The Association Of Boxing Commissions Finalize The Rules For A 10-8 Knockdown

The Association of Boxing Commissions laid out their plans on scoring knockdowns to get consistency over the 10-8 scoring system after meeting on August 24th, 2023.

The meeting included judges, referees, and executives from major promotional companies such as Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions.

This venture arrives following the recent Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia bout. Davis knocked down Garcia in the second round during that process. Although that may have been the case, neither of the three judges scored it as a 10-8 round. Both judges, Tim Cheatham and Steve Weisfeld, scored the round 10-9 in favor of Davis. Meanwhile, Dave Moretti controversially scored it a 10-10.

While the scoring did not have an impact on the result since Davis stopped Garcia in the seventh round, the fact of the matter is that on another day, the result may have been different. With that being said, the regulations confirmed the following.

“It is mandatory to score 10-8 on a round where a fighter is knocked down unless there is an unquestionable outstanding domination from the boxer that was knocked down. Only then may the round be scored 10-9 for the fighter who knocked down his/her opponent.”

Meanwhile, former California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster was in attendance and said the following.

“One of the things that has been happening more frequently than it should is how we’re viewing the knockdown in regard to scoring. I feel like a knockdown round should be a 10-8 unless there are extraordinary circumstances, a lot of domination and damage [being returned from the fighter who was knocked down] … You’ve got to beat the guy up to get that point back. You have to really beat him up. We’ve all seen it,” Foster said