Referee explains the score in boxing match before Joshua vs. Dubois | Boxing | Sport

Anthony Joshua will fight Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight world title tonight (Saturday, September 21).

Two-time former champion Joshua, who is on a four-fight winning streak, will be looking to score a convincing victory over his British rival at Wembley Stadium. There is a strong chance the fight will end in a stoppage, as 25 of AJ's 28 wins have come by knockout, while Dubois managed 20 knockouts in his 21 wins.

Should the fight go the full 12 rounds, the decision will go to three referees, whose scores out of ten awarded to each fighter for each round will be added together to determine the winner. If all three officials agree on the winner, it is a unanimous decision, while if only two judges score the fight in favor of one boxer, a win is awarded by split decision.

The subjective nature of judges' scoring has led to countless controversial decisions over the years, and former British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) referee Ian John-Lewis has attempted to explain exactly how it works from a judge's perspective.

John-Lewis, who is also an experienced referee, explained on The Sports Agents podcast that fighters are scored individually in each round out of 10. He revealed that judges do not keep the scorecard for a round after it has finished, meaning they do not reach a conclusion by watching the entire fight.

He said: “What a lot of people don't understand is that it's basically twelve fights. Each round is scored and you hand in your card, so you don't know how you scored afterwards.

“You don't think about the previous round. A lot of people think we keep our cards, but no, you hand in your card and you only find out the result at the end when you look at the total score and see how we all scored.”

John-Lewis became embroiled in controversy in February 2022 when the BBBofC downgraded him from A* status to A and banned him from their elite events. The reason for this was his inexplicable 114-111 result in favour of Josh Taylor during the undisputed super-lightweight bout against Jack Catterall, which the Scot clearly lost.

John-Lewis explained that there is no set method for the judges to determine each fighter's score in each round. The 61-year-old Gillingham native's method is to use an imaginary scale that tips in each fighter's favour when scoring fights, rather than using a specific punch count or other fact-based method.

He said: “You can't count (the score based on most hits). You have to watch who is trying to win the fight, who is dominating the fight, who is hitting who more.”

Explaining how the jury is put together, he added: “No two judges are exactly the same. It's all about opinions, you know? You only need to have four very close rounds with different scores to say to each other: 'What were you watching?!'”

According to the BBBofC, three judges are appointed by the Stewards of the Board to judge a competition. The Judging Guide states: “For British and Commonwealth Championship competitions, an Overseer will be appointed by the Board to collate and total the judges' scores and to deal with all relevant matters relating to the Championship competition except those matters provided for in these Rules and Regulations which are the responsibility of the Referee.

“When there are three judges judging a contest, the referee must collect the judges' scorecards at the end of each round and hand them to the supervisor so that the scores can be compiled.”

It continues: “At the end of each round, the judge awards a maximum of ten points to the better boxer and a corresponding number to the other participant. If he considers the round to be balanced, he awards each participant the maximum number of points.

“Points are awarded: For 'Attack' – direct, clean strikes with the knuckle part of the glove of either hand to any part of the front or side of the head or body above the belt. The 'belt' is defined as an imaginary line drawn from the top of the hip bones across the body.

“For 'defense' – blocking, dodging, ducking or evading an attack. If the competitors are otherwise equal, the most points are awarded to the one who leads the most or shows the better style.”

A boxer who does not continue a fight – for example after 10 seconds – receives no points for that round and 10 points are deducted. His opponent receives 10 points and is declared the winner. A boxer can also lose the fight if he gets back on his feet within the allotted time but is unable to defend himself.

John-Lewis said of his decision to stop a fight as a referee: “You have to consider everything. It's a really, really difficult decision. But it's about safety. We all have a fighting spirit in us, but when that fight is taken out of you, we do our job. We're there to save you for another day.”