What is the difference between Olympic boxing and professional boxing?

Most sports, when played in the Olympic Games, follow the rules of their professional leagues. It’s not like that with boxing. Olympic boxing and professional boxing have important differences between them, and until 2012, the Olympics did not allow professional boxers to participate.

The main difference between the modalities is the duration of the fight. While Olympic boxing, also called amateur, has only 3 rounds, in the professional version of the sport the contest lasts up to 12 rounds. And it is this detail that makes the 2 modalities visibly distinct for those watching. After all, the technique needed to hold 3 rounds of 3 minutes each is completely different from that used to hold 12 rounds. Olympic boxing and professional boxing have practically opposite dynamics. The Olympic version is faster, as boxers need to resolve the fight quickly. In the professional version, teams use the first rounds to study their opponents and then develop a strategy that they will execute throughout the competition.

Another point of divergence between Olympic boxing and professional boxing is the number of judges. In the amateur, there are 5, and in the professional, 3.

Olympic boxing

In Olympic boxing, men and women wear the upper part of their clothing, which is necessarily blue for one and red for the other. At a professional level, only women need to wear tops.

The shorts follow the colors of the shirts in Olympic boxing. With a wide elastic band in a different color at the waist, to make it easier to see low blows. In professional boxing, athletes must wear different colored shorts than their opponents.

In both modalities, the blows allowed are the same. The boxer can only hit the opponent with punches, with the glove closed, above the waistline, in the front, and on the sides. Strikes to the arms are not considered. Participants are not allowed to hit the back of the neck or head, grab, kick, headbutt, or push.

It was only after Rio 2016 that professional boxers were allowed to participate in the Olympics. It was at this same event that the helmet for the Olympic competition was no longer mandatory.

Check Out: 10 interesting facts about the UFC