Boxing officials like changes made to sport for Olympics

Olympic boxers in the men’s field are entering the ring without headgear for the first time in 36 years.

Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, the last American to win a medal in boxing, approves of the rule change. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum also is glad to see the clunky headgears tossed aside.

But, after one week of competition, the boxers in Rio de Janeiro are starting to have doubts if the International Olympic Committee made the right choice.

“Now I know the value of the headgear,” Algerian middleweight Ilyas Abbadi told The Associated Press. “I think for the amateurs, that would be better. I would prefer to fight with headgear, but this is how it is.”

Ditching the protective gear is one of many rule changes the IOC installed for the Rio Games. Professional boxers being allowed to compete and the 10-point system for judges are the other notable moves.

Most involved in the sport agree with the judging system used in the pro ranks, instead of the hated punch-count format. Pros being allowed to compete alongside amateurs received plenty of backlash. Multiple boxing governing bodies banned their top fighters from the Olympics.

The noticeable split comes with the headgear change. Wilder, the WBC titlist, said boxers see better without it.

“I remember, for me, I couldn’t see well. I wasn’t getting the angles I wanted,” said Wilder, who took bronze in 2008. “You can’t see the punches.”

With the headgear gone, Wilder said he is strongly considering competing in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“I hated the headgear, but now with it gone, I want to be in Tokyo to win a gold medal for my country,” Wilder said.

Arum said boxers will benefit from having audiences being able to see their faces.

“They put these headgears on and you can’t see their faces,” he said. “You can’t see anything, and without the headgear, they become more humanized. Look at Nico Hernandez.”

Hernandez, 20, made news Wednesday when he was assured of winning the United States its first medal since Wilder’s bronze. The Americans were shut out in London in 2012.

Hernandez competes in the light flyweight semifinals Friday. Instead of holding third-place matches, two bronze medals are awarded in boxing. Americans Carlos Balderas and Gary Russell also have been in the spotlight, and Shakur Stevenson could become one of the stars of the Olympics when he fights Sunday.

American boxing has been down, but this year’s team is off to a 6-1 start. Wilder partly credits the lack of headgear.

“We’re brawlers; Americans fight better without the gear,” Wilder said. “We used to win everything. They used to make all these rules up so we wouldn’t win everything.”

Former three-division champion Abner Mares likes the fights without the headgear from a fan perspective, but can see why it’s a problem for the competitors.

“It’s more entertaining,” said Mares, who is covering the Olympics as a boxing analyst for Telemundo. “You’re seeing more knockouts. But these hits could cost them in the long run.”

Mares said having amateur boxers wear headgear in every tournament except the Olympics could be a good compromise.

Like Wilder, Mares doesn’t have a problem with professionals in the Olympics. The three pros in the field are already eliminated, with only one reaching the second round.

“I think it’s interesting seeing the pros,” Mares said. “They’re having trouble adjusting to three-round fights. They start slow because they’re used to 10 or 12 rounds.”

Wilder, who is used to ending fights early, isn’t buying the excuses from the pros.

“They should be ready to go as soon as the bell rings,” he said. “That’s why they’re not good in the pros. They’re not well prepared.”

The 10-point judging system was brought back to avoid blatant robberies such as Roy Jones Jr.’s infamous loss in the 1988 gold medal match.

“We’re still going to have controversy,” Arum said. “When there’s nationalism and something subjective like scoring, you’ll always have scandals.”

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow him on Twitter: @gmanzano24