Find out the official ruling regarding whether a boxing referee can disregard a towel being thrown in by a fighter's corner-person.
Can a referee disregard a thrown in towel in boxing?
In boxing, a member of one of the fighters corner team throwing in the towel is traditionally recognised as a signal that they want their fighter’s participation in a contest to end.
However, the question of whether a referee simply has to bring a halt to the contest as soon as the towel is thrown in isn't as clear as many would imagine.
Whilst the perception that a towel being thrown in automatically means the fight will end isn't ture; with the actual decision solely resting in the hands of the official in charge.
In standard boxing commission rules, nobody other than the in-ring referee possesses the authority to stop a fight when a towel is thrown in -- not a trainer, not a corner person and not even the fighter themselves.
The act of throwing a towel into the ring is officially a request to stop the fight, and not an automatic legal stoppage.
A referee is able to pick up a towel and throw it back out of the ring if they feel the fighter is able to safely defend themselves.
Proper protocol for a corner member wanting to officially bring an end to the contest involves physically signaling the ring apron, talking directly to a ringside inspector/doctor, or climbing onto the apron.
It's a rule that has, in the past, been met with scepticism, with Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn claiming the rule should be changed for the safety of boxers.
"The referee had the right to reject the towel coming in," Hearn said in 2021 after referee Steve Gray rejected Lewis Ritson’s corner’s towel before he was stopped by Jeremias Ponce.
"I don’t think they should have that right, quite frankly, because that’s putting fighters in danger.
"Nobody knows a fighter better than the corner team. Nobody knows the conversations that have gone on other than the corner team and the fighter.
"When the towel comes in from the head trainer, particularly in this instance from the father, you can’t throw it back out the ring. That’s not on. In his opinion, ultimately the decision is with the referee.
"In my opinion, you shouldn’t be given that responsibility. You have to act accordingly, I thought he missed the towel, but to throw it out of the ring was bizarre."
