The pairing of boxers is done at random. There is one elimination round in which half of all competitors are dropped. After further preliminary rounds, winners make the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals fight for the gold and silver medals but the losers each get a bronze medal. On medical advice, the duration of bouts has been changed from previous Olympic Games. In Sydney, a bout will consist of four two-minute rounds, with one-minute rests, compared with three rounds of three minutes each in Atlanta 1996.
Queensberry rules apply, though some rules for Olympic boxing are more stringent than in professional boxing. In amateur boxing, the scoring is all important. Points are scored by landing blows in the "legal" places or weakening your opponent until he cannot fight on.
The ring, a square arena, measures 6.1 metres inside the ropes on each side. The floor is sprung canvas and extends 45.72cm outside the four parallel ropes that border on each side of the ring. One corner is blue, the other red. The "neutral" corners are white.
Each fight starts with the sound of a bell. For a blow to count for one point it must be a clean hit with force, using the knuckled part of a closed fist/glove on either the front and side of the head or the front and side of the torso. No other parts count for points, nor do punches count when deemed "weak" by a panel of five judges. It takes three judges to press a button within a second of each other for a punch to be registered as point-worthy on an electronic scorer. Each judge has two buttons, one for each fighter.
Where there is a close tussle in which multiple blows are struck in fast succession, the judges award a point to the fighter they believe got the better of such a close encounter. The winner is the boxer with most points given by a majority of judges. A drawn contest is separated on the basis of which boxer is deemed by the majority of boxers to have the best style. If that is even, then the result is determined on which boxer had the better defensive technique.
If a boxer touches the floor with any part of his body other than his feet or hangs onto the ropes, that constitutes a knockdown. A count to ten then starts on an electronic counter, which signals a beeping noise on each count. Referees show the downed boxer the count on their fingers. If the boxer gets up, the referee gives a mandatory count to eight and then decides whether the fighter is fit to fight on. If so, the referee shouts "Box" and the fight goes on. If, however, the boxer fails to get up by ten, the opponent wins by a knockout.
A downed boxer can be saved by the bell in the final round of the bout. The fight can also be declared over if the referee deems one boxer to be receiving too much punishment or if the same conclusion is reached by the boxer's "seconds" (coaches etc), who may "throw in the towel".
Two cautions for the same foul in one bout receive an automatic warning, with three warnings amounting to disqualification.
There is no change to the categories of boxing divisions and maximum weights in Sydney. As in Atlanta, they are: light flyweight (48kg); flyweight (51kg); bantamweight (54kg); featherweight (57kg); lightweight (60kg); light-welterweight (63.5kg); welterweight (67kg); light-middleweight (71kg); middleweight (75kg); light-heavyweight (81kg); heavyweight (91kg); super-heavyweight (more than 91kg, no maximum).
