Expert: Lian Shoemake - 4/1/2005

Question
Hi Lian, I have searched the web to try and find answers to my questions, but couldn't.

I watched a few fights at the olympics seemingly where one guy had fought more aggressively and better, but had ended up with the same amount of points, only to lose by countback. I am wondering how countbacks work in amateur boxing?

My other question is when is it OK to call a stoppage a "Knock out". We have RSF, and TKOs. But would it be justified to say that a guy was "knocked out" if he did beat the count, but the referee thought he was not fit to continue. Or maybe one fighter didn't answer the bell or was stopped on cuts. Was that guy then "knocked out" or not?

Thanks

Mike Turner

Answer
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the question.

In amateur boxing at the Olympic level, the scoring is based soley on points. A computer system is used in which three of the five judges must record a scoring punch by pressing a button within one second of each other, for that punch to register a point. Only those points get counted, regardless of which boxer was more aggressive, etc. In the event of a draw on points, then the "raw score" would be used, meaning the total number of "button pushes" the judges made for each boxer, including the ones that didn't register as official points. If that seems confusing, then I must have explained it correctly :)
Actually, you can look at the USA Boxing rulebook and read about this in greater detail at www.usaboxing.org.


In amateur boxing we don't use the terms "knockout" or "technical knockout (TKO)". If a referee stops a bout because a boxer is totally outclassed, incapable of continuing or counted out, the term is "referee stopped contest (RSC)."

This is one of many ways in which amateur boxing differs from professional boxing.

I hope this helps, Mike.

Thanks again for writing!

Regards,

Lian