61K1-3.033. Scoring System; Scoring, Criteria; Knockdowns, Fouls; Determination of Win or Draw; Decision Final, Exceptions

(1) Scoring System.

Scoring shall be by the “10 point must” system. The winner of any round shall be awarded 10 points. The loser of any round shall be awarded one to nine points. When a round is even, each participant shall be awarded 10 points. Partial or incomplete rounds shall be scored. Any point deduction occurring during the partial round will be deducted as if a complete round were being tabulated. In kickboxing, points may be deducted from the points earned from each of the scoring judges for failure to execute the number of required kicks.

(2) Boxing and Kickboxing – Scoring, Criteria; Knockdowns, Fouls. The awarding or deducting of points by the judges and referee, the determination as to the occurrence of knockdowns, knockouts and fouls and the procedure to be used following such occurrence shall be accomplished in the following manner and based on the following criteria, which criteria is listed in the order of importance:

(a) The only fair punch is a punch delivered with the padded knuckle part of the glove to the front or side of the head or body above the belt, and the participant who delivers such a punch shall be awarded points in proportion to its damaging effects.

1. A clean knockdown shall be highly scored. A knockdown is scored as soon as it occurs. The participant who takes advantage of the full 9-second count shall be credited with ring generalship that would not be credited to him if he arose immediately and, in a groggy condition, tried to continue. If he arises before the count of nine and handles himself well, either aggressively or defensively after he is on his feet, he shall be credited with ring generalship. If the participant who is down arises during the count, the referee may, if he deems it advisable, step between the participants for such period of time to assure himself that the participant who has just arisen is able to continue. When so assured, he shall, without loss of time, order both participants to proceed with the match. The following shall be used to determine when a knockdown has occurred and the procedure to be followed after a knockdown has occurred:

a. A participant shall be considered to be knocked down when:

(I) Any part of his body, other than his feet, is on the floor,

(II) He is hanging helplessly over the ropes,

(III) He is rising from a down position, or

(IV) At the conclusion of a round in a match, he leaves the ring and fails to be in the ring when the bell sounds indicating the beginning of the next round.

b. When a participant is knocked down, the referee shall order the opponent to retire to the farthest neutral corner of the ring by pointing to that corner, and shall immediately begin a 10-second count over the participant who is down. He shall announce the passing of the seconds, accompanying the count with a downward motion of his arm. The knockdown timekeeper, by effective signaling, shall provide the referee the correct one second interval for his count. The referee’s count is the official count.

c. If the participant taking the count is still down when the referee calls the count of 10, the referee shall wave both arms to indicate that the participant has been knocked out, provided however, that if the participant is counted out by virtue of his failure to be in the ring when the bell sounds indicating the beginning of the next round, the match shall be terminated and the participant who was counted out shall be declared the loser by technical knockout.

d. If a participant is knocked down and is down at the time the bell rings to end the round, the timekeeper shall continue to keep time and the referee shall continue to count. If the downed participant fails to rise before the count of 10, the participant shall be considered to have been knocked out in the next subsequent round. If the participant rises before the count of 10 and the referee determines that the contest can continue, both participants shall be afforded the full one minute rest period between rounds, beginning when one of their seconds comes onto the ring apron, regardless of the amount of time used during the knockdown and subsequent counting by the referee. If a participant is knocked down and is down at the time the bell rings in the final round, the timekeeper shall continue to keep time and the referee shall continue to count. If the downed participant fails to rise before the count of 10, the participant shall be considered to have been knocked out in the final round.

e. If both participants are knocked down at the same time, counting shall be continued as long as either remains down. If both participants remain down until the count of 10, the match shall be terminated and the decision shall be a technical draw.

f. A participant who has been knocked down shall be required to take a count of eight whether or not he has regained his feet before the count of eight has been reached.

g. If a participant who is down arises before the count of 10 is reached, and then goes down immediately, without being struck, the referee shall resume the count where he previously stopped counting.

h. When a participant is knocked out, the referee shall perform a full 10 second count before terminating the match, provided however that if, in the opinion of the referee or physician, the participant requires immediate medical attention, the referee shall not be required to count to 10.

i. If a participant is knocked out of or has fallen out of the ring the referee shall immediately begin a count of 20. The referee shall not allow the match to resume until he has at least counted to 18.

j. If the participant who is not down and who has been ordered to a neutral corner, fails to stay in the neutral corner, the referee and knockdown timekeeper shall cease the count and shall not resume the count until the participant has retired to the neutral corner.

k. If a towel is thrown into the ring when a participant is down, the towel shall be ignored and the referee and knockdown timekeeper shall continue to count as if it had not appeared.

