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Boxing Rules
Boxing rules have gone a long way from the first set of regulated rules, the
London Prize Ring Rules. In the past, where the fight takes place in an area
encircled with spectators making a ring, boxers fight bare knuckled, with no
regulation against hitting below the belt, biting, grappling and throwing
punches intending to maim or kill. And naturally, deaths are a common
occurrence, and oftentimes the fight would extend to the spectators
themselves, leading to brawls and worse –racketeering.
Boxing is a brutal sport. As much as spectators love it, as much as pundits
call it “Sweet Science” it still revolves on one goal: inflicting bodily
harm to your opponent before he does to you. That makes the sport deadly in
terms of comparison top other sport. But with boxing rules in place, while
it can still cause severe injuries, the occurrence of deaths are now absent.
The first boxing rules are the London Prize Ring Rules. Set by Jack
Broughton, it governs the conduct of fighter in prizefighting. The grounds
of these boxing rules are here on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Prize_Ring_rules.
Though these boxing rules are incomplete by large, it addressed the most
crucial of them all, forbidding fighters to hit a downed opponent, including
those that are on their knees. It also addressed the hitting below the
waist, a method that once gain notoriety for its easy dispatching (and
effectively impotenting) opponents. It also addressed the problem of
racketeering, by publicly awarding the prize money immediately after the
match, right in front of the crowd.
The Marquess of Queensberry Rules is the boxing rules that succeeded the
London Prize Ring Rules. It was written not by the Marquess but a certain
written John Graham Chambers who published it in 1867 with the endorsement
of the Marquess of Queensberry. The grounds for the Marquess of Queensberry
boxing rules can be view with this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquess_of_Queensberry_rules.
This Marquess of Queensberry Rules is catalyst for change from bare knuckle
boxing to the modern gloved boxing. It implemented rules, aside from the use
of padded gloves, a timer for the rounds’ duration and the number of rounds
allowed. It also formalized the use of a stage, a ring enclosed with ropes.
And it shortened the countdown for a downed opponent from the previous 30
second count to a short 10 count, as this was, on the London Prize Ring
Rules, bound to be abused as fighters would tend to go down at the slightest
hit for a 30 second rest grace.
The Marquesss of Queensberry Rules is the closest to rules of modern day
boxing. There are two arenas for today’s boxing, the amateur boxing circuit
with its own set of boxing rules and the professional boxing, also with its
set of rules.
You can view the Amateur Boxing Rules here:
http://boxing.about.com/od/amateurs/a/amateur_rules.htm
You can also check out the boxing rules for Professional Boxing here:
http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/068/06801370sections.html
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