What is a skills bout?

A skills bout is a supervised, non-competitive bout that bridges the gap between club sparring and competitive boxing. There's no judging and no winner, and heavy punching and aggression aren't allowed. The announcer tells the crowd it's a skills bout before it starts.

Rules:

• Open from the 10th birthday to the day before the 16th birthday.
• Opponents must be less than 12 months apart in age and no more than 2kg apart in weight.
• Rounds: 3 × 1 minute if a 10-year-old is involved, otherwise 3 × 1.5 minutes, with 1 minute's rest.
• Coaches can't coach from the corner during rounds. They can give instructions in the 1-minute interval.
• A boxer can have a maximum of 6 skills bouts and none after their first competitive bout.
• Each skills bout counts as half a bout on the boxer's record and must be logged on their Locker account.
• The supervisor and referee can declare "No Further Skills Bouts" if a boxer has outgrown them.
• A club show can include up to 4 skills bouts unless it's advertised as a skills show. No competitive bouts are allowed on a skills show.
• Boxers under 16 must not compete after 10:30pm.