2. If a participant slips, falls down or is pushed down, the referee shall order him to his feet immediately.

3. An unintentional foul may result in a deduction of a point, as determined by the referee. The referee shall determine whether or not a point is to be deducted, using as his criteria the severity of the foul and its effect upon the opponent. When the referee determines that he shall deduct a point from a participant, he shall immediately advise the participants, judges, and commission representative supervising the event of such action. The referee shall not tolerate continual and repeated commission of fouls by a participant. The referee shall give warning to a participant who continually and repeatedly commits fouls and when, in the opinion of the referee, the participant has displayed persistent disregard for the rule governing the commission of fouls, the referee shall disqualify the participant, terminate the match and provide such findings to the commission for appropriate action. Points for fouls shall only be deducted in the round in which the fouls occurred. A participant shall not be penalized in a subsequent round for fouls that occurred in a previous round. The following actions are considered to be fouls, the committing of which may result in a deduction of points:

a. Punching below the belt,

b. Punching an opponent who is down or is getting up after being down,

c. Holding an opponent with one hand and punching with the other,

d. Holding or deliberately maintaining a clinch after several warnings,

e. Wrestling or kicking,

f. Butting with the head or shoulder or using the knee,

g. Punching with an open glove, or with the butt of the hand, the wrist or elbow and all backhand punches,

h. Striking deliberately at that part of the back near the spine and over the kidneys,

i. The deliberate use of the rabbit punch or any punch struck at the back of the neck near the base of the skull and which is not the result of the opponent turning his head to avoid a punch,

j. Jabbing the opponent’s eyes with the thumb of the glove,

k. The use of abusive language in the ring,

l. Any unsportsmanlike trick or action causing injury to an opponent,

m. Punching on the break,

n. Punching after the bell has sounded ending the round,

o. Roughing at the ropes,

p. Pushing an opponent around the ring or into the ropes,

q. Tripping or stepping on the opponent’s foot, or

r. Spitting out of the mouthpiece or allowing the mouthpiece to fall out of the mouth. Referees shall handle ejection of the mouthpiece in the manner described in Rule 61K1-1.009, F.A.C., of these rules,

s. Punching or flicking with the open glove,

t. Clinching after warning has been given; and,

u. The following apply to kickboxing in addition to a. through t. provided above:

(I) Kicking with the knee, or kicking into the knee or to the inside region of the thigh, and sweeps to the inside region of the leg or shin-to-shin sweeps,

(II) Leg checking which is the act of extending the leg to check an opponent’s leg to prevent opponent from kicking,

(III) Grabbing or holding an opponent’s leg or foot followed by a takedown, strike, or kick,

(IV) Anti-joint techniques which is the act of striking or applying leverage against any joint; and,

(V) Holding the ropes with one hand while kicking, punching, or defending with the other hand or the legs.

4. Except in the case of biting or punching while the opponent is down, when the referee determines that a participant has intentionally committed a foul, the referee shall deduct one or more points. Point deductions for intentional fouls shall be accomplished in the same manner as subparagraph 3., above.

a. If an intentional foul causes an injury, and the injury is severe enough to terminate the bout immediately, the participant causing the injury shall lose by disqualification.

b. If an intentional foul causes an injury, and the injury results in the bout being stopped in a subsequent round, the injured participant shall be declared the winner by technical decision if the injured participant is ahead on a majority of the judges’ score cards and if not, the bout will be declared a technical draw.

c. If at any time during the match the referee determines that a participant has bitten an opponent, the match will be halted and that participant shall be disqualified.

d. The first offense of punching while down shall result in the deduction of 2 points from the score of the participant who punches his opponent while his opponent is down, unless the first offense, as determined by the referee, is blatant and a clear disregard of the rule. If such determination is made by the referee, the participant committing the foul shall be immediately disqualified and his opponent shall be declared the winner by disqualification. The second offense of punching while down shall result in the disqualification of the participant committing the offense and his opponent shall be declared the winner by disqualification.

