The Flagrant Desecration of Safety Rules in Boxing and MMA
Some rules were created for good reason, so why aren’t they being enforced?
With a clear set of rules, winners, and losers, Combat sports become more marketable.
Game of Hugs
Two 2015 championship boxing matches put a spotlight on combat sports inconsistent enforcement of rules: Mayweather vs. Pacquiao and Klitschko vs. Jennings.
On May 2, 2015 the world groaned as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao finally met in the ring. The referee allowed Mayweather to initiate holds, and wrestle with Pacquiao, all night. The wrestling, or “clinching”, almost completely killed the punching in the match. The low-action fight was a disappointment for Mayweather and Pacquiao fans alike. “Holding” and especially “holding and hitting” are illegal in boxing. Referees can break fighters apart, deduct points, or even disqualify them for excessive holding. Elite basketball players are often allowed to take extra steps without dribbling the ball (“traveling”). Similarly, Elite boxers have often been allowed to stretch the rules.
Months later, Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko tried his patented jab-and-clinch against challenger Bryant Jennings. He was not afforded the elite fighter privilege. At nearly the instant Wladimir initiated a clinch, referee Michael Griffin would break the fighters apart. Wladimir had enjoyed a decade of success with this hold-heavy strategy. He now appeared unable to break the hugging habit. Eventually, the referee deducted points from Klitschko for excessive holding.
As a fan of boxing, I would love to see the sport regain some of its mainstream appeal with high-action fights. Referee Michael Griffin’s emphasis on policing the clinch rules forced the fighters to box. I welcomed the increase of punch exchanges.
The push for more action in the Klitschko fight was appreciated. But the sudden enforcement of the clinch rule was jarring to those who had just watched Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. I bring almost thirty-years of fandom into every fight I watch. Like any veteran fan, I often find myself trying to explain the rules of my sport to new viewers. There are debatable rules in all sports. “Traveling” in basketball, or “pass interference” (and much more) in the NFL. Boxing has fallen so far from any kind of consistency that even lifelong fans are losing interest. No one can make sense of it.
For Your Safety
All rules were invented for a reason — and some of them are good. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by concussions in the NFL is now a cable news topic. This has brought safety rules to the fore in American football. The holding rules protect boxers from excessive damage. A held fighter is forced to absorb the full impact of a punch. Fortunately, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Wladimir Klitschko were never prolific punchers in the clinch.
As opposed to Lennox Lewis or Kickboxer Alistair Overeem:
Note that “holding” is legal in MMA, but MMA fighters are allowed a wide array of counters to mitigate the behavior.
Far more dangerous than the clinch is the punch to the back of the head, or “rabbit punch”. Strikes to the back of the head and neck are illegal in both Boxing and MMA. Just a few punches to the head or neck can cause deterioration of motor skills, and paralysis. I am not the only fan who observed the change in boxer James Toney’s speech patterns. James went from fast-trash-talking to slurring each sentence.
77 previous fights doubtless had some effect on Toney, but numbers 78 and 79 took the cake. Toney could have filed assault charges for the rabbit punches Sam Peter hit him with:
The rabbit punch has always been more difficult to police than the clinch. Most knockouts result from punches to the jawline. Fighters train to aim for the hinge of the jaw near the ear, or the TMJ (temporomandibular joint). This is right on the line that separates a legal blow from a rabbit punch. “Rolling with punches” entails a fighter turning their face away from incoming punches. This spares the jaw from the brunt of the impact, but can expose the back of the head. The defender’s glove or shoulder may cushion the impact, but the head or neck may still take damage. It is up to the referee in the ring to determine whether a punch to the back of the head is intentional or not. But any viewer aware of the rule has noticed a severe lack of enforcement in both boxing and mixed martial arts.
The rule against punches to the back of the head was a direct response to injuries suffered in boxing. That was long before the public internet and TBI conversations of today [1]. The people managing combat sports cannot claim ignorance to the dangers of blunt contact. They have been well aware for at least as long as the “rabbit punch” rule has existed, which begs the question:
Why aren’t these rules being strictly enforced?
A common belief in the sports community is that the NBA allows their stars to bend rules. Many NBA stars’ most sensational highlights came after a few extra steps. Stopping the game to police D.J. Augustin slows the action. It may also cost the NBA poster sales for the shot Augustin was prevented from completing.
