Boxing is a great sport based on the lives of young people who find a way out of the streets to become successful human beings.
There are endless stories of inspiration and love from fighters and members of the boxing community day after day all around the world, yet boxing is always in the eye of the storm as most only talk about the few bad things that happen instead of the so many great ones.
After a weekend with a lot of boxing activity and various actions that caused great controversy, we can only bring up again the issue of the need for collaboration between the entities that sanction fights at the local, state, regional and world level.
It is incredible that in 2025 we still have abysmal differences in the rules of our sport. Boxing should actually have two types of regulations and should be uniform across the board, championship fights and non-championship fights.
For non-championship fights, that is, fights scheduled for 4, 6, 8 or 10 rounds, there are the basic rules of the sport and for championship fights the organizations that sanction said fight have their own rules.
The rules for non-title fights are generally almost all universal, but incredibly there are jurisdictions that have variations.
The issue is complex because boxing, in order to be legally practiced, must be sanctioned by a local entity called the “Boxing Commission.” There are countries that have such provisions at the national level, for example, in the Philippines, all boxing activities are sanctioned and governed by the GAB, which is a national government agency. In England, the same thing happens with the British Boxing Board of Control; in the United States, it is different; each state has its autonomous and independent Boxing Commission, and we must also add the commissions of the tribes. In Mexico, with the exception of Mexico City, the State of Mexico, and Sonora, which are state commissions, the boxing commissions are municipal, meaning that each municipality can have its own commission; in our country there are more than 170.
The vast majority of commissions are made up of people who are appointed by politicians; the party in power appoints its commissioners. This leads to a high turnover of personnel and therefore an interruption in the continuity of being able to advance on issues such as rules and regulations.
Let’s recount the history of modern boxing rules. This sport reappeared in England in the 1700s. It was fought bare-knuckle and the rules were minimal, these were published by Jack Broughton in 1743. These were a series of very basic rules that described how the earnings were divided, how there would be two referees and even a third in case a decision had to be made on what happened, in short, the fights were basically until one of the two could not continue.
In 1838 and with a revision in 1853 some more rules were added giving birth to the “London Prize Ring Rules”, incorporating a few additions:
– The fight is in a ring surrounded by ropes
– The knockdown ends the round
– The rest period is 30 seconds
– Whoever cannot continue loses
– It is forbidden to hit with the head, legs and below the belt.
Finally, in 1867, the famous Marquis of Queensberry rules were published, which added 12 more rules, equally very basic but with the great innovation of using gloves:
– 24-foot ring
– Wrestling is not allowed
– 3-minute rounds of action and 1 of rest
– When a fighter falls, he must get up within 10 seconds or he will lose
– Use of appropriate gloves
– No boots with metal
These rules were used without much modification for many decades. Eventually, some rules or practices were incorporated, but all in a disorganized manner.
It was not until the arrival of the World Boxing Council that a crusade was launched to make boxing a safer, more humane and fair sport.
Under the leadership of José Sulaimán, the WBC has implemented a huge number of rules that were mostly implemented worldwide by local boxing commissions, national federations and continental federations, as well as other world championship bodies.
The most important ones are:
– Reduction from 15 to 12 rounds of world title fights
– Change of the official weigh-in to be held the day before and not on the day of the fight
– Implementation of mandatory annual medical examinations, before and after fights
– Implementation of anti-doping tests
– Abolition of 6-ounce gloves
– Implementation of the fourth rope in the ring
– Plus a large number of other rules and procedures.
Unfortunately, things have changed radically; the United States imposed a distancing between its state commissions and any national or international organization. Major boxing commissioners in that country are prevented from belonging to or even collaborating with anyone and thus their participation has been lost and a terrible barrier has been created in which there is very little communication, respect, and reciprocity when a championship fight is held in their jurisdiction.
The same thing happens in England where innovative rules that are necessary to maximize justice in boxing are not allowed.
We will continue working to try to reach agreements and build bridges of communication, mutual agreements and reciprocity.
Did you know that…?
On Saturday in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Paddy Donovan was clearly winning all the rounds in his fight against Lewis Crocker, but in the eighth round there was an exchange of blows as the bell sounded Donovan connected on his rival, who cleverly decided to stay on the canvas and the referee unfairly disqualified him. They refuse to implement instant replay, while thousands of people in the arena and millions on television watched in amazement what really happened during the on going replay shown over and over.
Also that day in New York, champion Gervonta Davis knelt down halfway through the round, and went to his corner. The referee started the count but got totally confused by Davis actions and then did not know what to do and did not follow the rules, and did not count it as a knockdown. If he had.
Today’s anecdote
Don Miguel Acuña, from Tamaulipas, a close friend of my father, came up with the idea of implementing the red card so that doctors could give their opinion when consulted by the referees in cases when they do not speak the same language. At the convention in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1998, the vote was in favor of implementing it. The legendary referee Arthur Mercante got up very upset, arguing that this took away authority and respect from the referee, and that he would not accept the red card in any way…
Don Jose took the microphone and said: “My dear Arthur, you are, without a doubt, the best referee in history, but it was precisely the actions of the fight between Ricardo López and Rosendo Álvarez that led us to confirm the implementation. Doctor Ramírez Mercado examined López, who had a savage cut from a headbutt, and told you clearly that his opinion was to stop the fight; you let it continue. “Of course, José, I didn’t understand anything he said and that’s why I let him continue,” said Mercante. Seconds later everyone burst out laughing, including good old Arthur, thus understanding the great invention of the red card.
Related posts
test