Boxing 3 Knockdown Rule

[Kristin Banyas]

Thesport of professional boxing has always appealed based on the promise of spectacular, dramatic and brutal knockouts. When a fighter can land a finishing shot or combo on their opponent to the point that they cannot continue, the contest comes to an immediate stop, regardless of how many rounds it was supposed to last.

In most bouts, three judges are seated at ringside to watch the fight up close. Those judges are approved by the same body that licences the fights, and when possible, are usually from a neutral location compared to the contestants. For example, if an American boxer is facing a French boxer, judges from Canada, Britain and Mexico may be preferred. Similarly, if a small British promoter has two English fighters face off and one is from Hull while the other is from London, perhaps judges from Manchester, Southampton, Cardiff etc.

A three-judge system is mandatory for championship fights. However, if a newly-turned professional is making their debut in a four-round fight, such fights are often judged by one person and one person alone: that bout's appointed referee,

Yes! A judge has the right to score a round even, just as they do to score it 10-8 without a knockdown. Judges are encouraged to avoid it as much as possible, and to only use these scores if they truly feel it's the correct appraisal of that round. This urging is to ensure they are not overused. The 10-10 round in particular can become too easy a fallback option for judges.

In addition to the above, the referee can instruct all three judges to deduct a point from a fighter in any given round. They will do so if a fighter has done something to break the rules, such as an intentional foul (low blow, headbutt, or Mike Tyson's favourite, biting an opponent's ear). A referee can also decide that a fighter has committed accidental fouls far too often than is acceptable, and deduct one point for the repeated offences.

If nobody has won via knockout after the scheduled number of rounds, the judges' round-by-round scorecards throughout the fight will determine the winner. With each round being worth a maximum of 10 points, that means a fighter can score as high as 120 in a 12-round fight, 100 in a 10-round fight and so on.

Almost primal, the sport involves two opponents facing off in a ring trying to win a bout by landing punches on each other using only their fists. But it has evolved into a sophisticated sport involving complicated strategies and craft over the years.

Boxing shares a very close relationship with the Olympic Games. In the ancient Games, Olympic boxing first made an appearance in 688 BC in Greece, with Onomastos of Smyrna emerging as the first-ever Olympic boxing champion.

With the modern-day Olympics starting in 1896, boxing found its place in the programme at the St Louis 1904 Games. Eighteen local boxers participated in the event, which was competed across seven different weight classes.

Historically, USA has dominated the Olympics stage with legends like Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Floyd Mayweather Jr all leaving their mark. Cuba and countries from the former Soviet Union have also enjoyed great success.

Five judges seated on the ringside score the boxers based on number of blows landed on the target areas, domination of the bout, technique and tactical superiority and competitiveness. Deductions can also be made based on infringement.

At the end of every round, each of the judges determine a winner for the round based on the judging criteria and award the victor 10 points for the round. The loser of the round can be awarded anywhere between seven to nine points based on the level of performance in that round.

After the bout ends, each judge adds up the round scores to determine a final winner. A boxer can win through unanimous decision if all five judges unanimously agree that the winner has taken two or more rounds.

When a boxer lands enough legal hits on their opponent to knock them down on the floor of the boxing ring and the opponent is unable to stand up to resume the match within a count of 10 by the official referee, it constitutes a KO victory for the boxer affecting the knockdown. In case of a KO, the bout ends immediately, and the winner is declared.

The winner of a boxing bout can also be determined through RSC (Referee Stop Contest) -- when the referee or ringside doctors deem one of the boxers unfit to continue a bout), walkovers, disqualifications (DSQ) or when a boxer retires voluntarily or his corner throws in the towel (ABD).

If the total scores awarded by each judge, including any deduction, are equal at the end of the bout, the judge(s) with equal scores are requested to nominate which boxer is the winner of the bout in their opinion in the following cases:

If a boxer receives a referee's warning, an official will record the warning in the scoring system and each warning will reduce the total score of the offending boxer by one point per judge. The third warning in a bout will automatically disqualify the boxer.

Long count or slow count is a term used in boxing. When a boxer is knocked down in a fight, the referee will count over them and the boxer must rise to their feet, unaided, by the count of ten or else deemed to have been knocked out. A long count occurs when a boxer is given more than the allotted time (a notional ten seconds[1]) to rise to his or her feet.

