Professional boxing
Professional bouts are far longer (consisting of anything from four to
twelve rounds), headgear is not permitted, and knockout wins are usually only
awarded when the competitors are knocked down and stay on the canvas for ten
seconds (or are repeatedly knocked down, a "technical knockout", or TKO). At
any time, however, the referee may stop the contest if he believes that one
participant can not or should not continue to box. In that case, the other
participant is also awarded a technical knockout win, which in the boxer's
record also counts as a knockout win (or loss). A technical knockout would
also be awarded if a fighter lands a punch that opens a cut on the opponent,
and the opponent is later deemed not fit to continue by a doctor, because of
the cut. If a boxer simply quits fighting, or if his corner either tells the
referee the boxer will not continue or throws a towel into the ring
(signalling they are quitting), then the winning boxer is also awarded a
technical knockout.
In case no knockout or disqualification occurs in professional boxing, the
fight must go to the scorecards. Professional fights have three
judges each, and each of the judges must use the 10 point must system: Under
this system, each time a boxer wins a round in the judges' eyes, the judge
gives that boxer 10 points, and the other 9, with points deducted every time a
boxer suffers a knockdown or loses a point because of illegal blows. If the
judge deems the round to be a tie, he or she may score it 10-10. When the
fight reaches its scheduled distance, all scores are added, round by round, to
determine who won on each judges' cards. When all three judges have the same
boxer as the winner, this is a unanimous decision. When two judges have one
boxer winning the fight and the other one has it a tie, this is called a
majority decision. When two judges have one boxer win the fight and the other
judge has the other boxer win, this is called a split decision. In the case
one judge gives his or her vote to one boxer, another one gives it to the
other boxer and the third judge calls it a tie, this is a draw, and it is also
a draw when two judges score the fight a tie, regardless of whom did the third
judge score the bout for, or when all three judges scored the fight a tie.
In
England,
judges might score the fight under a 5 point must system instead, and they
might also award half a point to the loser (example 4 and a half points) if
desired, except when a world title fight is being held. Although generally
referees do not act as judges, in England, referees are sometimes allowed to
score too, although they can not score in world title fights held there
either.
In the rare case a fight can not go on because of an injury caused to one
of the competitors by a headbutt, there are different rules: If the fight has
not reached the end of round three, (in some places, round four), the fight is
automatically declared a technical draw. If it has reached beyond the end of
round three (or four), then the scorecards are read and whoever is ahead, wins
by a technical decision.
Serious injuries are far more common in professional boxing, a sport with
considerable (though waning) spectator appeal, but with a large number of
dubious organisations promoting "world championship" bouts and a long
connection to organised crime.
It used to be that fights were traditionally fought for up to fifteen
rounds in professional boxing, more than anything during most of the
20th
century. But the tragic death of boxer
Duk Koo
Kim in
November of
1982
after a fight with
Ray
Mancini began to change that, and by
1988, all fights
had been reduced to a maximum of 12 rounds only. With the discovery, in
April of
2004, that
Heavyweight
Joe Mesi, a relatively new, undefeated prospect, had suffered several
blood clots to his brain during a win against
Vassiliy Jirov, more medical testing may be required for professional
boxers. However, as of
May, 2004, doctors have only said that they will look at the matter. Mesi
has expressed desire to continue fighting; his critics say he could face
death if he
ever fights again.
However, in spite of the dangers involved, boxing may be better than the
real alternative,
dueling. There is some reason to believe that English gentlemen quietly
promoted boxing as a humane alternative to the deadly Irish
Code
Duello. Certainly it was promoted by the class of English gentlemen that
were prone to duel, and many observers said that dueling with pistols was too
dangerous a way to maintain anyone's honor.
By
1867, when
the
John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry lent his name to
John Chambers' rules, sporting fisticuffs had become a nearly perfect
replacement for dueling. It made for a satisfyingly brutal and (for the loser)
humiliating fight but it was nearly impossible to cause permanent damage. One
indication of this movement is that the rule-makers of the time promoted the
rules for "amateurs," a code word for noblemen. Another is that swank clubs
and gymnasia took it up with a will, leading to its present popularity.
Another is that even now, there is a tradition of urging hot-headed young men
to "get in the ring, and work it out."
For a generation following the creation of the Queensberry Rules,
bare-knuckle and glove-fights were both promoted. The bare-knuckle fights were
usually held under the "New Rules" produced by the Pugilistic Benevolent
Society in
1866,
which had superseded the "Pugilistic Association's Revised Rules" of
1853. They were
often popularly referred to as the "Rules of the London Prize-Ring".
In
1891, the
National Sporting Club (N.S.C.), a private club in London, began to
promote professional glove fights at its own premises, and created nine of its
own rules to augment the Queensberry Rules. These rules specified more
accurately the role of the officials, and produced a system of scoring that
enabled the referee to decide the result of a fight. Previously, all fights
ended with a knock-out or, more usually, when one fighter was too exhausted to
continue. It was thanks to the N.S.C. Rules that the sport emerged into one of
skill rather than one of endurance. The
British Boxing Board of Control (B.B.B.C.) was first formed in
1919 with close
links to the N.S.C., and was re-formed in 1929 after the N.S.C. closed.
In
1909, the
first of twenty-two belts were presented by the fifth
Earl of Lonsdale to the winner of a British title-fight held at the N.S.C.
In
1929, the
B.B.B.C. continued to award Lonsdale Belts to any British boxer who won three
title-fights in the same weight division. The "title fight" has always been
the focal point in professional boxing. In the 19th and early 20th centuries,
however, there were title-fights at each weight. Promoters who could stage
profitable title-fights became influential in the sport. So, too, did boxers'
managers. The best promoters and managers have been instrumental in bringing
boxing to new audiences and provoking
media
and public interest. The most famous of all three-way partnership
(fighter-manager-promoter) was that of
Jack
Dempsey (Heavyweight
Champion,
1919-1926),
his manager
Jack Kearns, and the promoter
Tex Rickard. Together they grossed US$ 8.4 million in only five fights
between
1921 and
1927 and ushered
in a "golden age" of popularity for professional boxing in the
1920s. They
were also responsible for the first live radio broadcast of a title-fight (
Dempsey v.
Georges Carpentier, in 1921). In Britain,
Jack Solomons' success as a fight promoter helped re-establish
professional boxing after the
Second World War and made Britain a popular place for title-fights in the
1950s and
1960s.
In the first part of the 20th century, the
United States became the centre for professional boxing. It was generally
accepted that the "world champions" were those listed by the
Police Gazette. After
1920, the
National Boxing Association (N.B.A.) and the
New York State Athletic Commission (N.Y.S.A.C.) began to sanction
"title-fights". The N.B.A. was renamed in
1962 and became
the
World Boxing Association (W.B.A.). The following year, a rival body, the
World Boxing Council (W.B.C.), was formed. The influence, internationally,
of the N.Y.S.A.C. declined. In
1983, another
world body, the
International Boxing Federation (I.B.F.) was formed, and in
1989, this was
followed by yet another, the
World Boxing Organisation (W.B.O.). Each body sanctions its own
title-fights and recognizes its own "champions". By the end of the 20th
century, a boxer had to be recognized by four separate bodies to be the
"undisputed champion" of the world, and each year saw over 100 "title-fights"
take place in up to seventeen weight divisions.
Although women fought professionally in many countries, in Britain the
B.B.B.C. refused to issue licences to women until
1998. By the end
of the century, however, they had issued five such licenses. The first
sanctioned bout was in
November
1998 at
Streatham in London, between
Jane Couch and
Simona Lukic.
