Sidelights boxing terminologies: Caution vs warning

LONDON – Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov won a 17-16 decision over Filipino Mark Barriga by what is called “technicality” but it is more than that because there was the deliberate intent by the referee to declare two-point penalties to favor the other side, a Kazakh.

The rules say that for each warning, the boxer will be penalized by awarding two points to his opponent.

Some of the infractions in the bout were holding, tipping and butting. Barriga was already ahead after two rounds with scores of 4-5, 6-3, before the referee started counting the penalties.

But first he must “caution” the boxer before he can, at his discretion as referee, declare a “warning,” which translates to two-point penalty.

In the third round, Barriga dropped to the ground twice. The referee looked at the first incident as the result of Barriga tripping the Kazakh. So the penalty was on Barriga and the Kazakh had two points to his running score.

“How could I have wrestled him to the ground when I am smaller (5-0) than him (5-7) and I fell first to the ground,” said Barriga later, as the Philippine team awaited the decision of the jury of appeals on the Phl team’s formal protest.

That’s a huge, unbridgeable lead in a close match, but the Kazakh and his coach thought they were still trailing Barriga on the scorecards. The running scores are not flashed on the screens for the public to see, and the public as well as the officials have to wait until the end of the match to know the real score.

When both fighters fell to the ground again, the referee this time issued a penalty to both fighters – which means none had the point advantage. The referee knows the Kazakh was ahead on points.

The official results showed two warnings were issued on Barriga and one on the Kazakh. A third warning will result in disqualification. Both fighters have been cautioned, not warned, for pushing, tripping and butting in the third round, but only two penalties were called.

If the Filipino was shown to be still ahead after that infraction, the referee could have considered another option against Barriga – a third warning (not a caution) which will disqualify Barriga from the match. Remember, a referee’s call is subjective call.

But the Kazakh was already ahead, and the outcome sealed with barely a minute left.

So, when boxing team manager Ed Picson submitted a formal protest, it was not even reviewed by the jury of appeals. The boxing official who received the hand-written protest said it is too “subjective to review” and on the words “caution” and “warning,” he said, “giving warnings without cautions is groundless.”

I don’t even know what he means.