By Gerardo Granados: I was asked if it is possible to improve competition or increase the tempo of the fight and action performance during a round by reducing the size of the ring.
It is true that to improve changes must be made, but is it viable to shrink the ring? How would this affect the performance of professional boxers and the referee inside of it? Is it safe? A ring used in a world title fight (WBO) must measure not less than 18 feet (5.486 m) nor more than 24 feet (7.315 m) per side of the rope and the floor of the ring must not extend less than 18 inches (457.2) beyond the ropes. According to AIBA the ring must measure minimum 16 feet (4.90 m) and maximum size of 20 feet (6.10 m) “inside the line of the ropes”; and on international championships the ring size must be 20 feet square (6.10 m). There must be small differences between all the boxing organizations but in general rings are all about the same size.
In the MLB the ball used to play have changed to improve the performance of the player and to make more attractive the sport to the audience. FIFA has allowed that soccer ball manufacturers to introduce innovations on the ball as it has been done in the tennis shoes that use high tech to improve the control of the ball. Professional Bull Riders (PBR) has applied modifications to his rules, the NBA and major leagues around the world as well. All of this has been done to improve the quality of the sport for the benefit of the viewers, to obtain a major rating, and of course to obtain more profit. So if professional boxing is a business too, why not try to innovate and to improve it?
This is only an idea, it must sound crazy or stupid for many, but before reject it, why not give it a thought and try to adequate it or help to improve the competition between boxers inside the ring. This is not the “answer” to improve professional boxing it is only a suggestion. Of course it must be proven with all due precaution measures to prevent any unwanted accidents.
Instead of the usual measures, lets regulate the size according to the size of the boxers, lets say that for the smaller weights that usually are 5´4”- 5´6” of height the ring was 12 square feet, for the weights lower the light heavyweight division 15 square feet and for the big cruiser & heavy 18 square feet (inside the line of the ropes). In theory the main argument to reduce the size of the ring is that if there is less room to run away from your opponent you will have to engage and battle; quite frequently you can see that there are lapses of the round that go by without exchanges between the boxers, when a boxer is hurt he will run away, slick boxers will move a lot taking advantage of the size of the ring; the bigger the ring the most chance to run away. The brawler and less over all skilled punchers would be benefited from this modification. “If the ring was smaller a boxer would be forced to improve his over all defensive skills due he would be forced to engage rather to run away” (I was told).
Well lets not limit our self, why not an octagon instead? What if the winner is entitled to take an extra 10% off the looser purse, and if he wins by KO, TKO, RTD or RSC he is entitled to 15%.
The main goal to achieve in professional boxing is to defeat your opponent, to beat him to the punch and not allow him to hurt you. Boxing is an art, a martial art that is; boxing is watched be cause of the action and excitement, the boxing technique showed by his contestants and for the controlled violence involved in his bouts. This is not soccer nor rugby or football; this is a combat between two fighters. In my personal opinion the only way to improve professional boxing is to scout talents, to develop them and give them opportunity to show what they are capable off.
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