The United States of America won all the medals when boxing made its debut on the Olympic programme during the 1904 Olympic Games in Saint Louis.

Not surprisingly, the United States was the only team to enter the boxing competition! Boxing was not included in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm because Swedish law prohibited boxing. In 1950 the AIBA Congress decided to have no contests for the bronze medal.

It has thus been the practice since the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki that the losers of the semi-final are both ranked as placing third. In 1952 both third place finishers were only awarded diplomas. In 1956 this was changed and bronze medals are now given to both third place finishers.

A more recent change to the rules and regulations occurred at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when the compulsory wearing of head guards was introduced. An electronic scoring machine to make judges' officiating more objective was also introduced in 1992. Now only blows registered within one second by at least three of five judges are taken into account.

Rules

Rounds

A. World, Olympic and Continental Championships and Tournaments. In World, Olympic or Continental Championships or Tournaments, there shall be four rounds of two (2) minutes each. Stopping the contest for warnings, cautions, bringing the dress for equipment into order, or for any other reason, is not included in the two (2) minutes. A full one (1) minute rest period shall be given between the rounds. No additional round may be given.

B. International Contests. In International contests the rounds are normally the same as above, but if previously agreed, three (3) or four (4) rounds of three (3) minutes each or six (6) rounds of two (2) minutes each may be boxed. There shall always be a one (1) minute interval between rounds.

Fouls

Cautions, Warnings, Disqualifications. The competitor who does not obey the instructions of the Referee, acts against the Rules of boxing, boxes in any unsportsmanlike manner, or commits fouls, can, at the discretion of the Referee, be cautioned, warned or disqualified. A Referee may, without stopping a contest,caution a boxer at some safe opportunity. If he intends to warn a boxer, he shall stop the contest, and will demonstrate the infringement.

He will then point to the boxer and to each of the five Judges. A Referee having once administered a warning for a particular foul, i.e., holding, cannot issue a caution for the same type of offence. A third caution for the same type of foul will mandatorily require a warning to be issued. Only three warnings may be given to the same boxer in one contest. The third warning brings automatic disqualification.

The second

Each competitor is entitled to two seconds who shall be governed by the following rules:

1. Only the two seconds shall mount the apron of the ring and only one may enter the ring;

2. During the boxing, none of the seconds shall remain on the Platform of the ring. Before a round begins, they shall remove from the Platform of the ring, seats, towels, buckets, etc;

3. The seconds, while officiating in the corner, shall be in possession of a towel and sponge for the boxer. A second may give in for a competitor, and may, when he considers his boxer to be in difficulty, throw the sponge or towel into the ring, except when the Referee is in the course of counting;

4. The Chairperson of the Referees and Judges Commission at each tournament shall arrange a joint meeting of the Referees and Judges and the seconds who are going to work in each tournament and emphasize that AIBA Rules will be followed and that boxers violating these rules may lose not only points, but the Championship because of rule infractions;

5. No advice, assistance or encouragement shall be given to a competitor by his seconds during the progress of the rounds. If a second infringes the rules, he may be warned or disqualified. His boxer may also be cautioned, warned or disqualified by the Referee for offences committed by his seconds; Any second or official encouraging or inciting spectators by words or signs to advise or encourage a boxer during the progress of a round shall not be permitted to continue to act as a second official at the tournament where the offence is committed.

If a second is removed by the Referee from the corner, he shall not officiate any more in that session of the competition. Once such an official is removed from the corner by the Referee, he shall leave the boxing hall for the remainder of the session. If, during the tournament he is removed for a second time, he shall be permanently suspended from acting as a second in that tournament.

Referees and Judges

A. Championships. In the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup competitions and AIBA Challenge Matches, Continental Championships and other International Championships each contest shall be controlled by an AIBA approved Referee who shall officiate in the ring, but shall not mark a scoring paper.

B. Judges. Each contest shall be marked by five AIBA Judges who shall be seated separated from the public and immediately adjacent to the ring. Two of the Judges shall be seated on the same side of the ring at a sufficient distance from one another, and each of the other three Judges shall be seated at the centre of one of the other three sides of the ring. When the number of officials available is insufficient, 3 Judges instead of 5 may be used, but this shall not apply to the Olympic Games, World Championships or Continental Championships.

C. International Matches. In International Matches consisting of the teams of two or more National Associations, a contest may be controlled in such a manner as maybe agreed between the official representatives of the Associations concerned,provided that such agreement shall not override the basic principles for Refereeing and Judging laid down in the rules of AIBA.

D. Neutrality. To ensure neutrality, the names of the Referee and the five Judges for each contest shall be selected by the Commission of Refereeing and Judging.

The Timekeeper

1. The main duty of the timekeeper is to regulate the number and duration of the rounds and the intervals between rounds. The intervals between rounds shall be of a full minute duration;

2. Five seconds before the commencement of each round, he shall clear the ring by ordering "clear the ring" or "second out";

3. He shall commence and end each round by striking the gong or bell;

4. He shall announce the number of each round immediately prior to commencing it;

5. He shall take off time for temporary stoppages, or when instructed to do so by the Referee;

6. He shall regulate all periods of time and counts by a watch or clock;

7. At a "knock-down", the Timekeeper shall give sound signal to the Referee indicating the elapsing seconds while the latter is counting;

8. If, at the end of a round, a boxer is "down" and the Referee is in the course of counting, the gong indicating the end of the round of two minutes will not be sounded. The gong will be sounded only when the Referee gives the command "Box" indicating the continuation of the match.

Time and venue

The boxing event of the 29th Olympic Games will be held at the Workers' Indoor Arena in Beijing from August 9-24, 2008.