Paris Olympics 2024: How are points scored in a boxing contest? A look at the scoring system after Nishant Dev's controversial loss

Indian boxer Nishant Dev’s split decision defeat to Mexico’s Marco Verde in the men’s 71 kg quarter-final of the 2024 Paris Olympics was overshadowed by a scoring controversy. Nishant, participating in his maiden Olympics, went down to the Mexican 1-4 on Saturday. The 23 year-old began the bout in the first round quite confidently, landing a few aggressive jabs to put Verde under pressure. He landed those jabs on Verde’s face and body, which seemingly left the Mexican in a spot of bother.

Nishant won that first round with four of the five judges favouring him. However, by the time the third round got underway, Marco Verde seemed to have found his rhythm in the contest, and landed an uppercut and a few strong punches against Nishant, which effectively put the latter on the back foot.

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By this time, although Nishant had managed to evade those punches, the Karnal-born athlete looked somewhat exhausted.

Nishant Dev’s controversial defeat has triggered the attention of fans, with some of them saying that the scoring system had been rigged.

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So, how does the boxing scoring system work? We take a look into in detail:

In a typical boxing contest at the Olympics, there are three rounds of a bout that lasts for three minutes each. There are five judges in every bout who determine the outcome of a match. Between each round, there is a one-minute break where the boxers get to quickly get back up on their feet and hope to bounce back in the next round.

As far as the scoring system in boxing is concerned, a “10-point must system” is used in boxing. This is the most common scoring system in boxing. So, what does this mean?

After the completion of each round, this boxer who wins the round “must” be awarded 10 points by the judges. The boxer who loses that round usually receive points ranging between seven points and nine points. This, however, depends on how badly the boxer was beaten in each round and the points are scored accordingly.

The boxer that loses a round usually gets nine points, meaning that a majority of rounds end with a score of 10-9. It is also a must that each round must have a clear winning and there cannot be a tied or drawn score in any round whatsoever.

After the completion of each round, all judges will be given five seconds to declare their scores. Following the conclusion of the final round,  each of the five judges are required to total their scores per round to come up with a winner. Should all judges be in favour of awarding a win to the same boxer, it’s called a unanimous decision. However, if there are difference of opinions between the judges, then it’s declared a split decision.

Should the scorecard of a judge is tied between the two boxers, they would be asked to determine who according to them is the winner. This can happen only if one of the three following scenarios come up:

—More than three judges have declared bout as a tie

—One judge has declared it as a tie, three other judges fail to reach unanimous decision

—Remaining four judges are divided in determining a winner.

The scores of every bout are declared based on the number of good blows that have landed on the opponent’s target area, dominance in the bout as per technical and tactical superiority and the level of competitiveness.

What are previous instances of controversial decisions?

USA’s Roy Jones Jr was denied a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in controversial fashion, despite having dominated his fight against Park Si-Hun of South Korea. This led to controversy and as a result, a computer scoring system was introduced at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The main aim of this was to reduce errors with judging but instead this made the boxers more defensive as they lacked in landing variety punches.

The 10-point scoring system was introduced by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) in 2013. This method, however, was highly subjective given the fact that apart from landing clean punches, a boxer was judged on ability to control the ring, defensive prowess and the athlete’s aggression overall.

However, controversy erupted at the 2016 Rio Olympics when Irish boxer Michael Conlan claimed that he had been “cheated” following his controversial quarter-final loss to Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin.

The AIBA launched an investigation into the matter in 2021 that revealed results were being manipulated by the system. That led to the suspension of 36 judges, although the judges’ names have not been disclosed.