Not all rounds are created equal, and despite being armed with scoring criteria and years of experience, there are still some rounds that — if you can get them to admit it — give judges fits. We can all look at a round and identify when one boxer hits the other boxer more often or harder or when they’ve obviously done more damage. Those aren’t — or at least shouldn’t be — the rounds that cause trouble.
On the other hand, there are rounds that call on judges to use, well, their judgment. As much as we’d like to declare that we can put a fine enough point on analyzing what’s happening in the ring, some rounds will ultimately come down to the judges’ thoughts, beliefs, and experience.
Let’s take a look at some of those rounds and what you can do to determine a winner.
Jabs versus Power Shots Rounds
This may be the most discussed, debated, and analyzed type of round to score — and for good reason. It asks the question: “How many jabs equal a power shot?”
There is no chart, calculus formula, or CompuBox equation to answer this question.
A judge must bring their knowledge of the sport and its mechanics to make a call. For me, that means analyzing the power in both the jabs and the power shots. The components of a good boxing punch include form, body weight behind the punch, where it connects, and the positioning of the boxer when they land the punch.
Good form is not just aesthetically pleasing — power is derived from form. When I studied Tae Kwon Do, our style used the analogy of an ocean wave, with the most powerful waves being the ones with the best form. A good jab has the body behind it; the boxer commits to it and is in position to land it. It snaps with the power of the arm and is thrown with intention. Jabs with the weight on the back leg, a foot turned ready to escape, and executed tentatively shouldn’t be given as much credit when it comes to scoring.
Power shots — whether they are crosses, hooks, or uppercuts — should also be thrown with good body mechanics. That is, feet planted, weight moving forward, commitment to the punch, and executed with speed and force. To do this, the boxer must have crossed into the neutral zone, which means risking getting hit, and they must use the torque of shifting their body weight to throw the punch.
All of this happens in split seconds, and it is not absolute — boxers can meet some of these components but not all of them. This makes it very tough to evaluate in the moment, and it is why these rounds are challenging for judges.
In sum, judges should look for the positioning of the body weight, the commitment to enter the neutral zone to throw, and the shifting of body weight and torque of the body in executing the technique. Enter all that data into your evaluation of how many jabs equal a power shot and make your decision.
It isn’t easy when fights are close.
At first glance, you might assume that these rounds happen when fighters are playing it safe, not being true warriors, and fighters who just aren’t committed. That can be the case, but these rounds also occur with some of the very best boxers in the game.
In 12-round fights between very evenly matched boxers, the early rounds — especially the first three — can be a feeling-out process. Both fighters can be cautious, evaluating distance, warming up, and concentrating on not getting caught early. They circle, paw jabs to measure distance and the opponent’s reaction, and stay out of harm’s way. Nothing lands with power, body shots are thrown without much behind them, and the fighters clinch to avoid danger.
Savvy boxers may pick up the pace close to the end of the round to win it. Sometimes this is referred to as “stealing the round,” which is a term I don’t like. A boxer either does more to win or not. If so little action has occurred throughout a round that one flurry wins it, then that’s the other boxer’s fault for being outworked.
In these feeling-out rounds, when a boxer picks up the energy with, say, 20 seconds to go and lands one jab, one decent body shot, or a flurry with even a little on it, that can be enough to win the round. That fighter gets the credit for winning a round 10-9.
Later in that bout, in a wickedly competitive 12th round, someone is going to win that round 10-9. Both rounds have the same weight and the exact same influence on the final score.
The strategy the judges must employ is to concentrate closely on those early rounds and evaluate the fine points of what is happening. It can be frustrating, and in championship fights, the stakes are very high. In fact, in every fight, the stakes are very high for those in the ring. Each round is its own separate entity. The scoring system is the scoring system, and all rounds count the same.
Keep that in mind when the final decision is announced.
It is much easier for judges to evaluate experienced, skilled boxers than beginners. Experienced fighters use fundamentally sound techniques in the right way, and when those techniques land, evaluating the damage is pretty straightforward.
When boxers windmill punches, throw weird looping ninja shots, punch with no weight behind them, or any number of incorrect techniques, it is difficult to score. Certainly, unorthodox punches can do damage, but often they do not. When they land, a judge has to evaluate the technique as it was. You’ll notice that four-round fights often have more disparate scores, and this is one of the reasons. The fighters are less experienced, and their technique has not been honed and refined.
Excessive clinching makes for unappealing boxing, and it can lead to difficult rounds to score. A punch isn’t considered a scoring punch if it occurs while committing a foul, so holding and hitting shouldn’t enter into a judge’s scoring criteria. When two fighters clinch and lean on each other, throwing listless body shots back and forth for a whole round, it can be very difficult to sort out what is going on at a scoring level.
When both fighters are aggressive, doing damage, and landing punches, it is also difficult. In this scenario, it is the volume of activity that makes it hard for a judge to keep evaluating. Sometimes a very busy round with a knockdown helps the judges by providing a clear delineation point. At that point, a judge may think they can relax — but what if five seconds later, the other fighter hits the canvas? Now the round is back to being unclear.
The answer is to judge the entire round just as the fighters have to work the entire round. That means following every engagement and keeping an ongoing tally in your head of who is winning. The Association of Boxing Commissions teaches that at any time when a round is stopped, a judge should know immediately what their score is. A judge must stay in the moment, in the action, and in scoring mode. It requires deep concentration.
Trust me, it is more relaxing to enjoy a fight from the couch, with a cold beverage, petting your basset hound, and listening to the TV commentators muse on the intricacies of the sweet science than it is to follow every millisecond, evaluating every muscle contraction and putting it into the scoring computer between your ears.
Good judging, when the rounds are tough, is hard work.