Why allow Mayweather to control a fight with constant use of the clinch? Why, when clinching does not enhance the action of the fight? Maybe because neglecting to deduct points for the rule violation preserves Mayweather’s marketable image. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. the supremely skilled boxer, rather than Floyd Mayweather, Jr. the rule-breaker.
My father made sure to teach me all the illegal boxing moves. He loved to use the old saying “it’s only illegal if the referee sees it”.
For most of his career, Bernard Hopkins did not have the celebrity to get away with cheating. Instead, Bernard was infamous for his ability to break rules in the referee’s blind spot. Notice how Hopkins uses his opponent’s body to block the referee’s vision:
I find it harder to believe that referees are unaware of flagrant rule violations such as the one below:
What can be done to stop this?
This is about more than preserving a celebrity fighter’s marketability [3]. Combat sports make every effort to prevent fights from ending without a clear victor. Contests that end in a “Draw”, “No Contest”, or “No Decision”, damage a sport’s image. As a fan, I have always advocated for “tie-breaker rounds” to prevent draws [4].
How do fights result in a “No Contest” or “No Decision”? I’ll simplify the explanation to two reasons:
1) A fighter cannot continue due to an injury that is not the result of a legal punch.
2) A fighter is disqualified for rule violations.
Head-butts, rabbit punches, groin shots, and ear-biting are usually the culprits in both cases. Consistent policing of illegal techniques would cause fighters to abandon them- preventing “No Decision” and “No Contest” results. With a clear set of rules, winners, and losers, Combat sports become more marketable. Preventing injuries is a bonus that career fighters will appreciate.
The high-profile discussion of TBI rages on, with no sign of quieting down. If the UFC wants to continue its expansion into the cultural mainstream… If boxing wants to stage a return to acceptance… Combat sports need to make a grand statement about protecting their athletes.
The controlling entities in combat sports should crack down on rule violations. The NFL and NBA use replay reviews and financial penalties to encourage good behavior. ESPN, DAZN, or any of the networks have an interest in maintaining a quality product. Penalty fees could be added to ESPN’s boxing contracts to discourage rule violations. The same goes for all networks, promoters, and leagues involved with boxing or MMA.
Consistent, and proper, enforcement of rules protects the athletes. As a bonus, this consistency makes the sports easier to understand for new viewers, who may grow into full-blown fanatics.
It is impossible to completely remove all inherent dangers from any contact sport.
We can change the public appearance of combat sports as glorified street-fighting.
Footnotes and further reading:
- Boxing created the rule against “rabbit punching” in the days of dirt rings and bare knuckles. Official documentation of the rule is within the 1867 “Marquess of Queensberry Rules”.
- The last brutal “rabbit punch” gif is from the great Jack Slack’s report on UFC189. Slack asks the UFC to take action against offending fighter Caio Magalhaes. You can see referee John McCarthy in the left side of the gif. I have always respected “Big John” as one of the better referees in MMA. This gif challenges that view as McCarthy issued no penalty for the illegal blow.
- Lenient rules are just one way to protect fighters. Tricky match-making and promotion are still mainstays of the sport. Learn how Premier Boxing Champions shepherds their stars through the rankings.
- “Tiebreaker rounds”: Kickboxing organization K-1 used extra rounds to avoid “Draw” results in their fights. I loved this format and the high drama provided by “tiebreaker rounds”.
- Would a merging of Olympic and Professional boxing be better or worse for the sport?
- From Iron Mike to Glass Joe: the myth of the Glass Jaw and the reality of knockouts.
- The fall of Conor McGregor: How to be the bad guy without losing marketability.
Bonus Points:
- I don’t mean to pick on Lennox Lewis by frequently using him as an example. It is because he is one of my favorite fighters of all time that I am so familiar with his career.
- Chasing the white rabbit: I was not able to locate an exact origin of the “Rabbit Punch” rule… But it may have been known as the “Chopper Punch” when used by 18th-century boxer Jack Slack (not to be confused with the writer).
- Deeper in the bowels of the internet you can learn of ancient, now illegal, boxing techniques. Use of these strikes may have lead to injuries and, later, their outlaw. Unfortunately, any documentation of specific events has not yet reached the internet.
