How Scoring Works in Boxing

Three judges score each round under the ten point must system: the winner gets ten, the loser nine or fewer depending on knockdowns and dominance. Clean punching, effective aggressiveness, ring generalship and defense are the four criteria.

Accumulated round scores produce unanimous, split or majority decisions, and draws. Controversies often come from one outlier card, like the 118-110 for Canelo against Golovkin in 2017.

A knockdown costs a point, which is why the Taylor and Fury rallies from the canvas mattered so much..