(b) Points for aggressiveness shall be awarded to the participant who sustains the actions of a round by the greatest number of skillful attacks;

(c) Consideration shall be given for sportsmanlike conduct, close adherence to the rules and refraining from taking technical advantage of situations which are unfair to his opponent. Points shall be deducted from a participant for unsportsmanlike conduct, disregard of the rules and taking technical advantage of situations which are unfair to his opponent;

(d) Consideration shall be given for clever defensive work such as avoiding or blocking a punch;

(e) Consideration shall be given where ring generalship is conspicuous. Ring generalship includes the ability to:

1. Quickly recognize and take advantage of every opportunity presented,

2. Cope with a diversity of situations,

3. Anticipate and neutralize an opponent’s form of attack; and,

4. Force an opponent to adopt a style of boxing at which he is not particularly skillful,

(f) Points shall be deducted when a participant persistently delays the action of a match by clinching, holding or lack of aggressiveness.

(g) In kickboxing, 8 legal kicks delivered above the belt shall be required. For each legal kick less than the minimum number required, a participant shall be penalized by the deduction of 1 point not to exceed 3 points in any one round. Each knockdown shall be recognized as a legal kick delivered above the belt.

(h) Sweeps must be obvious attempts to unbalance the opponent and not an attempt to injure the leg of the opponent. Sweeps must be executed with the arch part of the foot and delivered to the outside portion of the forward leg only.

(3) Determination of Win or Draw.

(a) A participant who knocks out his opponent shall be declared the winner of the match.

(b) If both participants are knocked down at the same time and both participants remain down until the count of 10, the match shall be considered a technical draw.

(c) A participant who is awarded a technical knockout shall be declared the winner of the match.

(d) When the winner of a match is to be determined by the number of points awarded or deducted or by the number of rounds awarded to each participant, the scores for all rounds shall be compiled for each judge and the following criteria shall be used:

1. Three wins shall be declared a win by unanimous decision,

2. Two wins and one draw shall be declared a win by majority decision,

3. Two wins and one loss shall be declared a win by split decision,

4. One win and two draws shall be declared a draw announced as a majority draw,

5. One win, one draw and one loss shall be declared a draw announced as a draw,

6. One win and two losses shall be declared a loss,

7. Three draws shall be declared a draw,

8. Two draws and one loss shall be declared a draw,

9. One draw and two losses shall be declared a loss; and,

10. Three losses shall be declared a loss.

(e) A participant shall not be declared the winner of a match on a claim of low blow foul, and a participant shall not lose a match by reason of an unintentional low blow foul.

(f) No participant shall be awarded a match based on an unintentional foul unless the foul was unintentional butting. If a match is temporarily halted because of an unintentional foul, the referee shall determine whether the participant who has been fouled can continue. If the referee determines that the participant can continue, the referee shall order the match to be continued. If the referee determines that the participant is unable to continue the match as a result of an unintentional foul other than for butting, the referee will give the injured participant five (5) minutes in which to recover and continue. If at the end of the five (5) minute recovery period the fouled participant is unable to continue the boxing match, the fouled participant shall be declared the loser by technical knockout. During the five (5) minute recovery period neither participants’ seconds may assist the participants in any way. If a participant is unintentionally butted in a match so that he cannot continue, the referee shall declare the result of the match using the following criteria:

1. During a four round boxing match, if the unintentional butt occurs prior to the scoring of the third round and the fouled participant is unable to continue, the result shall be a no decision,

2. During a six, eight, ten or twelve round boxing match, if the unintentional butt occurs prior to the scoring of the fourth round and the fouled participant is unable to continue, the result shall be a no decision,

3. During a four round boxing match, if the unintentional butt occurs in any round subsequent to the scoring of the third round or occurs prior to the scoring of third round but the participant is not determined to be unable to continue until after the scoring of the third round, the determination of win, loss or draw shall be based upon the score cards of the judges as a technical decision whereby partial rounds will be scored,

4. During a six, eight, ten or twelve round boxing match, if the unintentional butt occurs in any round subsequent to the scoring of the fourth round or occurs prior to the scoring of fourth round but the participant is not determined to be unable to continue until after the scoring of the fourth round, the determination of win, loss or draw shall be based upon the score cards of the judges as a technical decision whereby partial rounds will be scored,

(g) When an injury is produced by a fair punch but because of the severity of the injury the match cannot continue, the injured participant shall be declared the loser by a technical knockout.

