Emboldened after tipping their toes into the waters of boxing with prize money and without headgear, the AIBA (amateur boxing’s world federation) is thinking about getting rid of headgear in future Olympic competitions:

News | Olympic amateur boxers may ditch headguards post 2012 | Universal Sports

Pros: With knockouts more likely, this system would encourage boxers to throw better punches rather than simple point-scoring taps.

Cons: In this era of concussion concern, does anyone want to encourage a two-week tournament in which a fighter might step into the ring and absorb that many unprotected blows to the head?

I’ve wondered if boxing should switch from human judges to sensors that can record whether boxers landed legitimate punches. Might be difficult for engineers, but it works in fencing. More or less.

Gratuitous South Park clip on headgear follows: