Round 12: The Third Man in the Ring
By Mauricio Sulaimán – WBC President – Son of José Sulaimán
Boxing is the oldest sport; in fact, it was the very first sport practiced since the caveman era, where leadership of the tribe was earned through fists.
I was marveled to see evidence of boxing in Egypt, inside the spectacular, recently inaugurated museum, which features numerous images of two men in a boxing stance—a testament to its presence across all civilizations throughout human history.
Modern boxing resurged in England, essentially as a way for individuals to clash with their fists for the satisfaction of those who gathered to place bets. There were no rules, there weren’t even ropes; it was the audience that marked the boundaries of the combat area. The first round would end at the very first sign of blood, and that is when the first bet was settled. Subsequent wagers were placed to see who would win the following round, which would conclude when one of the fighters went down. The end of the fight came simply when one of the two could no longer continue.
In its beginnings, there was no referee. The creation of the referee model was initially just one or several individuals dedicated to making sure no one from the audience interfered in the fight! Eventually, the referee was integrated to control the action once the ring came into existence.
For a long time, the referee was the sole official. In the event that there was no knockout, he would go to the corner and raise the hand of the fighter he believed had won the bout. Eventually, judges were incorporated—two outside the ring—while the referee also kept score.
There have been various scoring systems throughout history. By round, meaning a score of 1-0 was awarded to whoever won that specific episode; other 20-point systems were used, mainly in amateur boxing, until we arrived at the current 10-point must system. One of the two fighters receives 10 points, while their opponent receives 9, 8, or 7 (it is very rare for a round to be scored a draw in modern boxing), with 6 being the minimum score.
Eventually, the WBC changed the paradigm and determined that the referee should not act as a judge, allowing them to focus all of their attention on the action and the safety of the boxers. That is how we arrived at the setup of three judges seated on different sides of the ring, with the referee serving as the ultimate authority inside the squared circle.
Every sport has officials, and without a doubt, they are the least popular people in sports. The soccer referee, the baseball umpire, the football officials… In short, they are the villains of the movie because fans react passionately when a decision goes against their favorite team or boxer.
Every sport has made difficult decisions by implementing technology to try and make the game fair and eliminate controversies, utilizing instant replay to correct whatever the officials on the field might have called.
Now more than ever, officials are in the eye of the storm. Baseball has even instituted a rule allowing the review of whether a pitch was a ball or a strike!
There are many traditionalists who do not care for the implementation of new rules. Many claim that the human factor is being stripped away from sports, and previous generations always express that things were better in their day.
Boxing is perhaps the sport with the greatest resistance to change. It is the only sport where official authority falls upon the entity known as the local boxing commission. Wherever a boxing card is held, it is officially sanctioned by a local boxing commission where their specific rules and procedures apply. There are non-title fights of 4, 6, 8, and 10 rounds, and it is only when the bout is for a championship that the sanctioning bodies who authorize said championship have any jurisdiction. In the United States, for example, every state has its own state boxing commission, and the vast majority have different rules. For championship fights, the “Unified Rules of Boxing,” recognized by the Association of Boxing Commissions of the country, exist and are applied. Curiously, there are states that do not even respect that list of rules and nothing happens; each state is autonomous.
The vast majority of modern boxing rules were modified or imposed by the WBC decades ago: championship fights restricted to 12 rounds instead of the previous 15, the official weigh-in taking place one day before the fight rather than hours before the event—as was the practice for decades—and many others.
Currently, the WBC enforces certain rules that are not accepted in a few jurisdictions, primarily in the USA and the United Kingdom:
The use of instant replay: To confirm or overturn an action that the referee might have seen (or missed) during the bout.
The announcement of open scoring: Revealing the judges’ official scores after the 4th and 8th rounds so that the corners can adjust their strategy by knowing exactly how the judges are scoring the fight.
The 30-second warning signal: Sounded before the end of the round, which causes the action to intensify, among many other things.
The reality is that the health, and even the life, of the fighter rests in the hands of the referee, while justice rests in the hands of the judges. There was a controversy a couple of weeks ago when British referee Mark Lyson stopped the Usyk vs. Rico fight just one second before the bell rang to end the 11th round. Rico was putting up a great fight against the champion, and the round was just about over. What we must understand is that a single punch can change everything—we have seen it on many occasions—and the referee is instructed to stop the fight one punch too early, not one punch too late. The round was about to end! The referee is not a timekeeper; he is the savior of the physical integrity of the contenders.
Did you know…?
At the beginning of the week, we held a session at WBC University where Duane Ford delivered a masterclass on referee mechanics. We had the participation of dozens of ring officials, and it was a highly successful session to ratify the mechanics, guidelines, and procedures of referees.
Today’s Anecdote:
During the toughest fight in the career of Ricardo “Finito” López—who was knocked down for the only time in his trajectory while locked in an absolute war against Nicaragua’s Rosendo Álvarez—López suffered a brutal headbutt in the 7th round. The legendary referee Arthur Mercante took López to be examined by Dr. Horacio Ramírez Mercado, who, upon seeing the magnitude of the cut, indicated to the referee that the bout should be stopped. Mercante, however, gave the instruction to keep fighting. Ultimately, the fight was stopped during the rest period.
Don José later spoke with Mercante:
“Arthur, the doctor indicated to you that the fight should have been stopped.”
To which he responded:
“José, I don’t speak Spanish!”
That is how the invention of Don Miguel Acuña was born: the green and red card. This system allows the doctor to communicate with the referee. If the doctor believes the action can continue, he shows the green card; if he thinks the fight must be stopped, he shows the red card. Ultimately, it is the referee who makes the final decision based on this tool.
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