due to be launched later this year, aim to allow professional boxers to maintain Olympic eligibility.

AIBA has cited medical studies that suggest fighting without headguards will minimise concussions, although women and younger fighters will still wear the protective gear.

AIBA’s executive committee unanimously voted to add head guards to amateur competition in April 1984, and they stayed in place through eight straight Olympics.

But the headgear has long been criticised for diffusing the impact of a blow and allowing fighters to continue sustaining more head shots for a longer stretch of time.