Ring Official's Guide to Boxing South Africa Pro Boxing 18 and Over 2026

Under regulations 25, 26 and 33 of the Boxing Regulations:

• Every fight has a referee, three judges, a timekeeper, an announcer, a ringmaster and a supervisory official, all appointed by Boxing SA. For international or world title bouts they may be appointed jointly with the international body.
• No official may have any direct or indirect financial interest in the bout.
• Boxing SA decides how many ring officials attend and sets their pay, which the promoter pays in full through Boxing SA.
• The referee is the chief official in the ring and supervises the bout.
• The supervisory official has overall control of the tournament and makes final decisions on everything except bout outcomes (which belong to the referee and judges). Before the tournament they hold security and medical meetings and a rules meeting with participants and officials, grade each official's performance, appoint substitutes if an official can't continue, and send Boxing SA a report within three days.
• Seating: judges sit on three sides of the ring, the timekeeper on the fourth. Judges' seats must give a clear view and be at least one metre from other people.

Boxing SA uses a 10-point must system (regulation 34 of the Boxing Regulations):

• At the end of each round, the boxer who gave the better performance gets 10 points, and the opponent a proportionate lower number. If the round is even, both get 10.
• No half points or fractions. Record each round's score on your scorecard at the end of that round. Only official Boxing SA scorecards may be used.
• Points are awarded for:
  • attack: direct, clean blows with the knuckle part of the closed glove to the front or sides of the head or body above the belt (the target area), and effective aggression;
  • defence: guarding, slipping, ducking, blocking and otherwise cleverly avoiding blows, and countering.
• Points for defence must not outweigh points for attack.
• No points for: blows outside the target area, blows on the arms, or blows not landed with the knuckle part of the glove.
• Deductions: the referee tells you how many points to deduct for a foul.

Judges sit on three sides of the ring (the timekeeper on the fourth), score independently, and may be asked by the referee to help decide whether a foul occurred.

Under regulation 35 of the Boxing Regulations:

• The winner is decided by a majority of the three judges, each using the total points they awarded across all rounds, not the number of rounds won.
• At the end, judges hand their scorecards to the referee, who hands them to the supervisory official. Only the referee authorises the announcer to announce the result.
• Draw: if all three judges score a draw; if two score a draw and one picks a winner; or if one scores a draw and the other two pick different winners.
• Vacant title fight: each judge must nominate a winner, and the majority decides.
• Title defence ending in a draw: the champion keeps the title.
• If the bout does not go the full distance, only the referee decides, and the decision is final. The referee may consult the judges before deciding.
• A decision can only be changed later if Boxing SA finds collusion between officials, or a calculation error on the scorecards.

From regulation 27(6) of the Boxing Regulations and its definitions:

Before the bout: check each boxer's seconds are registered with Boxing SA (remove any who aren't), name each chief second as responsible for their assistants and for tying on the gloves, and check gloves, bandages and costume comply.

Commands:

• "Stop!" halts boxing during a round; both boxers stay standing without support. "Box on!" resumes.
• "Break!" separates a clinch: both boxers step back before resuming, and the referee may part them if they don't obey promptly, but must not tap their gloves or arms.

Knockdown count:

• Send the opponent to the furthest neutral corner, then lean over the downed boxer and count each second aloud to nine, indicate the tenth, and say "out".
• After a knockdown from a blow, give a mandatory eight count even if the boxer rises sooner. They may take it standing or on the floor, and you must be satisfied they can defend themselves before "box on".
• If the bell sounds during a count, keep counting until "out" or the boxer rises, in any round. There is no "saved by the bell".
• If both boxers are down, keep counting while either is down; if both stay down to "out", it's a draw.
• "Down" includes hanging helplessly on the ropes, or rising but being unable to defend.
• Wipe resin off the gloves before boxing resumes after a knockdown or slip, and replace a lost mouthguard at the next lull.

Regulation 27(6)(b) of the Boxing Regulations says the referee stops the fight, or ends it, when:

• the bout is one-sided, even if the losing boxer hasn't yet taken excessive punishment (award it to the better boxer);
• a boxer is accidentally disabled or unable to defend themselves (award it to the opponent, subject to the foul and injury rules);
• a boxer goes down three times in the same round from legal blows;
• a boxer is counted out (doesn't rise by the count of ten);
• a boxer acknowledges defeat: can't continue at the timekeeper's signal, turns their back, or signals they don't want to go on;
• the chief second throws in the towel;
• a boxer knocked out of the ring doesn't get back in unassisted within 20 seconds (loser by knockout);
• a boxer commits a serious foul (warn or disqualify);
• one or both boxers are not boxing to the best of their ability (disqualify);
• a boxer goes down without being hit, or stays down without just cause (count to ten without saying "out", then disqualify).

