11 St. Andrew's Crescent
Cardiff
CF10 3DB
Tel: 029 2036 7000
Email: admin@bbbofc.com
The British Boxing Board of Control has been overseeing British professional boxing since 1929. During this time the role of the Board has changed immeasurably. In its early years the British Boxing Board of Control was concerned primarily with the procedural side of the sport such as the recognition of Championships. However, in the last few decades the raising of medical protection standards in British boxing has formed a major part of the Board’s work. Arbitration and disciplinary procedures, revision, upgrading and application of the Rules and Regulations, appointment of Referees and Timekeepers, the licensing of people involved in the sport and representation of the interests of British boxing internationally makes up the bulk of the remainder of the board’s work.
The Board was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company in 1989 and has approximately 2500 licence holders of which around 1100 are active boxers. Of these, the vast majority are semi-professional. There are only a few dozen British professional boxers who earn a full time living in the sport. Few British professional boxers these days have more than 12 contests a year and most compete only a handful of times. This trend has become most pronounced in the last 30 years.
To compare the careers of Tommy Farr and Lennox Lewis is illustrative. The former boxed for a total of 18 years (mainly between 1926 and 1940) and had 104 contests. The latter boxed for 14 years as a professional (between 1989 and 2003) and had only 44 contests. Freddie Mills the former World Light Heavyweight Champion and one of the most popular boxers of the 40s and 50s had 73 contests before he got a chance to challenge for the British and “Empire” Titles. World Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch was able to challenge for the Commonwealth Championship in his 12th contest and the British in his 14th.
Concurrent with these changing career patterns there has been the increased activity of the Board in the area of medical controls and safeguards. The British Boxing Board of Control has never sought to deny that professional boxing is a physically hazardous sport and advises every licence holder of the potential dangers.
In addition, through its Medical Committee, the Board set up in 1950, it has provided British professional boxing with an unrivalled set of medical safety checks and balances. Like any effective system of checks and balances, this works through a mixture of the formal and informal.
Boxing is similar to most other professional sports in that it is a tight knit community. The relationship between the various officials involved works through a process of continuous dialogue, with the Board as the lynchpin. To the outside this can result in misunderstanding about the nature of the Board’s control over the sport. The following sections delineate the roles of the key people in the network of safeguards in British professional boxing.
Nobody who has a financial interest in the sport (other than say a Doctor who charges a fee for a medical or similar) may sit as a Steward of the Board.
Hence decisions by the Stewards, whether popular or unpopular cannot have been said to be have been made for commercial personal considerations. The Chairman of the Board is Mr. Charles Giles, former Chairman of the Midlands Area Council and current Chairman of the Referees’ Committee, a businessman and also a well-known "man about boxing" in the Midlands over the last four decades.
The President is John Williamson MBE, The Stewards are divided into a number of categories and these are:-
A maximum of six, who are appointed by the Board and attend all Board meetings, having responsibility for the governance of the Company, British Boxing Board of Control Ltd.
A maximum of seven, one appointed by each Area Council who attend all Board meetings and have the same responsibilities as above, but also act as a representative for their Area Council and its licence holders.
This honorary title applies to eminent persons associated either with the Board, with boxing or sport in general who may attend meetings from time to time or represent the Board on formal occasions and these currently include:
| Mary Peters LG CH DBE | 1972 Munich Olympic Gold Medallist and one of the best-known faces in British sport, still currently serving in various administrative positions and who is and was a great supporter of boxing in Northern Ireland. |
| The Baroness Golding | Member of House of Lords of the United Kingdom. |
| Mr. Billy Walker | The former “Golden Boy” of British Heavyweight boxing in the 1960s, remembered also for his role as an England Amateur International in the 10 – 0 defeat of the United States Team by the English in 1960. |
| Charlotte Leslie | Former Member of Parliament for Bristol North West. |
| Lennox Lewis CM CBE | Former World Heavyweight Champion. |
Mr. Leonard “Nipper” Read QPM Former Administrative Steward and past President of the Board. Mr. Read was the former well known policeman (the Great Train Robbery, the Krays, etc.) and also Security Chief for the National Gallery.