There have always been controversial counts in boxing. In 1900, Terry McGovern was reputedly down for up to 20 seconds after being floored by Oscar Gardner; McGovern knocked Gardner out in the next round.[2] In 1915, Bombardier Billy Wells received a long count in his fight with Dick Smith. When Wells was knocked down, referee Tom Dunning, officiating from outside the ring, did not begin the count until he had climbed into the ring, which gave Wells an extra six seconds to recover.[2]

The term is now often associated with Jack Dempsey's 1927 heavyweight championship fight against Gene Tunney. In the seventh round, Dempsey knocked Tunney down, but did not go to a neutral corner as a new rule required him to. Referee Dave Barry did not start counting over Tunney until he had ushered Dempsey to a neutral corner, wasting several seconds. Tunney rose to his feet, having been on the canvas for around 17 seconds, and went on to win a decision, thus retaining his title. The controversy over the long count ensured the fight went down in history as The Battle of the Long Count.[3]

Since then, there have been many other fights which have had a long count controversy. Archie Moore maintained that Rocky Marciano had received extra time to recover when the referee erroneously gave Marciano a standing eight count after being knocked down by Moore in their 1955 fight.[4] In their 1965 rematch, Sonny Liston was knocked down by Muhammad Ali but, in the confusion that followed, Liston was down for more than 10 seconds before getting up and resuming the fight. At Nat Fleischer's prompting, referee Jersey Joe Walcott then stopped the fight 17 seconds after the knockdown.[5] In a 1966 match, referee Billy Conn was accused of giving Carlos Ortz a long count against Sugar Ramos, which led to a rematch being ordered.[6]

In February 1990, following James "Buster" Douglas' upset victory over Mike Tyson, Tyson's camp led by Don King tried to overturn the result, arguing that Douglas had spent between 13 and 14 seconds on the canvas after being knocked down by Tyson in an earlier round, and had therefore been knocked out first.[4][7] Manny Pacquiao's camp alleged Juan Manuel Mrquez received a slow count from Joe Cortez in their 2004 featherweight title bout.[8] Lucian Bute's 2008 fight with Librado Andrade had a long count controversy which drew comparisons with Dempsey-Tunney. Bute, ahead on points, was knocked down in the final seconds of the bout, rose at the count of six, and then the referee interrupted the count in order to send Andrade back to a neutral corner. By the time the count had finished, twenty seconds had elapsed.[9][10]

Matches and events can only be organized by GLORY Kickboxing as the main promoter affiliated with GLORY Kickboxing or promoters recognized as such by GLORY Kickboxing that have been granted a so-called promoters license by GLORY Kickboxing or by third parties to whom incidental written consent has been granted.

Those who wish to participate in matches organized by promoters recognized by GLORY Kickboxing should be registered with GLORY Kickboxing as fighters or contractually associated GLORY Kickboxing and thus automatically registered as fighters with GLORY Kickboxing. Upon application or contractual obligation, fighters must always provide GLORY Kickboxing with a copy of their passport, their current address and the so-called record list and two passport photos.

Matches take place in a square ring surrounded by four ropes interconnected by means of vertical cords or bands. The dimensions of the square of ropes should be at least 5 m x 5 m for minor events and no larger than 6 m x 6 m for large events.

The ring floor should be a safe construction and covered by canvas that should not be slippery before and/or during a fight. The ring floor is raised not less than 90 centimeters (3 feet) and not more than 122 centimeters (4 feet) above the ground.

For International competition the large size ring shall be used. The ropes should be wrapped in a soft material and may not cause damage or injury to fighters moving alongside them. The ropes shall be at least 3 centimeters (1 inch) but not more than 5 centimeters (2 inches) thick. There shall be at least 4 ropes positioned 40, 80, 120 and 150 centimeters (16, 32, 48, 60 inches) respectively above the ring floor. The ropes shall be held rigid by 2 pieces of strong cloth, equally spread, so that the rope spacing shall not vary during the contest.

The opposite corners of the ring should be equipped with a black post for the contestants with two grey neutral corners in between. The white corner must always be on the left hand side of the main jury table (The Chief Official). The other two corners are the grey corners.

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