12/15 Rounds

Hi guys,

Long-time reader, first time poster. Apologies if this has been done before but just wondering if anyone can think of any examples of when a 12 round fight would have had a very different result had it been a 15 rounder and, conversely, any examples of a 15 rounder having a different result had it been a 12 rounder?

Recent examples that spring to mind (my mind anyway!) are Macklin-Sturm. Macklin was quite obviously really beginning to gas and may well have found himself on the canvas. I think Murray was also badly shaken towards the end of his fight against Sturm?

Anyone else got any?

Camacho-Rosario is one that always stands out to me. Camacho, to this very day, should be thanking his lucky stars that this was a twelve-rounder rather than fifteen, as his countryman was beginning to overwhelm him by the twelfth stanza and had him hanging on for dear life. Little doubt in my mind that, had he had an extra nine minutes, Rosario would have turned a split decision loss in to a decision win in his favour or, just perhaps, have done the impossible and actually stopped the 'Macho Man.'

Welcome to the board in a posting capacity by the way, mate.

Think Povetkin would have been taken out by Huck.

Hearns vs Leonard I is a very famous example.

If the fight had been 12 rounds, then Hearns would have beaten Leonard on points. In reality Leonard stopped Hearns in the 14th!

Hagler/Leonard. Hagler would have won the championship rounds or stopped Leonard.

Leonard/Hearns 1.

Add the Holmes/Cooney fight also. Had it been a 12 rounder, Cooney would be the HW champ. Unbelievable scoring. Thankfully Larry did what he had to do.

Thanks for the replies, guys, and for the welcome, Chris.

Wasn't lucky enough (i.e. old enough) to watch many of these fights but have always been intrigued by how different history may have been if the 12-round rule had been in force.

On the Holmes - Cooney fight, a quick look at Boxrec tells me that Cooney was deducted 3 points for low blows. Imagine if Twitter had been around then, would have made Amir Khan look like Gandhi! What was going on there?!

Nice first post and welcome mate.

Bute v Andrade 1 would no doubt have led to the Romanian's first loss

its an interesting one, but i believe the action that takes place in the 14 & 15th round often does so simply because the boxers know it's the last 2 rounds and would do the same in the 11th and 12th if it was a 12 rounder.

I think Ali-Frazier I qualifies. Frazier won that fight by sweeping up the championship rounds. Ali was definitely ahead after ten (certainly in my eyes, anyway) but you could perhaps argue that he deserved nothing more than a share of one or, at the most, two out of the final five. Absolutely no doubt that Frazier was the better man over the full fifteen round course that night; had it been over twelve, then Ali might just have regained his old crown a little earlier than he actually did.

Seanusarrilius wrote:Nice first post and welcome mate.

Bute v Andrade 1 would no doubt have led to the Romanian's first loss

When I think about all the dodgy things in boxing, this one completely slipped my mind but remember it vividly. The end of the 12 round was horrible to watch for Andrade!

Thanks, Sean. Certainly agree with Bute-Andrade. Bute was gone and, even with a minute of recovery, I can't imagine him even seeing out the next round, never mind the full 15.

Would also agree with Ali - Frazier I. Incidentally, I wonder how an Ali win in that fight may have changed boxing history? Would we have seen the Thrilla? Would Ali's legacy be slightly diminished due to the lack of the trilogy?

Hard to say......Boxers are clever enough to either time their on-slaughts earlier or change tactics to suit the distance...

Everybody jumps at Leonard-Hagler Leonard-Hearns 1....But maybe Leonard would've engaged less or more earlier on respectively......

However Camacho-Rosario is a good call......Rosario's high work rate and pressure would've been hell for Hector although he didn't do too bad in the 12th...

However for sure 12/15 had an impact on.....

Tate-Weaver...

Valero's Conscience wrote:Hearns vs Leonard II is a very famous example.

If the fight had been 12 rounds, then Hearns would have beaten Leonard on points. In reality Leonard stopped Hearns in the 14th!

Hearns v Leonard 2, was over twelve, it was the first fight thatwas over 15.

horizontalhero wrote:

Valero's Conscience wrote:Hearns vs Leonard II is a very famous example.

If the fight had been 12 rounds, then Hearns would have beaten Leonard on points. In reality Leonard stopped Hearns in the 14th!

Hearns v Leonard 2, was over twelve, it was the first fight thatwas over 15.

Oops, you're quite right, ill amend!

Hello sir, interesting as Carl Froch describes himself as a good old fashioned fighter who would have benefited greatly from the 15 round fight and although not a fan of his as such, I do agree.The Kessler fight would have gone his way.

Taylor would probably be fubar Marquez 3-0 over pac barrera woula have defeated morales 1

Some really good fights mentioned here, could perhaps add Khan-Maidana to the list? Khan boxed beautifully for the first three-quarters of the fight but Maidana was obviously getting to him a lot more in the last 3 rounds. May well have knocked him out had it been 15 rounds.

ShahenshahG wrote:Taylor would probably be fubar Marquez 3-0 over pac barrera woula have defeated morales 1

Late night? Or fat fingers?

Lets just say that I didn't need to go holland last night and the v early hours of this morning

I think Wlad would have knocked Haye out, also think Froch would definitely have benefited from the 15 round system, against Kessler anyway.
Scary to think what PAC v Marg would have looked like after 15 rounds.

Was Duran ahead of Haglar at the end of the 12th round? Also I think Eubank would have lost a fair few of his if they were over 15- he gassed out towrds the end of a lot of his fights.