An amendment to the Board’s Constitution has separated the appointment and resignation of the Stewards of Appeal from within the sphere of the Board’s jurisdiction to ensure not only that they remain independent of the Board but also that this is seen to be the case. Chaired by noted criminal lawyer Timothy Langdale QC, for the most part the Stewards of Appeal comprise of eminent legal people. The Stewards of Appeal are only called upon to meet to hear a formal Appeal by a licence holder against a decision of the Board or an Area Council and the number of successful Appeals testifies to both their independence and the Board’s complete procedural process.
The Board’s Head Office based at 11 St Andrews Crescent in Cardiff is headed by General Secretary Mr. Robert W. Smith, previously known as R.W. Smith, a good class boxer who boxed professionally and who represented England as a Junior International, also previously Area Secretary for the Southern, Welsh, Central and Western Area Councils.
There are seven Area Councils of the British Boxing Board of Control. Each has a Secretary, Chairman, Area Chief Medical Officer and Deputies, a Chief Inspector and Inspectors. A representative from the Council is appointed as Representative Steward (Director).
All Area Councils are “non-financial” interested i.e. none of the members of the Council are permitted to have any financial interest in the sport. The Area Council receives applications for licences in all categories and must consider each application fully and make a suitable recommendation to the Board. Only the Board has the power to grant an application for a licence but Area Councils have powers under the Board’s Regulations to withdraw a licence should this prove necessary, and subject to due process, institute disciplinary proceedings against licence holders if necessary and arbitrate in disputes between licence holders.
When a boxer loses four (4) contests consecutively a copy of the record is automatically submitted to the boxer’s Area Council under Regulation 5.10 and the Area Council is charged with determining a suitable course of action in each case. If the boxer is well known to the Area Council members who have observed his performances frequently they may take no other action other than to monitor his future performances in the ring. If necessary they can require a boxer and his manager and/or trainer to appear before them for interview about the boxer’s future career and in some cases they may wish to suspend the licence of a boxer to prevent him or her from taking part in any further contests until the boxer has appeared before them and proper consideration has been given to his/her future career.
An Area Council will also appoint a representative to sit on the Board’s Referees’ Committee, a special Committee comprising all current and former Class A Star Licensed Referees plus a representative from each Area Council under the Chairmanship of the Board’s Chairman Charles Giles and this Committee plays a role in the process of an application for a Referees’ Licence once the initial application has been considered by an Area Council and also decides on many other aspects of refereeing e.g. proposing amendments to the Regulations. Furthermore, the Area Council also appoints a representative to the Grants Committee which is now incorporated in the British Boxing Board of Control Charitable Trust, a registered charity. The Grants Committee considers applications for assistance from former boxers and others involved in boxing who may be in need of this and in some cases may make recommendations even when no application has been received if this is thought to be appropriate.
The British Boxing Board of Control endeavours to ensure that when a doctor is appointed to the Board’s panel of Medical Officers, he or she has a thorough knowledge of the most common injuries which can occur during the course of a boxing match.
On the day of a tournament one of the Medical Officers appointed to officiate will attend the "weigh-in". Each boxer undergoes a medical examination and is questioned on his/her medical history. If the Medical Officer is unsatisfied about the condition of either boxer, then he/she will not sign the certificate which allows the contest to take place. This applies to all boxers whether permanently licensed by the Board or coming here for one contest only from overseas with an Alien Permit.
No tournament is allowed to commence without one doctor sitting at ringside (with an ambulance on standby throughout the tournament staffed by at least one fully qualified and equipped paramedic). At least one of the Medical Officers at a boxing tournament must be practised and qualified in the management of a unconscious or partially conscious patient and in effect this either means a Consultant Anaesthetist or a Consultant in an Accident or Emergency Unit at a hospital. Although a Referee is in sole charge of a contest and is the only person permitted to stop a contest a Medical Officer sitting at ringside may be called upon to inspect an injury if so required by the Referee and of his/her own volition may visit a boxer’s corner during the one minute interval between rounds should he/she feel there is any cause for concern. Ringside Medical Officers have the power to impose or extend a medical suspension on a licence regardless of whether or not the boxer has won, lost or drawn the contest. No boxer is permitted to leave a venue after a contest without having been cleared fit to do so by one of the Medical Officers in charge.
