THE POSSIBILITY of introducing a scoring system in amateur boxing which would involve the "wiring up" of the contestants similarly to the system used in fencing has been advocated and will be considered by the world controlling body which is celebrating its golden jubilee in Dublin this week.

The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) was launched in Dublin in January of 1946 and from that grew the European Amateur Boxing Association (EABA) with Ireland again playing a significant part.

The celebrations hake been recognised by President Mary Robinson who will meet the president, of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, the president of the AIBA, Anwar Chowdry, and the president of the EABA Karl Heinz Weir, on Saturday.

Behind the scenes, there will be considerable discussion about the place of amateur boxing in the Olympic Games. Boxing has always been part of the Games but pressures from such esoteric competitions as underwater gymnastics and other more "televisually attractive" activities have intruded.

Boxing has not been its own best friend either with some clearly unsporting behaviour both inside and outside the ring adding to pressures to have it dropped.

After some quite scandalous decisions in the Seoul Olympics, it was suggested that it might be dropped altogether but that pressure seems to have been relaxed and boxing would pow seem to be safe for the immediate future.

Yesterday at a press conference to launch the Dublin celebrations, the president of the AIBA pointed out that the introduction - a computerised system of scoring had reduced decision making problems dramatically. In the Seoul and other Olympics there were scores of protests about scoring decisions. In Barcelona we had only one," he pointed out.

In reply to questions he emphasised that boxing would always have to defend itself from detractors but that many other Olympic sports were shown to be far more dangerous for participants. "We will always to our best to protect our boxers and we will always discuss ways of doing that. We have a duty and a responsibility to our boxers and we will not back away from that," he said.

The AIBA has also accepted that boxing for women has to be recognised, although it is still being kept at arm's length.