Renowned Ghanaian boxing referee, Roger Barnor, has provided an insightful and informative update on some rules governing professional boxing.

In an interview with Romeo Oduro on Game TV, Roger Barnor disclosed that the age-old and popular practice of ‘throwing in the towel’ to signal concession of defeat and the subsequent end of a boxing bout has been scrapped.

Roger Barnor detailed the reason behind the removal of one of professional boxing’s most popular rules, indicating that the decision was made due to an occurrence in an Asian country.

He narrated an incident where someone other than the trainer of a boxer threw in the towel from a boxer’s corner, causing a massive melee in a fight in an Asian country.

The incident triggered an immediate meeting of the Association of Boxing Commissions, who held various deliberations on addressing the issue.

At the end of discussions, it was agreed that the power to signal defeat would lie solely in the hands of the coaches of boxers and not anyone from their corner.

Per the new rules from the ABC, a trainer concerned about the pummeling of his boxer could signal the referee by mounting the ring apron and notifying the referee of his desire to end the fight.

“The practice previously was that if a boxer is fighting and his corner believes that the fight should end, then you throw in the towel. That rule has been removed because it is archaic. It was changed because anyone from the boxer’s corner could throw in a towel.

“In Ghana especially, some fans come close to the ring, and anyone at all could throw in the towel, so it got to a point where confusion happened during a fight in Asia.

“Following that incident, the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) came together to take out the towel-throwing element. What happens now if a coach wants a fight to end is that he needs to climb on the apron and signal to the referee that his boxer has had enough,” he said.



EK