How is boxing scored?

Professional boxing uses the 10-point must system, judged round by round by three officials at ringside.

How a round is scored. The winner of each round must receive 10 points — hence the name — and the loser receives 9 or fewer.

10–9 is the standard round, where one boxer did more.

10–8 where a fighter was knocked down, or where the round was overwhelmingly one-sided without a knockdown.

10–7 for two knockdowns or total dominance.

10–10 for a genuinely even round, which judges are generally discouraged from using and which is rare.

Points deducted by the referee for fouls are applied on top, and can decide a fight.

What judges are instructed to assess, in roughly this priority:

Clean punching — punches landing with the knuckle part of the glove on the scoring area. Quality matters more than quantity, which is why a fighter throwing fewer but harder shots can win.

Effective aggression — pressing forward and succeeding. Aggression that achieves nothing does not score, which is a frequent misunderstanding among spectators.

Ring generalship — controlling where and how the fight happens, dictating range and tempo.

Defence — making the opponent miss.

How fights are decided:

Unanimous decision — all three judges agree.

Split decision — two to one.

Majority decision — two for one fighter, one scoring a draw.

Majority or split draw, and technical decision where a fight is stopped by an accidental foul and the cards are read.

Why scoring is so contentious. Rounds are judged independently and the winner of each gets the same 10–9 regardless of margin, so a fighter winning six rounds narrowly beats one winning four rounds overwhelmingly. Judges also sit at different positions with different views.

Amateur and Olympic boxing has used several systems, including a computerised punch-count system, and now uses a modified 10-point must with its own criteria.