Expert: Melanie Ley - 4/23/2009

Question
i'm a sports student at college and we are doing an assignment about officitiating in sport and i just wanted to ask what are the officials in boxing and what are their roles?

Answer
In the United States, our officials are always able to time keep, judge and, in most cases, referee.  The time keeper is the person who regulates the amount of time for each bout, and who starts and stops a bout.  Judges are the people who judge the bouts.  We use 2 "clickers" or tally counters (one for each corner) and push the button for each corner whenever we see a legal effective scoring punch land.  At the end of the bout, the judges total their scorecards and the boxer who the majority of the judges have winning is the winner of the bout.  Referees regulate the bout in the ring and their major concern is the safety of the boxers.  They make sure that the bout is even and that the boxers are boxing cleanly.    Referees can stop a bout if a boxer is injured, or outclassed, or taking too many head shots.