Picture Credit: X
On Saturday, August 3, Nishant Dev suffered a tough 4-1 defeat against Marco Verde of Mexico in the quarter-final of the men’s boxing 71kg category at the Paris Olympics 2024, missing out on a medal for India. It led to the frustrated Indian fans calling out the sport and its officials for “bias” towards Nishant Dev in terms of how the fight was scored.
Nishant Dev won the first round 4-1 with an effective display of attacking boxing against Marco Verde despite getting the standing count. The Indian wasn’t awarded the second round, losing it 2-3, despite nothing much changing in terms of his performance, while the third round belonged to the Mexican 5-0, who dominated him as he got a bit tired towards the end.
Vijender Singh, the bronze medallist from London 2012 Olympics in boxing, took to his official X account to comment on how Nishant Dev performed, while admitting that he didn’t know about how the scoring system works. He wrote, “I don’t know what’s the scoring system but I think very close fight..he play so well..koi na bhai”.
To clear up the confusion regarding the way the scoring system works in boxing at the Olympic Games, it’s important to understand how it works. The Bridge detailed the “10-point must system” per round in boxing, which was taken up during the Rio Olympics 2016.
There are three rounds of three minutes each in men’s boxing at the Olympic Games where the five judges award 10 points to the boxer who they deem as the round winner. Meanwhile, the loser of the round gets either seven, eight, or nine points, which depends on their performance.
The main determiner of the round winner comes down to the number of body blows, technical superiority, and competitiveness. Meanwhile, the referee inside the ring, who controls the fight proceedings, can give a warning to a boxer who commits a foul, which includes holding, improper hitting, wrestling, and ducking in particular.
A warning results in a point-deduction per judge from the boxer’s scorecard, while three warnings means an automatic disqualification. Apart from the win on points, a boxer can beat his opponent via a knockout, the referee stopping the contest (RSC), and a walkover.
