The distance (boxing) The distance (boxing) The distance, in boxing, refers to the full number of rounds in a match. It is frequently used in the expression "going the distance," which means fighting a full bout without being knocked out. In title fights, this is called "the championship distance," which once was 15 rounds but today usually means 12 rounds (See history section), though there were some ten-round championship matches. Non-title fights can be of any length under 12 rounds but are typically 10 rounds or fewer. Women's championship boxing is ten rounds or fewer, each round lasting 2 minutes instead of 3
The distance (boxing) Changes were made in 1926 and 1997 and most recently, in 2000, the International Boxing Association made it four rounds of two minutes each. In professional boxing, until the 1980s, the "championship distance" generally referred to the title rounds that numbered between 13 and 15. For decades, the last heavyweight title match scheduled for less than 15 rounds had been the September 22, 1927 10-rounder between Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey; from then, the only bout that was not scheduled for 15 rounds had been a "scheduled" 20-rounder between Joe Louis and Abe Simon on March 21, 1941. This changed