What is a knockdown in MMA and boxing

In both boxing and MMA, a knockdown is a situation where one of the athletes, after receiving a punch, either touches the floor with any third point of the body, or falls into a state where he cannot continue the fight.

The referee in boxing pays much more attention to the knockdown and stops the fight in this case. The MMA rules don’t provide for stoppage of the fight after a knockdown of one of the fighters.

Types of knockouts

A knockdown in boxing is fixed when a fighter either fell after a punch, or lost his balance, or touched the floor with a hand or knee. A knockdown is also a “groggy” condition. As for the latter, it is such a consequence of a missed punch, when the fighter “floats”, i.e. loses orientation in space. And then the referee is obliged to declare a knockdown and start the count, even if the athlete who missed the punch remains on his feet.

In boxing there is also such a thing as a flash knockdown. This is a boxer’s very short-lived withdrawal from action after a missed punch. But even in this case the referee is obliged to stop the fight and start the countdown. The fight can be resumed only when the referee is convinced that the punch has had no serious consequences for the boxer.

Marking the knockout

When making the count, the referee in the ring shall refer to the timekeeper outside the ring. The latter shall start the countdown immediately after the knockdown, and the in-ring referee shall start his countdown with the number of seconds indicated by the timekeeper.

If the contestant is not ready to continue after the count of ten, a knockout is declared and the fight ends early. If the knocked down boxer declares himself ready to continue, the referee will resume the bout only after a quick test of the boxer’s condition. The contestant must call out the number of fingers shown by the referee and perform certain movements at the referee’s request.

Also, the referee in the ring releases the knocked down boxer for a break and decides to continue the fight if the athlete has been knocked down less than 10 seconds before the end of the round. If, however, the contestant’s condition allows the knockout to be declared, the fact that the punch was delivered less than 10 seconds before the end of the round shall not save the boxer from defeat.

Traditional boxing

It is not uncommon for boxing fans to qualify athletes by their ability to “hold their punches”. Indeed, some of them are able to continue the fight and even win it after a missed cannon punch. And there are boxers, who are called “glass jaw” by the fans. They can go “groggy” even after a missed middle punch. But all this is a “folk art” of the fans. There are no scientifically grounded criteria, by which one can determine a boxer’s ability to “take a punch”.

If the referee allows the boxer to continue the fight, he rubs his gloves on his shirt. This action has no practical significance now. It is a tribute to the tradition that in the old days the floor of the ring was sprinkled with various materials and it was the referee’s duty to keep the athletes’ gloves clean.

Conclusion

The conclusion we can draw is that in boxing, knockdown is given more attention than in MMA, the rules of boxing are much more humane, taking care of the health of the athletes than the rules of MMA.