There are normally three judges present at the side of the ring to score the bout and assign points to the boxers, based on punches, defense and knockdowns. The boxers have an assigned corner of the ring, where his or her coach may manage them at the beginning of the fight and between rounds.

The bouts are won by boxers normally by points given by judges but bouts can also end in split decisions and draws. A boxer may win the bout before a decision is reached through a knockout which is when a boxer is knocked down during the fight and the referee begins counting and should the referee count to ten, then the knocked-down boxer is ruled out as knocked out. A boxer can also win a bout by a technical knockout which is when a boxer is ruled by the referee as unable to safely continue to fight, based upon injuries or being judged unable to effectively defend themselves. When a boxer is knocked down, the other boxer must immediately stop fighting and move to the nearest neutral corner of the ring until the referee has either ruled a knockout or called for the fight to continue.

When in the ring boxers are prohibited from hitting below the belt, holding, tripping, pushing, biting, spitting or wrestling their opponent. They are also prohibited from kicking, head-butting, or hitting with any part of the arm other than the knuckles. If a boxer violates these rules then they may be ruled as fouls by the referee, who may issue warnings, deduct points, or disqualify an offending boxer which may cause an automatic loss depending on the seriousness of the foul committed.

The Women Boxing Archive Network (WBAN) is a complete site dedicated to women’s boxing. On this website you can find everything from current and archived fighting stats, to fighter profiles and interviews. In addition you can look up any woman boxer’s rankings and even find a full archive of knockouts. You can learn the history of women’s boxing (which is quite interesting, by the way), and learn some boxing trivia. But the cool thing about this site is that it comes highly recommended by both USA Today and ESPN – not bad!

So I bet you’re asking, “Why would I want to keep up with women’s boxing?” Because it’s interested – that’s why! Let’s face it; there are some women who were meant to be boxers, and that is an intriguing concept. For example, Maggie Fitzgerald played by Hilary Swank in the Oscar-winning movie Million Dollar Baby had a passion for boxing that could not be deterred. Of course, this is a fictional tale, so I’ll give you an example from reality TV. If you ever watched the Bad Girls Club on Oxygen, you would have seen a “wild child” named Ty who had grown up rough and was used to living even rougher. She got into an altercation with a girl on the show and boxed her around like a man fresh out of training. I guess her stint in jail may have played a role in her expert combination punches, but needless to say, she was approached by a boxing gym wanting to train her after she was booted from the show, and she excitedly took them up on the offer.

It is interesting to think that in a world where women are thought to be dainty and, well, feminine, that there would be some who want to step outside of that box. But there are those women, and they are found on various websites about women’s boxing.

Some of these websites provides an opportunity, not just to learn more about women’s boxing, but to also provide upcoming boxers with help stepping into the ring. As an amateur boxer, you can sign up on their registry and then you will be entered into a database with tons of women boxers who are fighting professionally and as amateurs. The registry is a way for women boxers to contact other boxers, as well as to be seen by promoters and matchmakers who will then contact them for a potential fight. Women boxing websites stress, however, that if you have absolutely no training, you must get some before signing up in their registry. They don’t want first-timers, but they will accept “fresh meat.”

If you are a guy visiting a woman boxing website but none of this interests you, then you’ll be happy to know there is a “hot women” page filled with pictures of boxers when they’re looking pretty for the camera. Of course, these pictures are in the member zone with all of the other cool photos. As a member, you will have access to online streaming videos of fights, extensive records on all women boxers, and a complete women boxer’s photo gallery. Membership is reasonably priced if you choose to have a membership, but if you’re really interested in learning more about what’s going on in the world of women’s boxing then this membership will probably be worth it. Just remember to always do more extensive research before spending your money.