If a boxer retires during an interval, the opponent wins by TKO in the next round (regulation 35(18)). When a fight doesn't go the distance, only the referee gives the decision, and it is final.

Under regulations 34(5) and 35(7) to (17) of the Boxing Regulations:

• Points deductions: for a foul not serious enough for disqualification, the referee tells the judges how many points to deduct.
• Recovery time: after an unlawful blow (other than a cut), the referee may give the injured boxer up to 5 minutes to recover. If they then refuse to continue when the referee says they can, the referee may award the fight to the opponent.
• Deliberate foul: if the injured boxer can't continue, the offender is disqualified. If they can continue, the referee tells the judges and supervisory official; if the foul caused a cut, the offender loses 2 points. If the bout is later stopped because of that injury: before 4 completed rounds, technical draw; after 4 or more, technical draw if the injured boxer is level or behind, or technical decision win if ahead.
• Accidental foul: if the injured boxer can continue, the referee tells the judges and supervisory official it was accidental.
• Accidental head butt that later stops the bout: before 4 completed rounds, technical draw; after 4 or more, technical decision to whoever leads on the cards (technical draw if level). Judges score any partly completed round.
• Cut from a legal blow that stops the fight: the injured boxer loses by TKO.
• A blow landing as the bell sounds is legal; a blow after the bell is dealt with under the foul rules above.

Under regulation 29 of the Boxing Regulations, the timekeeper:

• sits at ringside next to the bell or gong (on the fourth side, with the three judges on the others), on a chair high enough for a clear view, with a stopwatch that allows for stoppages;
• sounds the bell or gong to start and end each round, but must not sound the end of a round while a boxer is being counted out;
• calls "seconds out!" and the round number 10 seconds before each round starts, and before the last round calls "last round" and "shake hands";
• gives the referee and boxers a signal 10 seconds before the end of each round;
• when a boxer is down, motions the one-second intervals with an arm to help the referee's count, though the referee's count is the official count;
• stops the clock if the referee becomes incapacitated, so a substitute can continue the round from that time.

Time taken by referee-ordered stoppages does not count towards the round (regulation 19(4)). Rounds are 3 minutes for men and 2 for women, with 1 minute between rounds.

Under regulation 24 of the Boxing Regulations:

• A ringside physician (appointed by the promoter, approved and accredited by Boxing SA, and trained in boxing injuries) must attend every tournament with two first-aid attendants or paramedics and emergency equipment.
• No bout may proceed unless the physician is seated close to the ring with unhindered access, and the paramedics and equipment are present. The physician may not leave until the last decision is announced, except for an emergency.
• At the referee's request, the physician examines a boxer between rounds or at any other time.
• When a boxer is knocked out, the seconds may not touch them until the physician has attended and given instructions.
• Any boxer knocked out, stopped, severely punished or injured must be examined after the fight before leaving the venue. The physician records a suspension recommendation and any special examination needed, and gives the supervisory official a written report on all treatment at the end of the tournament.
• Referees must complete Boxing SA's annual course on the medical aspects of boxing (regulation 27(7)).

Under regulations 27(13) to (14), 28(11) and 29(7) of the Boxing Regulations:

• The supervisory official grades every referee, judge and timekeeper for each bout as satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
• Referees are judged on effective control of the bout, knowledge and application of the rules, and due regard for the boxers' medical safety.
• Judges are judged on whether their scoring is generally consistent with the other judges, and may only be graded unsatisfactory if their scoring is grossly inconsistent.
• An unsatisfactory grade must come with written reasons and goes to Boxing SA. The supervisory official may not discuss the report with you.
• Boxing SA then notifies you in writing with a copy of the report and holds a hearing to decide what to do. Until the hearing, you may not officiate in that role.
• Each year at renewal, Boxing SA may refuse to renew an official who, on reasonable grounds, did not perform satisfactorily (regulation 4(2)).
• Referees must also take a medical and fitness test at least once a year (regulation 27(11)).

From regulations 27 to 29 of the Boxing Regulations:

• Referees may not talk to anyone in the audience during a round or interval, publicly criticise the judges' decisions, or show or discuss judges' scorecards with the public. They may not leave the ring until the bout is over and the decision announced.
• Judges may not talk to the audience while officiating, publicly criticise the referee or another judge, or leave their seats until the decision is announced. Scorecards must not be shown to or discussed with the public during or after a fight.
• The exception: in a world title fight, a world title eliminator, or any bout where Boxing SA directs, each judge's (and the referee's, if kept) total points are announced from the ring after the bout.
• Referees and judges must follow Boxing SA's code of ethics for referees and judges.
• No licensee may verbally or physically abuse a referee, judge or timekeeper.
• You may only act in the capacity you are registered for, and only one capacity at a time (regulation 2).