Lopez bats for electronic scoring system

MANILA, Philippines - Former Philippine Sports Commission chairman Mel Lopez Jr. has pushed for the use of electronic scoring system in Olympic-style boxing to establish cleanliness and fairness in the sport one day before the 30th Games unwraps in London.

Lopez, who as member of the executive committee of the Asian International Boxing Association (AIBA) for two terms (1996 and 1999), has fought for the use of the new scoring machine to ensure that legitimate punches are recorded promptly and accordingly by the computer.

The scoring system had been originally designed in the Soviet Union and was revolutionized by German and Austrian engineers. It uses sensors in the gloves and the vest, the latter covering the area of the boxers body, patterned after the fencing scoring equipment. The sensors record every regular hit thus ruling out subjective element in the scoring of a bout.