A newspaper decision was a type of decision in
professional boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
. It was rendered by a consensus of
sportswriter
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...
s attending a bout after it had ended inconclusively with a "
no decision", as many regions had not adopted the
National Sporting Club
The National Sporting Club was a club founded in London in 1891, which did more to establish the sport of boxing in Great Britain than any other organisation.
Origins
The club was founded on 5 March 1891 as a private club. Its premises were at ...
of London's rules regarding judges and referees. A "no decision" occurred when, either under the sanctioning of state boxing law or by an arrangement between the fighters, both boxers were still standing at the end of a fight and there had been no
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
, no official decision had been made, and neither boxer was declared the winner. The sportswriters covering the fight, after reaching a consensus, would declare a winner – or render the bout a
draw – and print the newspaper decision in their publications. Officially, however, a "no decision" bout resulted in neither boxer winning or losing, and would therefore not count as part of their official fight record.
This should not be confused with the unrelated and contemporary term, "
no contest".
The development of boxing scoring, initially by round scoring by the referee and two judges, to the modern three judges with the ten-point system, has eliminated this practice.
References
Boxing rules and regulations
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