As older boxing fans know, the 15 round fights began to disappear back in 1982, this after the tragic death of Duk Koo Kim, who took some heavy punishment during the later rounds of his 14th round stoppage loss to Ray Mancini. The WBA moved to reduce their title fights to 12 rounds, and soon enough the other governing bodies followed suit. The studies showed that the human brain becomes more vulnerable to damage when the fighter is fatigued, and that those final three rounds were more dangerous than any other rounds in a fight as a result.
It took time, but eventually all fight fans grew accustomed to 12 round title fights (although for a long time plenty of older fans declared how the taking away of 15 round fights diluted the sport, with these people saying those championship rounds were what “separated the men from the boys.”)
Just a few days ago, this so many years after the reduction from 15 to 12 round fights, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza, quite incredibly, said his organisation “may think about approving it (a return to 15 round fights) in a trial mode, for certain high calibre opposition between the boxers.”
This came as quite a shock, to say the least. Why would anyone want to go back to doing a thing that was stopped as it was deemed too dangerous, this way back in 1982? It is possible, yes, that some fans would be in favour of a return to 15 round fights (and it would be interesting to hear more from Mendoza as far as what would constitute as “certain high calibre opposition between the boxers”), but most of us would not favour it. What would happen, heaven forbid, if a 15 round fight was fought here in 2025 or beyond and a fighter suffered a fatal injury during those final three rounds?
One man who is currently one of the most influential and powerful in the sport today, Turki Alalshikh, says he is dead against a return to 15 round fights. Alalshikh spoke to the magazine he owns, The Ring.
“No, I don’t support this idea in any way,” Alalshikh said. “This is bad for a fighter’s health and I would never be in favour of fights going back to 15 rounds. In my opinion, even a 12 round fight could be too much for a fighter’s health, but 15 rounds is out of the question. A 15 round fight should never be allowed to happen.”
Again, some people will disagree with Alalshikh and be in favour of a return to the 15 round days; and some fans have already stated that there have actually been more tragic deaths in the sport in more modern times, since the change from 15 to 12 round fights. Unfortunately there will always be the very real danger of a fatality occurring in this tough and at times brutal sport. Still a return to 15 rounds would certainly not do anything to reduce the risk, would it?
Where do YOU stand on this issue – a return to 15 round fights yes or no?