According to the Regulations of the Board Medical Officers at boxing tournaments are actually appointed by the Promoter and receive a fee by agreement with that Promoter but nevertheless no Promoter can appoint a Doctor who is not on the Board’s approved list other than a new Medical Officer who may be assigned to work with an experience ringside Medical Officer to ensure suitability and training. All Promoters are content for the Area Secretary/Chief Medical Officer to appoint the working Doctors from the approved list.
To give overall advice to the Stewards of the Board and to co-ordinate practice within each of the seven Areas the Board has appointed an Honorary Medical Consultant who is Dr. Ashiwn Patel, FRCP.
The Board’s Inspectors are the "eyes and ears" for the British Boxing Board of Control in effect the "constables on the beat". It is their duty to ensure that all the relevant medicals and safeguards and controls are implemented at a boxing tournament. They act as liaison officers between the promoter and the Board or the Area Council. In the event of a boxer being pronounced unfit to box, it is an Inspector’s duty to inform the Promoter. It is his duty to weigh the boxers and to ensure that the ring is in accordance with Regulations, in particular, size, tightness of ropes, centre ties, ring underlay, padding and lighting. The gloves used in the tournament must be of suitable standard and in good condition.
Each Area Council will appoint a Chief Inspector who is responsible for ensuring that all the Inspectors working under his supervision are fully aware of their individual requirements at each and every boxing tournament.
The Promoters, those who finance the professional boxing contests, are a key link in the Board’s overseeing of British professional boxing. At least six days before a tournament the Promoter must lodge details of the contests with the Board. The British Boxing Board of Control has the power to prohibit any contest which, in its opinion, is not in the interests of boxing.
It is not the role of the Board to match professional boxers but the Stewards are constantly aware of the problems of "mismatches". This may occur on occasions when boxers from overseas are selected to meet British opponents but nowadays record sources are reliable and accurate for the most part and the Board’s Head Office turns down unofficially a number of applications without recourse to formal Board decisions. The Board, or an Area Council, cannot give an undertaking that every contest that takes place within its jurisdiction is an even 50/50 contest and most boxing fans will recognise this. However, both the Board and an Area Council have the power to intervene in what it considers to be extreme examples of mis-matching, a power which is exercised from time to time and one of which all Promoters and Matchmakers are acutely aware.
Although there are the occasional mismatches, there is a behind the scenes dialogue between the Board, Promoters and Managers which minimises those occasions. It is not in the interest of anyone involved in British professional boxing to match opponents who should not be competing against each other. Potential “mismatches” are therefore often eliminated at an early stage, as a result of discussions between the Board and Promoters or their Matchmakers.
The role of Promoters is often misunderstood by the greater public and although a few make very vast profits indeed most licensed Promoters of the Board struggle to make a profit of any kind and require a good personal financial source or successful business to be able to successfully fund their boxing enterprises. When the accounting for a tournament is reckoned up every licence holder who has worked is paid, except, if there is no profit, the Promoter. A Bond or Indemnity lodged with the Board via the Promoter concerned may be used at the discretion of the Board for any outstanding debts accumulated by the Promoter in promoting a tournament. Even the Board has a system of tournament tax which applies to all promotions whether or not they make a profit or loss. There is provision within the relevant Regulations to remit all or part of the tax but nevertheless it has to be paid in the first instance. However, the one person who is not guaranteed to be paid is the Promoter. He or she is the person who must carry the loss.
Although the Board and its Area Councils must remain vigilant to ensure that the interests of boxers are not undermined by the financial imperatives of Promoters nonetheless there remains many examples of boxers who benefit greatly by the success of the Promoters with whom they may work from time to time.
All Referees and Timekeepers have to apply for, and obtain, licences which is only achieved after a substantive training programme. For further details about the qualification of Referees please visit Applying to be a Referee
Only the Board or Area Council can appoint Referees and Timekeepers which is done on a rota basis and they are paid a set fee which is determined by the size and nature of the particular tournament and by the nature of any particular main event or Championship contest to which they have been appointed.
