Boxing in : The referee's authority · 413

The sweet science: two fighters, twelve three-minute rounds, and nowhere to hide behind a team. Contested in nearly 200 countries; one of the original modern Olympic sports since the 1904 St. Louis Games, with women's boxing added at London 2012 Four major professional sanctioning bodies: the WBA (1921, as the NBA), WBC (1963), IBF (1983) and WBO (1988); the amateur code is now run by World Boxing, formed in 2023

Mayweather vs Pacquiao, May 2, 2015, generated roughly 4.6 million US pay-per-view buys and over $410 million in PPV revenue, the highest-grossing fight ever Tyson vs Jake Paul, streamed live on Netflix on November 15, 2024, reached about 108 million viewers with a reported 65 million concurrent streams

17 professional divisions, from minimumweight (105 lb / 47.6 kg) up to heavyweight (over 200 lb / 90.7 kg) World title bouts are 12 rounds of three minutes, scored by three ringside judges on the 10-point must system Boxing is the oldest form of organized combat in sport, and the most exposed. Two fighters of matched weight step between the ropes with nothing but gloved fists, a mouthpiece and their own nerve; there is no ball to hide behind, no teammate to cover a mistake, and no clock to run out for a losing side. A punch missed or a chin caught cold is answered in real time and in full view. From the ancient pygmachia added to the Olympic Games in 688 BC to a Netflix stream watched by 108 million people, the essential contract has never changed: hit and do not get hit.