Technical details
The boxing ring must be no greater than 6.10 metres square and must be at
least 91cm above the ground. There are four corner posts, two are white with the
others red and blue, which are diagonally opposed. The floor is covered in
canvas laid over a felt of rubber padding.
Boxers wear leather, padded gloves, which are standardised and provided by the
Organising Committee. Each glove weighs 283gm (10oz) and has a white strip -
introduced in 1972 - to mark the main hitting area. Competitors can also wear
bandages underneath the gloves to give support and stop bones from getting
damaged. These are also provided by the organisers.
Competitors wear red or blue vests to denote their 'corner' and shorts must be
at least mid-thigh length. Boxers also wear headguards, gumshields and cup
protectors.
In the Olympics, competitors are not allowed to have a beard, only a thin
moustache is permitted.
They box three rounds of three minutes each, with one minute between rounds.
Boxers must pass their medical examination and must have 'made their weight'
for their category. In Olympic competition, boxers are weighed on the opening
day and every day of competition.
The boxing bouts are controlled by a referee and there are also five judges
and a jury.
If a boxer is knocked down the referee begins to count to 10, with one second
between each number, concluding with "out" if the boxer fails to resume the
contest. A referee can also insist on a mandatory count of eight even if the
boxer gets up to resume the contest when he is knocked down.
The judges score the contest. Points are awarded to a boxer for hits with the
knuckled part of the glove on the front or sides of his opponent's head or body
above the belt.
At the Olympic Games, there is an electronic scoring device and points are
only awarded if three of the judges push their buttons within one second of the
punch being landed.
At all weights the competition is a straight knock-out draw. There is no third
or fourth place bout. Two bronze medals are awarded at each weight.
Five facts
1) Boxing was part of the Ancient Olympic Games, where contestants had simple
leather straps tied round their hands and trained with primitive versions of
today's punch bags. During Roman times, metal studs were added to the leather
which lead to the sport becoming more and more violent, until it was banned.
2) The revival of modern boxing began in England in the 17th and 18th
Centuries.
3) At the first Olympic Games in 1896, boxing was not included as part of the
programme. The Athens organisers ruled boxing out because it was
"ungentlemanly, dangerous and practised by the dregs of society".
4) Boxing was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1904, where there was also a
demonstration of women's boxing.
5) At the 1908 Games in London five British boxers took all the gold medals.
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