The most important category of all, without whom there is no sport. Unlike the governing authorities of other sports the Board does not actively encourage applications for a Boxer’s licence but merely sets out the requirements by which it is possible to obtain such a licence. For further details please visit Applying to be a Boxer
The British Boxing Board of Control has been overseeing British professional boxing since 1929. During this time the role of the Board has changed immeasurably. In its early years the British Boxing Board of Control was concerned primarily with the procedural side of the sport such as the recognition of Championships. However, in the last few decades the raising of medical protection standards in British boxing has formed a major part of the Board’s work. Arbitration and disciplinary procedures, revision, upgrading and application of the Rules and Regulations, appointment of Referees and Timekeepers, the licensing of people involved in the sport and representation of the interests of British boxing internationally makes up the bulk of the remainder of the board’s work.
The Board was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company in 1989 and has approximately 2500 licence holders of which around 1100 are active boxers. Of these, the vast majority are semi-professional. There are only a few dozen British professional boxers who earn a full time living in the sport. Few British professional boxers these days have more than 12 contests a year and most compete only a handful of times. This trend has become most pronounced in the last 30 years.
To compare the careers of Tommy Farr and Lennox Lewis is illustrative. The former boxed for a total of 18 years (mainly between 1926 and 1940) and had 104 contests. The latter boxed for 14 years as a professional (between 1989 and 2003) and had only 44 contests. Freddie Mills the former World Light Heavyweight Champion and one of the most popular boxers of the 40s and 50s had 73 contests before he got a chance to challenge for the British and “Empire” Titles. World Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch was able to challenge for the Commonwealth Championship in his 12th contest and the British in his 14th.
Concurrent with these changing career patterns there has been the increased activity of the Board in the area of medical controls and safeguards. The British Boxing Board of Control has never sought to deny that professional boxing is a physically hazardous sport and advises every licence holder of the potential dangers.
In addition, through its Medical Committee, the Board set up in 1950, it has provided British professional boxing with an unrivalled set of medical safety checks and balances. Like any effective system of checks and balances, this works through a mixture of the formal and informal.
Boxing is similar to most other professional sports in that it is a tight knit community. The relationship between the various officials involved works through a process of continuous dialogue, with the Board as the lynchpin. To the outside this can result in misunderstanding about the nature of the Board’s control over the sport. The following sections delineate the roles of the key people in the network of safeguards in British professional boxing.
Nobody who has a financial interest in the sport (other than say a Doctor who charges a fee for a medical or similar) may sit as a Steward of the Board.
Hence decisions by the Stewards, whether popular or unpopular cannot have been said to be have been made for commercial personal considerations. The Chairman of the Board is Mr. Charles Giles, former Chairman of the Midlands Area Council and current Chairman of the Referees’ Committee, a businessman and also a well-known "man about boxing" in the Midlands over the last four decades.
The President is John Williamson MBE, The Stewards are divided into a number of categories and these are:-
A maximum of six, who are appointed by the Board and attend all Board meetings, having responsibility for the governance of the Company, British Boxing Board of Control Ltd.
A maximum of seven, one appointed by each Area Council who attend all Board meetings and have the same responsibilities as above, but also act as a representative for their Area Council and its licence holders.
This honorary title applies to eminent persons associated either with the Board, with boxing or sport in general who may attend meetings from time to time or represent the Board on formal occasions and these currently include:
| Mary Peters LG CH DBE | 1972 Munich Olympic Gold Medallist and one of the best-known faces in British sport, still currently serving in various administrative positions and who is and was a great supporter of boxing in Northern Ireland. |
| The Baroness Golding | Member of House of Lords of the United Kingdom. |
| Mr. Billy Walker | The former “Golden Boy” of British Heavyweight boxing in the 1960s, remembered also for his role as an England Amateur International in the 10 – 0 defeat of the United States Team by the English in 1960. |
| Charlotte Leslie | Former Member of Parliament for Bristol North West. |
| Lennox Lewis CM CBE | Former World Heavyweight Champion. |
Mr. Leonard “Nipper” Read QPM Former Administrative Steward and past President of the Board. Mr. Read was the former well known policeman (the Great Train Robbery, the Krays, etc.) and also Security Chief for the National Gallery.
