Nothing to hide in boxing's new scoring system: AIBA

International Boxing Association (AIBA) President Dr Ching Kuo-Wu today said the world body's recently-revamped scoring system has left no room for discontent as referees have been put under greater scrutiny.
"Boxing is a subjective sport but we, at the AIBA, have been trying to train referee judges to be the best. This is the fundamental. We are pushing to make sure that referees follow this fundamental," Dr Wu said while speaking to the media here.
"We were using a computerised system earlier and we found out that it was, sometimes, not giving us the best results. But now you can see that judges are more responsible for their scores. At the end of each round, the scores by all the judges are visible to everyone. There is nothing to hide," he added.

The previous system, which was in use till the Rio Olympics last year, relied on taking an average of the scores given, in which the points by judges, who handed the least and the most, were dropped from the final calculation.
The system drew massive flak over a period of time, the tipping point being the Olympic Games where several participants expressed their discontent.
The AIBA then decided to revamp the scoring and as per the new norms, the scores given by all five judges are taken into consideration for the final verdict.

Dr Wu claimed that the new system has not been met with any complaints so far.

"We have found the new system is very good. There are no arguments anymore. In this World Championship itself, it will be clear to everyone how well it works," he asserted.
Another contentious issue facing AIBA has been boxing's Olympic programme. This is owing to the International Olympic Committee's decision to increase the women's weight categories from three to five, while curtailing the men's categories from the current 10 to eight, for greater gender parity.
Asked whether the AIBA has been able to work out which two men's categories would be dropped from the 2020 Tokyo Games roster, Dr Wu said the deliberations are on.

"The Olympic weight categories were discussed at the AIBA Executive Committee meeting last month and the consultations will continue for now," he said.
"The IOC wants 50-50 participation for both men and women and AIBA is committed to the cause of gender parity. The EC agrees to that as well but some feel that this can be achieved without reducing men's categories. We will continue to move forward," he said.
However, Dr Wu steered clear of the headline-grabbing dissensions in the AIBA. The world body is currently embroiled in a legal battle with some of its own members, who have called for Dr Wu to step down owing to allegations of corruption.

"The matter is in court and I will not comment on it. We will not talk about politics and focus only on these 10 days of the World Championships," he said.