The WBC is exploring the possibility of remote judging to limit the number of onsite personnel when live boxing cards resume.
The idea is understandable. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman and Co. want to limit person-to-person contact as much as possible for obvious reasons amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Makes perfect sense from a medical standpoint.
That said, this isn’t a good idea from a boxing standpoint.
Judges simply can’t score fights effectively from a remote location. It’s difficult enough at ringside to determine which punches land and the damage they inflict in the fast-paced sport. It’s next to impossible to do it adequately watching on a screen.
Judges must be at ringside to pick up on nuances, to hear the sounds of punches landing, to see facial expressions up close, to see how legs react to punches taken and a lot more. This information can be crucial in determining what is happening in the ring.
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Also, judges at ringside are able to see the action without the filter of a camera, through which fans watching on television must view a fight. That means they see things more clearly.
I’ve seen hundreds of fights from ringside, some of which I’ve re-watched on television. If you’ve done the same, then you know that it’s different experience. Again, you see and feel things on site that you simply can’t see and feel at home.
And then there’s the risk of technical difficulties. If judges scoring a live fight suddenly lose their feed, then what? We have a big problem.
What about the danger of on-site judges contracting the virus? Of course, that’s a legitimate question.
First, all precautions would be taken. That includes testing everyone involved in the production, including the fighters. Second, the judges, who are often sprayed by bodily fluids, would wear protective gear. That can be limited to masks and gloves or more elaborate protective gear.
To be clear, no one in their right mind would suggest that judges or anyone else be placed in a compromising position in terms of their health. That’s where the precautions come in.
And the answer to this dilemma certainly isn’t to hinder the ability of a judge to do his or her job effectively. If you’re not comfortable having judges at ringside under any circumstances, then it’s best not to restart the sport at this time.
Scoring cannot be compromised.