BOXING

Waikato Independent, Volume XXVII, Issue 2814, 26 July 1927, Page 6

BOXING

THE REFEREE

(By Spi Thomas)

The duties of a referee in boxing come iu for the same amount of criticism as his brother official on the football and cricket field, or again the judging of a dancing contest, band contest, etc. Usually the most violent critic is the person that would not be capable of facing the public, or prove a knowledge of how to award the points. Boxing throughout the British possessions is governed by the Marquis of Quoonsbury Rules and some explanation of how points arc gained may be appreciated by those interested in this sport, and a referee must arrinvc at his decision in this manner. Only “hits” landed on the front or side of the head or'iiody count, punches landing on the back of the head, neck or body gain nothing, but if done intentionally will meet with a reprimand, or if injurious will meet with disqualification. There is a big difference between a boxer hitting on the back of the head or body intentionally, and the one who delivers a punch in the same place through his opponent moving in close and causing the blow to land where it was not in- s tended to. This is often done, especially among the professionals, and is a good method of making his adversary miss his objective, but should he misjudge his distance and get the punch on the back of the neck or over the kidneys that is his fault and cannot be blamed on his opponent. Points are also given for guarding a blow, ducking, slipping or backmoving a punch. Ducking means putting the head under a punch and slipping means moving the head to the side and letting the blow pass over the shoulder. Backmoving- is using the feet with sufficient speed to make the attacker’s blow fall short of its objective.’ - There is also side-step-ping, which can be done in various ways but its intention is to cause the.blow or the adversary to miss and pass by either one side or the other. Now, there are many ways in which a man loses points and to mention one or two of the most common is to hold with one hand and hit with the other, and this is where the referee in the ring is practically the only one that can see properly what is actually happening. Then again, when boxers are ordered to “break,” that means they are clinching (both holding), each boxer is supposed to take two steps back and not to attempt to hit during this procedure, and punches delivered on the “break” are illegal. The arms and gloves are looked upon as defence; that is to guard a blow, and often a punch landing on the arm or shoulder meets with great applause, yet the man that has blocked that said punch with shoulder or arm should get the credit. Hitting with the open glove is another method of non-point-scoring and is rather common among the novices, and also among some of the better class amateurs and a few professionals too. The common fouls that bring disqualification are: Hitting below the belt; butting with the head; holding with one hand and hitting with the other; going down without being hit; hitting after the gong (intentionally); hitting when ordered to break; deliberately using the rabbit killer (punching on back of neck), or kidney punch. The more uncommon are: Wrestling, tripping, using the elbows, and refusing to obey the referee. This does not touch all the points, but gives a good insight of what a referee has to consider while handling a contest.