Furthermore, rules are more flexible in exhibition fights. For example, a world title fight in men’s boxing – a professional bout – will always be scheduled for 12 three-minute rounds; and a women’s world title fight will always be scheduled for 12 two-minute rounds. In contrast, an exhibition fight could be set as six three-minute rounds, or eight two-minute rounds (these are random examples).
Fights can of course end earlier if there is a knockout/TKO (technical knockout, where the referee or a ringside doctor halts the action, or a towel is thrown in), but such results are less frequent in exhibition bouts, where wins and losses do not count towards a fighter’s record – and there is often no winner declared at all. For example, former multi-weight world champion Mayweather retired unbeaten in 2017 with a professional record of 50-0, and he has since fought in five exhibitions. While the 46-year-old has been somewhat aggressive in beating three of his exhibition opponents via TKO, two of his exhibition fights lasted the full number of rounds and no winner was declared.
Sometimes, however, fights that one would expect to be exhibition bouts are in fact professional contests. For example, YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul has boxed six times professionally, taking on former mixed martial arts champions Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley (twice) and Ben Askren, as well as ex-NBA star Nate Robinson and YouTuber AnEsonGib. Readers might expect such fights to be exhibitions, but they have in fact been organised as professional bouts, meaning Paul has a 6-0 record (4 KOs).
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