Boxing is a combat sport where two people are wearing gloves and fight using only their fists. They are fighting inside a boxing ring where they will try to knock out their opponent for a certain time in a round. Every round usually takes 3 minutes long with 1 minute break after each round. The number of rounds on every match is based on what title these boxers are fighting for.

Every match has a referee that will supervise the match. The boxer should knockout his opponent and makes him unable to continue the match anymore for the other boxer to win. Another way to win is to finish the match and wait for the Judges’ decision. Amateur boxing is popular all over the world. It’s both an Olympic and Commonwealth sport and very common in international games and has its own World Champions.

Professional boxing started in the early 20^th century when this sport was slowly regulated and made as a kind of sport. The bouts during those years happen in United States and Britain. But later on, boxing on United States became more popular and it became the center of professional boxing. After 1920, an association named National Boxing Association (NBA) was later on established to sanction “title fights”. NBA was later renamed to World Boxing Association (WBA) in the year 1962. Then another body was established in the year 1983 and was called International Boxing Federation (IBF).

Starting on the 21^st century, a boxer should be acknowledged by the three bodies to call as the “Undisputed World Champion”. Professional boxing match are longer than the amateur ones. Professional boxing also doesn’t allow any protective gear except for the gloves unlike Amateur boxing where a boxer can wear a protective head gear. This time, professional boxing is more popular than amateur boxing because most of the best boxers are fighting as a professional boxer.

Boxing Rules

NOT ALLOWED DURING THE MATCH:

• hit below the belt

• hold, trip

• kick

• headbutt

• wrestle

• bite

• spit on

• push your opponent

• hit with your head

• hit with your shoulder

• hit with your forearm

• hit with your elbow

• Punching on opponent’s back, or the back of his head or neck (rabbit punch), or on the kidneys (kidney punch).

• Punching while holding on to the ropes.

• Holding the opponent and hitting him at the same time

• Ducking lower than the opponent’s belt

BASIC BOXING RULES

• Take a full step back when the referee breaks you from a clinch. Then you cannot hit your opponent immediately after the break and that is called “hitting on the break”. It’s very illegal on this sport.

• After scoring a knockdown to your opponent, go to the nearest neutral corner as the referee will make the count.

• You cannot hit an opponent that you “floor” while he is on the canvas.

• The floored boxer has only 10 seconds to get back on his feet before losing the bout by the way of knockout.

• The boxer who is knocked down cannot be saved by the bell in any round.

• Any boxer who is hit by an accidental blow will be given 5 minutes to recover but if he can’t recover after that time then he/she will be considered knocked out.

• A foul that causes an injury and makes the fight to end immediately will make the boxer who committed the foul disqualified.

• But if there is a foul with injury and the fight still continues, then the boxer who committed the foul will be deducted two points by the judges.

• “No contest” will be ruled to the unintentional foul that causes the fight to be stopped and if the 4 rounds are not yet completed. If the 4 rounds are already completed then the winner will be the one with most points during those rounds. If the score is even then it will be called as a “technical draw”.

• A boxer that is knocked out of the ring will be given 20 counts to get back in the ring and on his feet without the help of anyone.

• In some jurisdictions the standing eight-count or the three knockdown rule also may be in effect.
• In other jurisdictions, only the referee can stop the bout.

The post Boxing Basics You Should Know appeared first on Freedom Fight.

Mixed Martial Arts or commonly known as MMA is a full-contact combat sport that allows the use of different fighting styles like boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, karate, Muay Thai, Vale Tudo, Brazilian Ju jitsu and other fighting styles throughout the world. It became so popular during the early 1900s.

The first regulated MMA league in the United States was created by CV Productions in 1980 and they named it as “Tough Guy Contest”. Later, it was named as “Battle Of The Superfighters” that sanctioned tournaments in Pennsylvania. But the bad news is in 1983 when the Pennsylvania State Senate pass a bill that prohibits this sport. Vale Tudo, a combat sport in Brazil that was developed in 1920s was then brought in United States by the Gracie Family in 1993. This event was then followed by the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC on the same year. This was establish for them to know what is the most effective Martial Arts for unarmed combat situations. This time, UFC is the most famous MMA league in the world. But there are other famous MMA leagues throughout the world also like Bellator MMA, Invicta Fighting Championship and ONE Championship (One FC).

Battle Of The MMA Fighters

The MMA battle takes place on a close ring or a cage with no equipments. They are only wearing shorts and a thin MMA gloves. No other equipment needed and they are just barefoot during the match. The fighters are allowed to use their own fighting techniques. They can punch, kick and grab just to knockout their opponent and win the match. This battle style was from the origin of MMA, the Vale Tudo that has an English meaning of “anything goes”.
There are some rules on MMA that is similar to Boxing and Wrestling. The fighter has 3 ways to win the match. Fighter can win by knocking out the opponent so that he will be unable to continue the match anymore. A fighter can also win by holding the opponent and forcing to submission. The last way is to finish the fight and win by the judges’ decision. The judges’ decision can be unanimous or a split decision. If the decision is split then the majority of the decision will be the final one. 
MMA has 10 weight classes according to the Unified Rules. These weight classes are listed below.

MMA Weight Classes

• Strawweight – up to 115 lb (52.2 kg; 8.2 st)

• Flyweight – up to 125 lb (56.7 kg; 8.9 st)

• Bantamweight – up to 135 lb (61.2 kg; 9.6 st)

• Featherweight – up to 145 lb (65.8 kg; 10.4 st)

• Lightweight – up to 155 lb (70.3 kg; 11.1 st)

• Welterweight – up to 170 lb (77.1 kg; 12.1 st)

• Middleweight – up to 185 lb (83.9 kg; 13.2 st)

• Light Heavyweight – up to 205 lb (93.0 kg; 14.6 st)

• Heavyweight – up to 265 lb (120.2 kg; 18.9 st)

• Super Heavyweight – N/A

Note: 1 lb grace limit is allowed to non-title bouts.
Some leagues have different weight classes but most leagues are following the Unified Rules for the weight classes. The ring or cage of the Mixed Martial Arts fight differs on each league. Some are circle shape, some are 8 sided, 9 sided, 6 sided and there are some cages also that are just the same with the boxing ring. But even there are many MMA leagues in the world and they are different from one another, the contest is still the same. That is to win and to be the best on an MMA cage. No matter what fighting style you have as long as you will follow the rules.

The post MMA – Mixed Martial Arts appeared first on Freedom Fight.