(h) If a participant refuses to continue a match while physically able to do so, the referee shall disqualify him, award the match to his opponent, and shall direct that the purse be withheld. The referee shall provide a written report to the commission. If the commission determines that the participant refused to continue a match while physically able to do so, the commission shall require that the participant’s purse shall be forfeited to the commission and shall impose a period of suspension for a period not less than 6 months.

(i) In any case where the referee determines that both participants are not honestly competing, that a knockdown is intentional and predetermined by both parties or a foul has been pre-arranged so as to cause the match to be terminated, he shall not finish the knockdown count or disqualify either participant for fouling or render a decision, but shall instead terminate the match not later than the end of the round and order the promoter to surrender the purses of both participants to the commission representative pending an investigation of the alleged violation. The announcer or referee shall inform the audience that no decision has been rendered.

(j) If, in the opinion of the physician, the referee has received an injury, the seriousness of which prevents him from continuing to officiate, and the commission representative is unable to locate another qualified person to act as referee, the match shall be terminated, no decision shall be rendered and the purses of both participants shall be withheld. The commission shall then rule as to the disposition of the purses.

(4) Decision Final, Exceptions.

(a) A decision rendered at the conclusion or termination of any match is final and shall not be changed unless it is determined that any of the following occurred:

1. There was collusion affecting the result of any match,

2. The compilation of the round or match score cards of the referee and judges shows an error which indicates that the decision was awarded to the wrong participant,

3. There was a violation of Rule 61K1-1.0043, F.A.C., of these rules, relating to drugs or foreign substances, or

4. There was a violation of Chapter 548, F.S., or the rules set forth herein which violation affected the result of the match.

(b) If it is determined that any of the above occurred, the decision rendered shall be changed as directed by the commission.

(5) Conditions of the Match in Mixed Martial Arts.

(a) The conditions of the match for any mixed martial arts match as proposed to the executive director shall be deemed to include the following as fouls:

1. Butting with the head,

2. Eye-gouging of any kind,

3. Biting,

4. Hair pulling,

5. Fishhooking,

6. Groin attacks of any kind,

7. Small joint manipulation to include fingers and toes,

8. Putting a finger into any orifice, cut, or laceration on an opponent,

9. Striking to the spine or back of the head to include, without limitation, hand strikes, punches, kicks and knees,

10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow,

11. Throat strikes of any kind to include, without limitation, grabbing the trachea,

12. Clawing, pinching, twisting of the flesh,

13. Grabbing the clavicle,

14. Kicking or kneeing to the head of a grounded opponent, or stomping a grounded opponent. An opponent is grounded when any part of the body, other than the soles of the feet are touching the fighting area floor. To be grounded, the palm of one hand (a flat palm) must be down, and/or any other body part must be touching the fighting area floor. A single knee or arm makes the fighter grounded without having to have any other body part in touch with the fighting area floor.

15. Kicking to the kidney with the heel of the foot,

16. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on the head, crown of the head, or neck,

17. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area,

18. Holding the shorts or gloves of your opponent,

19. Spitting at your opponent,

20. Engaging in any unsportsmanlike conduct that causes injury to an opponent,

21. Holding the ropes or fencing,

22. Attacking an opponent during the rest period, while under the care of the referee or ringside physician, or after the bell has sounded the end of a round,

23. Flagrant disregard for instructions of the referee,

24. Timidity to include, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally spitting or consistently dropping the mouthpiece, or faking an injury,

25. Interference by the corner,

26. Throwing in the towel by the corner,

27. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area,

28. In the standing position, outstretching fingers toward an opponent’s face or eyes.

(b) A mandatory 1 point deduction will be standard for any intentional foul that produces an injury.

Rulemaking Authority 548.003, 548.006 FS. Law Implemented 548.057 FS. History–New 4-6-89, Amended 8-28-89, 1-1-90, 1-9-91, Formerly 7F-1.035, Amended 9-10-95, 4-3-00, 6-1-04, Formerly 61K1-1.035, Amended 8-24-17, 6-21-22.