Know your game
Most of us know what kind of sport boxing is; it is a competition between two strong fighters going up against each other in hand to hand combat. Well that is true for most of us but for some it is just more than that, it is also a rivalry not just of brawn but also of the mind. For this will test not just the athlete’s strength and power but his ability to concentrate and focus on the match at hand. If you like taking chances, try boxing betting here.
Having this idea (establishing this new concept of boxing) it is best that we understand the rules and regulations of the sport and how judges score each contender. This will give us a better understanding on what is happening inside the ring. And for us to be appreciate more the fight we are all watching.
Let us start with the rules shall we. They vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, whether it is with IBF or WBO and it also varies if the boxer is an amateur or a professional but just in case here is a list of the regular or common rules for boxing.
• You cannot hit below the belt, hold, trip, kick, headbutt, wrestle, bite, spit on, or push your opponent.
• You cannot hit with your head, shoulder, forearm, or elbow.
• You cannot hit with an open glove, the inside of the glove, the wrist, the backhand, or the side of the hand.
• You cannot punch your opponent's back, or the back of his head or neck (rabbit punch), or on the kidneys (kidney punch).
• You cannot throw a punch while holding on to the ropes to gain leverage.
• You cannot hold your opponent and hit him at the same time, or duck so low that your head is below your opponent's belt line.
• When the referee breaks you from a clinch, you have to take a full step back; you cannot immediately hit your opponent--that's called "hitting on the break" and is illegal.
• You cannot spit out your mouthpiece on purpose to get a rest.
• If you score a knockdown of your opponent, you must go to the farthest neutral corner while the referee makes the count.
• If you "floor" your opponent, you cannot hit him when he's on the canvas.
• A floored boxer has up to ten seconds to get back up on his feet before losing the bout by knockout.
• A boxer who is knocked down cannot be saved by the bell in any round, depending upon the local jurisdiction's rules.
• A boxer who is hit with an accidental low blow has up to five minutes to recover. If he cannot continue after five minutes, he is considered knocked out.
• If the foul results in an injury that causes the fight to end immediately, the boxer who committed the foul is disqualified.
• If the foul causes an injury but the bout continues, the referee orders the judges to deduct two points from the boxer who caused the injury.
• If an unintentional foul causes the bout to be stopped immediately, the bout is ruled a "no contest" if four rounds have not been fully completed. (If the bout was scheduled for four rounds, then three rounds must have been completed.) If four rounds have been completed, the judges' scorecards are tallied and the fighter who is ahead on points is awarded a technical decision. If the scores are even, it will be called a "technical draw."
• If a boxer is knocked out of the ring, he gets a count of 20 to get back in and on his feet. He cannot be assisted.
• In some jurisdictions the standing eight-count or the three knockdown rule also may be in effect.
• In other jurisdictions, only the referee can stop the bout.
Having addressed the rules, let us proceed to scoring. Each match will have a panel of three judges. This is probably to eliminate bias and having to end a fight with a draw.
In a match each boxer will be scored independently by a judge and at the end of a fight the judge’s score cards will be collected by the referee and passed on to the ring-side commissioner who will then tally the scores.
In each round the judges will pick one boxer who bested the other and award that one with 10 points and the other with 9. In the advent that one boxer is knocked down and is given a count that boxer will be awarded 8 points and the other, 10. If in a round the judges think that neither one bested the other each boxer will be awarded 10 points for that round. And if in case a boxer violates a rule, the referee will instruct each judge to deduct points from that boxer.
At the end of the fight the score cards will be tallied and will be decided as such:
• If all judges score for boxer 1 then it is a win by unanimous decision (UD) for boxer 1.
• If two judges score for boxer 1 and one judge scores a draw then it is a majority decision (MD) win for boxer 1.
• If two judges score for boxer 1 and one judge scores for boxer 2 then it is a split decision (SD) win for boxer 1.
• If all judges score a draw then it is a draw by unanimous decision (D-UD).
• If two judges score a draw and one judge scores for either boxer then it is a majority draw (D-MD).
Having understood these rules and regulations as well as scoring, I think we can understand the fights and appreciate what is happening inside the ring much better now, don’t you think?