An amendment to the Board’s Constitution has separated the appointment and resignation of the Stewards of Appeal from within the sphere of the Board’s jurisdiction to ensure not only that they remain independent of the Board but also that this is seen to be the case. Chaired by noted criminal lawyer Timothy Langdale QC, for the most part the Stewards of Appeal comprise of eminent legal people. The Stewards of Appeal are only called upon to meet to hear a formal Appeal by a licence holder against a decision of the Board or an Area Council and the number of successful Appeals testifies to both their independence and the Board’s complete procedural process.
The Board’s Head Office based at 11 St Andrews Crescent in Cardiff is headed by General Secretary Mr. Robert W. Smith, previously known as R.W. Smith, a good class boxer who boxed professionally and who represented England as a Junior International, also previously Area Secretary for the Southern, Welsh, Central and Western Area Councils.
There are seven Area Councils of the British Boxing Board of Control. Each has a Secretary, Chairman, Area Chief Medical Officer and Deputies, a Chief Inspector and Inspectors. A representative from the Council is appointed as Representative Steward (Director).
All Area Councils are “non-financial” interested i.e. none of the members of the Council are permitted to have any financial interest in the sport. The Area Council receives applications for licences in all categories and must consider each application fully and make a suitable recommendation to the Board. Only the Board has the power to grant an application for a licence but Area Councils have powers under the Board’s Regulations to withdraw a licence should this prove necessary, and subject to due process, institute disciplinary proceedings against licence holders if necessary and arbitrate in disputes between licence holders.
When a boxer loses four (4) contests consecutively a copy of the record is automatically submitted to the boxer’s Area Council under Regulation 5.10 and the Area Council is charged with determining a suitable course of action in each case. If the boxer is well known to the Area Council members who have observed his performances frequently they may take no other action other than to monitor his future performances in the ring. If necessary they can require a boxer and his manager and/or trainer to appear before them for interview about the boxer’s future career and in some cases they may wish to suspend the licence of a boxer to prevent him or her from taking part in any further contests until the boxer has appeared before them and proper consideration has been given to his/her future career.
An Area Council will also appoint a representative to sit on the Board’s Referees’ Committee, a special Committee comprising all current and former Class A Star Licensed Referees plus a representative from each Area Council under the Chairmanship of the Board’s Chairman Charles Giles and this Committee plays a role in the process of an application for a Referees’ Licence once the initial application has been considered by an Area Council and also decides on many other aspects of refereeing e.g. proposing amendments to the Regulations. Furthermore, the Area Council also appoints a representative to the Grants Committee which is now incorporated in the British Boxing Board of Control Charitable Trust, a registered charity. The Grants Committee considers applications for assistance from former boxers and others involved in boxing who may be in need of this and in some cases may make recommendations even when no application has been received if this is thought to be appropriate.
The British Boxing Board of Control endeavours to ensure that when a doctor is appointed to the Board’s panel of Medical Officers, he or she has a thorough knowledge of the most common injuries which can occur during the course of a boxing match.
On the day of a tournament one of the Medical Officers appointed to officiate will attend the "weigh-in". Each boxer undergoes a medical examination and is questioned on his/her medical history. If the Medical Officer is unsatisfied about the condition of either boxer, then he/she will not sign the certificate which allows the contest to take place. This applies to all boxers whether permanently licensed by the Board or coming here for one contest only from overseas with an Alien Permit.
No tournament is allowed to commence without one doctor sitting at ringside (with an ambulance on standby throughout the tournament staffed by at least one fully qualified and equipped paramedic). At least one of the Medical Officers at a boxing tournament must be practised and qualified in the management of a unconscious or partially conscious patient and in effect this either means a Consultant Anaesthetist or a Consultant in an Accident or Emergency Unit at a hospital. Although a Referee is in sole charge of a contest and is the only person permitted to stop a contest a Medical Officer sitting at ringside may be called upon to inspect an injury if so required by the Referee and of his/her own volition may visit a boxer’s corner during the one minute interval between rounds should he/she feel there is any cause for concern. Ringside Medical Officers have the power to impose or extend a medical suspension on a licence regardless of whether or not the boxer has won, lost or drawn the contest. No boxer is permitted to leave a venue after a contest without having been cleared fit to do so by one of the Medical Officers in charge.
