Rules? What rules!

[Bonzo]

Is Harold Right? Referees Pay No Attention


By Paul Strauss | Published May 19, 2014 |



HBO’s unofficial scorer, and celebrated long time judge and analyst, Harold Lederman made a valid point this past saturday night during the PPV bout between Viktor Postol (26-0, 11 KO’s) and Selcuk Aydin (26-3, 19 KO’s). During the bout, held at the Forum, Inglewood, CA, Harold made what would seem to be a legitimate, valid point.

He spelled things out, explaining that all too often tall fighters illegally use their extended lead hand as a “range finder”. The situation presented itself saturday night when the taller man, Postol, started using his extended left as a range finder for his power punch, the right. Specifically, he held his extended left out in such a way that it would not only obstruct Aydin’s vision, it would also act as a similar instrument used with a gun for estimating the distance to Aydin’s head. In this case, the projectile was Postol’s power loaded right.

Postol didn’t employ this technique until he was satisfied Aydin was sufficiently broken down. It was then Postol felt it was time to step beyond the smaller guns, and move in with the heavy artillery. We’ve all seen this picture. The dominant fighter keeps his lead hand/arm outstretched, either in contact or damn close to his opponent’s cranium. Then the power hand is drawn back as the torque is applied. Alas, the opponent often doesn’t see the projectile or hear the explosion. Later he has to rely on the video to retrieve the moment.

Harold wasn’t picking on referee Raul Caiz, Jr. Rather, he was pointing out an apparent infraction of the rules that seems to be common place. Older fans will remember how Thomas Hearns employed the tactic with great success. It worked against just about everyone, with the possible exception of Sugar Ray Leonard in their first fight. George Foreman used it, along with a potent nudge (wink wink) to work over his opponents. Current fans will be quick to aim their pointer at the Klitschko brothers, especially Wladimir.

The lack of enforcement makes one wonder if indeed there is such a rule, as Harold
suggests? Harold’s credibility is indubitable. We do know referees have broad authority and enforcement of rules violations are up to the sole discretion of the referee. It’s common practice, prior to bouts, for a referee to lecture fighters in the locker rooms, attempting to elucidate those things (rabbit punches, holding, elbows, hitting on the break, etc.) he feels are unsportsmanlike and subject to penalty. Hopefully, without exaggerated stress, and according to Harold, why the hell isn’t it being enforced?

[Condor]

Here is a c/p for standard rules.. Remember all boxing councils may differ a little...

Standard Rules

Boxers must always be standing on their feet in order to exchange punches.
Punches thrown by a boxer must land above the waistline of the opposition.
Punches are the only legal way to hit the opponent.
Only the knuckle portion of the glove is allowed make contact with the opponent.
Punches must not land on the back of the opponent, including the areas of the kidneys and the back of the head.
A boxer hit with an unintentional low blow (a punch below the waist) has up to five minutes to recover and will be considered knocked-out if he is unable to recover.
The head of a boxer must always be above the waistline of the opponent.
When a referee breaks up clinching boxers, both boxers must take a full step back before throwing a punch.
When a boxer gets knocked down, his opponent is restricted from hitting the downed boxer and must go to a neutral corner while the referee makes the ten-count. The ten-count gives the downed boxer the opportunity to get back to his feet to continue fighting.
Once a boxer stands after being knocked down, he must be approved to continue by the referee. If the boxer is unable to recover from the knockdown, his opponent will win by way of knockout (KO).
Slipping or falling is not considered a knockdown, but a boxer who has slipped or fallen still cannot be hit while down.
If a boxer cannot continue due to injury from an intentional foul, the boxer who committed the foul will be disqualified.
If an intentional foul occurs and does not stop the fight, the referee must take points away from the boxer who committed the foul.
Boxers who commit unintentional fouls receive a warning from the referee, who can also deduct points from a boxer if the boxer continues to commit the foul.
Unintentional fouls that end a fight immediately can result in either a ‘no-contest’ ruling or a declared winner. In professional boxing, a no-contest would occur if less than four rounds of the match have been completed. Neither boxer would be declared winner. If the fight has gone past four rounds, then a winner will be declared. The winner, in this case, would be the boxer who has the most points at the current stage of the match. A declared winner via points wins by ‘technical decision.’ A ‘technical draw’ could also occur if the boxers have the same amount of points.
A referee can choose to stop a fight at any point to protect a boxer from severe injury. The boxer will lose by ‘technical knockout’ (TKO).




Read more at: http://boxing.isport.com/boxing-guides/boxing-rules-regulations

[Condor]

..And another one from boxrec.....

The rules of boxing vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and on whether it is an amateur or professional bout. A violation of the following rules is considered a foul, and can result in a warning, point deduction, or disqualification by the referee:

You cannot hit below the belt, hold, trip, kick, headbutt, wrestle, bite, spit on, or push your opponent.
You cannot hit with your head, shoulder, forearm, or elbow.
You cannot hit with an open glove, the inside of the glove, the wrist, the backhand, or the side of the hand.
You cannot punch your opponent's back, or the back of his head or neck (rabbit punch), or on the kidneys (kidney punch).
You cannot throw a punch while holding on to the ropes to gain leverage.
You can't hold your opponent and hit him at the same time, or duck so low that your head is below your opponent's belt line.
When the referee breaks you from a clinch, you have to take a full step back; you cannot immediately hit your opponent--that's called "hitting on the break" and is illegal.
You cannot spit out your mouthpiece on purpose to get a rest.
If you score a knockdown of your opponent, you must go to the farthest neutral corner while the referee makes the count.
If you "floor" your opponent, you cannot hit him when he's on the canvas.
A floored boxer has up to ten seconds to get back up on his feet before losing the bout by knockout.
A boxer who is knocked down cannot be saved by the bell in any round, depending upon the local jurisdiction's rules.
A boxer who is hit with an accidental low blow has up to five minutes to recover. If s/he cannot continue after five minutes, s/he is considered knocked out.
If the foul results in an injury that causes the fight to end immediately, the boxer who committed the foul is disqualified.
If the foul causes an injury but the bout continues, the referee orders the judges to deduct two points from the boxer who caused the injury.
If an unintentional foul causes the bout to be stopped immediately, the bout is ruled a "no contest" if four rounds have not been fully completed. (If the bout was scheduled for four rounds, then three rounds must have been completed.) If four rounds have been completed, the judges' scorecards are tallied and the fighter who is ahead on points is awarded a technical decision. If the scores are even, it will be called a "technical draw."
If a boxer is knocked out of the ring, he gets a count of 20 to get back in and on his feet. He cannot be assisted.
In some jurisdictions the standing eight-count or the three knockdown rule also may be in effect.
In other jurisdictions, only the referee can stop the bout.


http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Rules_of_Boxing