The Rules of Boxing

The rules of boxing depend on the jurisdiction of the boxing match, the boxing association and also if one is a professional or amateur boxer. There are however a few basic rules that are followed.

1. Hitting your opponent’s back or the back of his head or neck is disallowed. This has probably to do with the fact that a punch to the back of the head or when an opponent is not facing you can result in serious injury.

2. If you floor your opponent otherwise called a knockdown or knock him down, you must go to the farthest neutral corner while the referee makes a count or checks on the health of your opponent. You simply can not hit your opponent when he is on the canvas.

Most of the referee counts are up to 10 seconds during which your opponent is allowed to recover. Failing to recover results in a knockout. If you are knocked out of the ring, the boxer has a count of 20 to get back on his feet and in the ring.

3. You can not hit your opponent with your head, shoulder, forearm or elbow. Biting off the ears of your opponent as Mike Tyson did is not allowed. Hitting below the belt, holding ,tripping ,kicking, head butting, wrestling or pushing your opponent are considered fouls and can result in point deduction or simple disqualification.

If you hit your opponent below the belt, he has the right to rest for 5 minutes as he recovers. An accidental blow also gives the boxer 5 minutes to recover.

4. It is against the rules of boxing to hit your opponent with an open glove, the wrist, the backhand or the side of the hand. Boxing is not a slapping contest.

5. It is illegal in boxing to throw a punch while holding on to the ropes to gain leverage for your punch. In fact even holding on to your opponent as you hit him is illegal. However, it becomes hard to referee this rule as in the heat of the moment; a boxer will just do it.

6. If a referee breaks a hold, or a clinch, both boxers are supposed to take a step back before they can engage again. Hitting back or immediately hitting your opponent after the referee has broken a clinch is frowned upon by boxing purists.

7. If a foul results in an injury that causes the fight to end, the boxer who committed the foul is disqualified. If the injury did not cause the fight to end, the referee orders the judges to deduct two points from the offender.

If the foul was unintentional, the bout is ruled as a no decision, if four rounds had not been completed. If the four rounds are completed, the fighter with the most points at the time is awarded a technical decision. If the scores were even, then it’s a technical draw. Depending on the boxing jurisdiction, there are many variations to this rule including the standing count which can vary from 8 to 10 and even the number of rounds in a match. But the basic boxing rules above apply in most boxing matches.

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