Round 12: Boxing judges and a few bits to analyze

By Mauricio Sulaimán / President of the WBC / Son of José Sulaimán

Boxing is one of the very few sports that defines the winner through subjective appreciation of the officials, named judges.

In our sport there are three judges who score the actions, and this is done  round after round. In essence each round is a complete different fight from the other.

Unlike diving or gymnastics, boxers have no idea what the judges have scored.

Divers and gymnasts see their score, immediately following their participation, and thus can strategize for their next competitive move. They have the ability to decide to take higher risk which which by virtue can generate more points, a higher a score.

The boxing judge has an unenviable job, as they are seldom recognized until there is a controversial decision, and then they can be pointed out as corrupt, blind, incompetent and even criminal,  when it is thought that they performed inadequately.

The difference between a judge’s scoring and everyone else’s scores has a significant amount of variables which at the end could make the difference in opinions, lets look into it :

The judge is sitting in a unique position , there is nothing between them and the actions in the ring, although in truth it is not necessarily the best place, since he is positioned below the action, with photographers, at times,  all over him , and lots of  people milling around shouting, and many angles are blocked by the referee, or by the boxers themselves.

The judge is not a raw rookie, tipsy or drunk, while many fans at home or in the arena are enjoying a beer or two and a good time, savoring an unforgettable evening, without a care in the World. The judge is fully concentrated in the actions in the ring during the three full minutes of each round, believe me, hardly anyone else is fully concentrated due many potential distractions in the arena or at home.

The judge does not have favorites, but the vast majority of those who watch boxing identify in a partisan way, with one of the boxers. The judge does not bet, some or many who watch the fight do have a particular interest in the result.

One problem I see is that boxing is scored round by round; There are some that are won with a minimal difference, rounds with little action with just a few punches landed, compared to others in which a big difference in favor of the winner produced by strong dominance of the actions winning clearly.

Ultimately, both rounds are scored 10-9.

There can be fights in which one wins the rounds widely, and the other by a minimal margin, but in the end everyone considers the winner who won the rounds that were spectacular.

In golf, a drive could be 250 yards and the putt can be just 10 centimeters, both worth one stroke.

There are many things that the ordinary fan does not know about the official criteria for scoring actions in boxing.

Judges are trained and certified to achieve uniformity in what they should see, perceive, process and score.

The most important thing for boxers is to connect blows, quality rather than quantity, their effectiveness and their impact effect.

The style that dominates the round is also taken into account, who manages to impose their style on the opponent, and as the last criterion, is pure aggressiveness. Missed punches, blows  landed on gloves or in illegal areas do not count…

Effective aggressiveness is what counts, regardless of whether you are going forward, taking lateral steps or even moving backwards, but connecting, that is what must be considered.

Knockdowns  are very important and must necessarily represent an additional point for the fighter who has inflicted this.

In other words, a round in which there is a knockdown must be scored 10-8, unless the fighter knocked down, has dominated extraordinarily throughout the round.

A knockdown is like a goal, a home run or a touchdown.

DID YOU KNOW…?

The WBC has some initiatives that are not accepted in the United States and England, unfortunately most of the big fights take place in these two countries, where they do not accept:

Open Scoring of the official scores of the judges after the fourth and eighth rounds is accepted by the rest of the world, because it allows the corners to adjust the strategy by knowing what the judges are scoring.

Use of noise cancelling headphones , allowing maximum concentration and eliminating distractions and external influences.

Basic guidelines for judges in the WBC:

10-10: Even round , Don’t know who won at the sound of the bell

10-9: Clear and definite advantage.

10-9: Both boxers go to the canvas, but one of them clearly wins the round.

10-8: A knockdown.

10-8: Total dominance of one of the fighters throughout the entire round, even when there is no knock down.

10-7: Two knockdowns ,

10-7: Knockdownl and total domination.

10-6: Three knockdowns

The WBC through the leadership of the NABF and the ring officials committee led by Duane Ford , has instituted a system which requires the judges to score the rounds both numerically ( quantitative ) and  qualitative . The judge must score the usual score with numbers and then mark a box to indicate the qualitative side .

C = Close

M = Moderate

D = Decisive

ED = Extreme Decisive ( in this case, the score must be 10-8 )

This has brought judges to higher levels of concentration, greater uniformity among peers and higher success rate.

Today’s Anecdote

The World Boxing Council was responsible, in coordination with the main boxing authorities, in changing all matters related to judges and referees.

My dad told us with great satisfaction:

“Before, the referee was the only one responsible for determine who was the winner, when there was no knockout victory; He simply raised the hand to whomever he considered to have been deserving of victory.”

Afterwards, three officials were introduced to score, two judges plus the referee, who scored the actions on the card.

Finally, the referee was eliminated as a judge so that he could pay 100 percent of his attention to protecting the fighter.

I appreciate your comments at contact@wbcboxing.com