The Five Second Punch Clock for boxing

By Boxing News - 05/03/2015 - Comments

1-IMG_8351By Ryan Dunn: In the NBA, you have a 24 second shot clock. If you don’t touch the rim 24 seconds from the moment your possession begins, you must give the ball to the opposite team. There is also the 3-second rule. An offensive player can not stand idle in the opponent’s free throw lane for more than 3 seconds, otherwise his team receives a foul.

Finally, there is the 8-second rule. An offense has to get the ball across the half-court line within eight seconds, otherwise they receive a foul and lose possession of the ball.

In the NFL, there is a play clock. You have 40 seconds between snaps. If you don’t snap the ball in time, you receive a delay of game penalty and your team moves backwards. Soccer (Football, Futbol) has a time-wasting penalty known as the back-pass rule. A goalkeeper is not allowed to handle the ball when one of his teammates intentionally kicks the ball back to him in an effort to run out the clock. Heck, even rugby will give the opponent a free kick if the other team intentionally tries to collapse a scrummage.

So, why do these rules exist? Well first and foremost, they are designed to force the action and movement of the event. Without them, teams would just waste the clock, sit on their lead, avoid confrontation in an effort to keep their advantage.

So what does that have to do with boxing?

My opinion is that the mantra of “hit and don’t get hit” should have limits. Following the Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Manny Pacquiao fight last Saturday night, more people than ever got to see what makes Floyd Mayweather Jr. so brilliant… and so boring to watch. Fighting from the outside is one thing, but refusing to allow a fight to occur feels flagrant to me.

What if the boxing commissions instituted a 5-second punch-clock, which forced a boxer to throw a punch within range of their opponent within five seconds, or they would be deducted a point? It sounds crazy but I think it would force the action of a fight.

When a sport like boxing, which also has exorbitant pay-per-view fees associated with them, produces uneventful fights, it hurts the already impaired interest in the game. I am proposing a way to get fighters to fight for their earnings, and not play pop-and-run all night and cruise to an easy win.

Props to boxers who use this tactic, but I am willing to bet you that the majority of fans watching, devout and casual alike, would prefer to see action and excitement when they tune in to watch the sweet science of boxing.



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