Winning and losing performance in boxing competition: a comparative study

Abstract

National boxing championships represent the first step in discovering potential top performing boxers who could achieve good results at higher competition levels. The aim of this research is to compare performances of winning and losingelite maleamateur boxers competing in the National Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The sample consists of 48 national level boxers that competed in 24 boxing matches. Forty-six variables were established to define technical and tactical performances during boxing contests. To verify differences between winners and losing elite male amateur boxers we utilizedWilcoxon's test (p ≤ 0.05).Results of the Wilcoxon's test displayed numerous differenceswithin winners and losing boxers in advanced defensive techniques (i.e, ducking to the side); offensive techniques (i.e, Straight punch to head by lead hand, Straight punch to body by lead hand, Straight punch to head by total lead and rear hand, hooks punch to body by lead hand, uppercuts punch to head by rear hand, and uppercuts punch to body by rear hand); applying tactics(i.e defensive fighting technique, and Combined fighting technique); Knock-downs (i.e, knock-down by rear arm hook, total number of knock-downs by lead and rear arm hooks, and total number of knock-downs); and way of winning (win by knock-out, and win on points).Results might help trainers and boxers to develop their technical and tactical performance.