According to the Regulations of the Board Medical Officers at boxing tournaments are actually appointed by the Promoter and receive a fee by agreement with that Promoter but nevertheless no Promoter can appoint a Doctor who is not on the Board’s approved list other than a new Medical Officer who may be assigned to work with an experience ringside Medical Officer to ensure suitability and training. All Promoters are content for the Area Secretary/Chief Medical Officer to appoint the working Doctors from the approved list.
To give overall advice to the Stewards of the Board and to co-ordinate practice within each of the seven Areas the Board has appointed an Honorary Medical Consultant who is Dr. Ashiwn Patel, FRCP.
The Board’s Inspectors are the "eyes and ears" for the British Boxing Board of Control in effect the "constables on the beat". It is their duty to ensure that all the relevant medicals and safeguards and controls are implemented at a boxing tournament. They act as liaison officers between the promoter and the Board or the Area Council. In the event of a boxer being pronounced unfit to box, it is an Inspector’s duty to inform the Promoter. It is his duty to weigh the boxers and to ensure that the ring is in accordance with Regulations, in particular, size, tightness of ropes, centre ties, ring underlay, padding and lighting. The gloves used in the tournament must be of suitable standard and in good condition.
Each Area Council will appoint a Chief Inspector who is responsible for ensuring that all the Inspectors working under his supervision are fully aware of their individual requirements at each and every boxing tournament.
The Promoters, those who finance the professional boxing contests, are a key link in the Board’s overseeing of British professional boxing. At least six days before a tournament the Promoter must lodge details of the contests with the Board. The British Boxing Board of Control has the power to prohibit any contest which, in its opinion, is not in the interests of boxing.
It is not the role of the Board to match professional boxers but the Stewards are constantly aware of the problems of "mismatches". This may occur on occasions when boxers from overseas are selected to meet British opponents but nowadays record sources are reliable and accurate for the most part and the Board’s Head Office turns down unofficially a number of applications without recourse to formal Board decisions. The Board, or an Area Council, cannot give an undertaking that every contest that takes place within its jurisdiction is an even 50/50 contest and most boxing fans will recognise this. However, both the Board and an Area Council have the power to intervene in what it considers to be extreme examples of mis-matching, a power which is exercised from time to time and one of which all Promoters and Matchmakers are acutely aware.
Although there are the occasional mismatches, there is a behind the scenes dialogue between the Board, Promoters and Managers which minimises those occasions. It is not in the interest of anyone involved in British professional boxing to match opponents who should not be competing against each other. Potential “mismatches” are therefore often eliminated at an early stage, as a result of discussions between the Board and Promoters or their Matchmakers.
The role of Promoters is often misunderstood by the greater public and although a few make very vast profits indeed most licensed Promoters of the Board struggle to make a profit of any kind and require a good personal financial source or successful business to be able to successfully fund their boxing enterprises. When the accounting for a tournament is reckoned up every licence holder who has worked is paid, except, if there is no profit, the Promoter. A Bond or Indemnity lodged with the Board via the Promoter concerned may be used at the discretion of the Board for any outstanding debts accumulated by the Promoter in promoting a tournament. Even the Board has a system of tournament tax which applies to all promotions whether or not they make a profit or loss. There is provision within the relevant Regulations to remit all or part of the tax but nevertheless it has to be paid in the first instance. However, the one person who is not guaranteed to be paid is the Promoter. He or she is the person who must carry the loss.
Although the Board and its Area Councils must remain vigilant to ensure that the interests of boxers are not undermined by the financial imperatives of Promoters nonetheless there remains many examples of boxers who benefit greatly by the success of the Promoters with whom they may work from time to time.
All Referees and Timekeepers have to apply for, and obtain, licences which is only achieved after a substantive training programme. For further details about the qualification of Referees please visit Applying to be a Referee
Only the Board or Area Council can appoint Referees and Timekeepers which is done on a rota basis and they are paid a set fee which is determined by the size and nature of the particular tournament and by the nature of any particular main event or Championship contest to which they have been appointed.
The most important category of all, without whom there is no sport. Unlike the governing authorities of other sports the Board does not actively encourage applications for a Boxer’s licence but merely sets out the requirements by which it is possible to obtain such a licence. For further details please visit Applying to be a Boxer