Nearly 40 years ago today, Bob Canobbio and Logan Hobson lugged a huge early version of their personal computer to Reno, Nevada, and built it in Watch the Livingstone Bramble vs. Ray Mancini rematch at the Lawlor Events Center.
Eight months ago, the budding Bramble stopped Mancini in 14 gamesth Win the lightweight title; tonight, he will defeat his opponent again, this time through a 15-round decision, to defend the title. For Canobbio and Hobson, the night amounted to their professional debut, as it marked the public debut of their new patented punch counting system, which later became known as CompuBox.
Today, CompuBox is a fixture on boxing telecasts, as much a part of the landscape as unofficial ring scorers, ring girls and drunken brawls in the crowd. But at the time, few were entirely sure what to expect.
“I’m not sure how much Larry Merchant liked it at first,” Canobbio recalled with a laugh. “On the first broadcast, he called it a ‘little computer toy.'”
After the first match, the second match began with a heavyweight title fight between Larry Holmes and David Bay. However, the third fight that put CompuBox on the map was the middleweight bout between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns.
“At the end of the first round, I looked down and Hagler threw 82 punches and zero jabs,” Canobbio recalled. Such was the widespread reaction to that game, especially that ridiculous opening shot, that Canobbio reflected, “that game put us on the map.”
From 1978 to 1984, Canobbio served as a reader services correspondent for The New York Times. sports illustratedThe job required him to answer letters and phone calls and gave him access to the company’s extensive library. The magazine is headquartered in the Time Life Building in midtown Manhattan, and one day Canobbio strolled down a few floors to the offices of its partner, HBO, where he spoke to a producer named Ross Greenberg. The man who later became the president of the magazine introduced himself. HBO Sports. Greenberg offered Canobbio some work as a researcher for a series he was developing best in boxing and worked as production assistants on some of HBO’s boxing matches; so when Canobbio and Hobson developed the concept for CompuBox based on a similar program developed for tennis, they took it to HBO.
At the time, both men were working in shipyards painting ships. He recalled that after Greenberg offered them a job, they looked at each other in the elevator, “and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re in business.'”
Initially, HBO’s offerings were limited.
“They weren’t doing that many shows at the time,” Canobbio recalled. “It wasn’t until Lou DiBella came on board that our business really took off and soon we were producing 40 fights a year for HBO.” In 1988, NBC hired them for Olympic boxing coverage, and their numbers Shown, Roy Jones Jnr vs. Park Si-Hun in junior middleweight final dominated the competition, but failed to defeat a local boxer in a single match to win gold again. The most blatant and seemingly corrupt decision in the history of the sport.
A year later, they added ESPN to their portfolio; 40 years after its launch, Canobbio estimates CompuBox has covered 2,400 cards. The company (Hobson left in 2002) currently has contracts with the likes of DAZN, ESPN and Amazon Prime, as well as MVP, Matchroom and Golden Boy Promotions.
The technology has improved: Instead of sharing a 30-pound computer keyboard, the two observers each use a numeric keypad. Each action focuses on a boxer, with buttons pressed to perform jabs, jab landings, power punches and power punch landings – in recent years, an extra button has been added for body shots.
While CompuBox operators have traditionally been on the sidelines, travel budgets and availability mean they are increasingly covering match cards remotely – but they won’t be sitting on the couch watching the same broadcasts and camera angles as the rest of us.
“In the beginning, we just knew it was on the sidelines,” Canobbio explained. “In some games we were actually on the tarmac looking up, which was nice. Other times we would stand a row or two back and look through the ropes. Then I noticed all the talent always had monitors ;If you look at these people, you will find that they are looking at the people more than through the rope Look up. So now, I don’t mind. They’re sending us feedback from the boom, which is a huge overhead camera that shoots from the fighter’s shoulder, so that’s the best angle to watch the fight from. Just because of the atmosphere; but production-wise, I don’t miss it at all.”
Canobbio said the next phase could include elements of artificial intelligence.
While he’s not impressed with the accuracy of some of the AI punch counts he’s seen — “the numbers always seem to be on the high end,” he observes — he thinks the technology is expanding the metrics has some real potential. For example, we might see a short 30-second packet between rounds that highlights all the punches that landed in the previous frame.
“But,” he points out, “it has to be trained the right way.”
In some quarters, it has become fashionable to denigrate CompuBox, questioning the competence of its operators or the accuracy of its numbers. Canobbio didn’t hesitate to passionately defend his staff’s ability and diligence, and while he wouldn’t arrogantly or naively pretend that every punch count was perfectly accurate, he believed they were accurate enough to warrant Watch the replay in slow motion to spot nitpicking mistakes. Furthermore, he noted that he never claimed that CompuBox was a means of scoring contests or evaluating winners.
“We’re giving you numbers. You can interpret them,” he said, noting that one of the most valuable aspects of CompuBox is the database it has developed that records individual boxers’ punching trends over time and averages across weight classes. value.
“But when social media comes along, everyone jumps on your back,” he said. “Everyone is an expert. It bothers me. It works a little bit. My sons are great at calming me down. ‘Don’t answer the question. Let it slide. Sometimes I have to respond no matter what.’ But , hey, 40 years later, we’re still here, so we’ve got to do something right.”
A case can be made that, along with BoxRec founder John Sheppard, Canobbio has done more than almost anyone to change the way fans, journalists and others consume boxing information. Unsurprisingly, both men are on the annual ballot for the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) observer category. What’s even more surprising is that neither man has been elected yet—a continuing oversight that this author and others attempt to address through voting every year.
“Look, it’s an honor to be nominated, it really is,” Canobbio said. “But you look at the guys who have been nominated in that category, it’s like I’m a one-hitter on a roster with McCovey and Mays and all these big names in the industry. The competition is a little tight.”
He chuckled. “Maybe I just have to hang on long enough and outlast these guys.”
Meanwhile, the Canobbio brand continues to grow, with one son, Nic, promoting MMA cards and sumo wrestling tournaments, while his other son, Dan, has gained fame co-hosting a podcast with Chris Algieri and producing several television shows.
It’s perhaps not surprising that Canobbio’s two boys pursued a career in combat sports, considering their father regularly took them to fights and even taught them how to use CompuBox equipment when they were about 12 years old. For a while, they were all a part of combat sports. The company has regular clock-in counters; but, he smiles, “I don’t know if I can afford them anymore.”
Canobbio himself continues to look for ways to improve his products and expand his reach.
“I’m not rich by any means,” he said, “but I don’t seem to need to do this to support my family. But I enjoy the day-to-day challenges of running a company. Forty years later, it’s still fun.”
Kieran Mulvaney writes, broadcasts and podcasts about boxing for outlets including HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters. He currently co-hosts the “Warrior Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic magazine, has written several books about the Arctic and Antarctic, and is among his happiest times playing with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.
