Photo by: Ryan Hamilton

Over the next few months, with the help of registered judges and referees,  I will discuss the rules of amateur boxing.  Everything I write will be consistent with the official rules of USA Boxing.  For the first question, I emailed level 3 official, David Chaplin (pictured above).  Chaplin is a judge and referee that has officiated 1,623 bouts.  His full promotion to AIBA is still in progress.

RH: We’ve all heard the rule on facial hair.   “Boxers must be clean shaven before they are allowed to weigh-in.“  (A boxer can have a thin-line mustache on the lip, as long as it stops at the edge of the outer corners of his mouth.)  I’ve even seen bouts get delayed because a boxer stepped into the ring with hair on his face and was told to go shave.  I’d never actually seen anyone get disqualified for having facial hair.  That is, until the USA Boxing Tournament this year.  This particular boxer had been warned more then once before he stepped into the ring. But at the end of the bout he pulled his headgear off and low behold-facial hair.  The referee disqualified him.  Now, my question to you is why is it so important for there to be no facial hair on a boxer when he steps into the ring?  Some people honestly think that this is a petty rule.

DC: The argument that always surfaces about facial hair in amateur boxing is that it is coarse and could, hypothetically, scratch a cornea.  If a boxer is to be disqualified for not shaving, it should either occur at the weigh-in or right when they get in the ring (provided they cannot get their face shaved within the 2 minute warning). To my mind, after the bout is too late; obviously the guy’s facial hair is not what won him the bout.