Since London, Olympic boxing has changed in both appearance and mechanics. You may notice over the coming days that boxers no longer wear headguards and the old ways of boxers outscoring their opponent by a score such as 17-12 has been replaced.
In 2013, AIBA decided to remove headguards from amateur boxing, and in recent times have even removed the word amateur, as we move closer to a professional style of boxing.
With this new focus AIBA have also changed the scoring system employed and it now very closely mirrors the scoring system found in professional boxing. So what determines the winner of a fight in this new system?
To begin with, from the five officials judging each bout, a computer randomly selects three whose scores are counted. The new scoring system is based around five criteria:
1. the number of quality punches landed on the target area
2. domination of the bout
3. competitiveness throughout
4. technique and tactical superiority
5. infringement of the rules
Assessments of these criteria, however, are left to the interpretation of the judges and this is where variances come into play.
The system requires the judge to give the winner of each round 10 points and the loser a lower number depending on the outcome of the round. In a round relatively close the score will be 10 v 9, in a round with a clearly dominant winner it will be 10 v 8, and so on to 10 v 6.
Realistically, you will find rounds are generally scored 10 v 9, unless there has been heavy blows taken and counts given or there has been a knockdown.
At the end of the fight the judges’ scores are tallied and the decision is announced.
In cases where all judges give the same boxer at least two of the three rounds it will be a unanimous decision and in cases where judges differ on who won more rounds it will be deemed a majority or split decision.
