Like in the military, beards are a gray area. Although the reasoning is different regarding beards, in the military and in the world of boxing, the result is the same. Eventually, growing an extremely long facial hair—is illegal. Let’s see why.
Professional boxers can grow beards to a certain extent for two primary reasons: the first is to avoid the jawline of the boxer being hidden by the beard—and the second reason is that the fighters are required to have a clean-cut look. Nevertheless, short beards are, indeed, legal, contrary to widespread misconceptions.
Growing out facial hair—is a part of many people’s identity. It simply makes you look more mature. Likewise, it increases the intimidation aura you have around you, for the most part. As a result, many fighters will grow their beards.
There were numerous instances where boxing organizations asked boxers to shave their long beards. A few instances include a Muslim fighter, who refused to follow the command. Eventually, there’s no fighting with long beards, to avoid any imbalances in the winning odds.
The bear does hide the jawline, which is one of the weak spots boxers aim to hit. A single fierce hook to the jawline—is all that’s required to knock out some boxers. As such, hiding this weak spot—will imbalance the winning odds of the fighters.
This article will further explain why facial hair and beards are illegal in the sport of boxing. The reasoning they give makes sense once you see their side.
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Can boxers have facial hear?
Facial hair exists in many boxers. It simply makes them look more mature and intimidating. As such, many boxers grow short to medium-sized beards. However, some of them take the effort to grow long ones. Let’s see whether that’s legal.
Boxers can grow short facial hear, but not long one. The primary guideline is for it not to hide the fighter’s jawline, a common weak spot to aim to. Likewise, the boxing organizations want the boxers to have a clean-cut look, so they allow short beards. Nevertheless, long facial hair will imbalance the winning odds.
There’s also a common misconception about the beard being a cushion for the boxer. While no one has yet to prove it’s true, a long beard can, indeed, imbalance the winning odds.
If the boxer against you has lengthy facial hair, you won’t see his jawline. As a result, you may, unconsciously, aim to another spot, even when the jawline is wide open. In that instance, your winning chances have slim down, although you may not be aware of it.
Concluding, short facial hair is legal amongst boxers. However, growing long beards will give an advantage to the boxer with the hair, as his jawline will be hidden.
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Does having a beard helps in boxing?
Thus far, we’ve discussed why having a long beard—is illegal in boxing. Some of you, however, may not be as convinced yet, just like I was. So, in this section, we’ll discuss whether having lengthy facial hair gives an advantage.
Having a long beard does help, unconsciously, to the boxer wearing it. That’s because his jawline hides behinds it. Likewise, hair is capable of absorbing impact. As such, the boxer who has the beard—has favorable odds of winning the fight, as he’ll receive less force and impact from his opponent’s punches.
Other than that, there’s no real advantage in having a beard. In the next section, we’ll discuss whether long facial hear can absorb some impact from a punch.
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Can a beard absorb a punch?
When you see an unshaven man, wearing a lengthy beard, what do you think of him? Naturally, as boxers, we want to punch that beard to see if it absorbs some of the impact. Of course, we usually can’t, as that’s, well, illegal. Now, let’s see whether a beard can absorb a punch.
A lengthy and dense beard is capable of absorbing some impact from a punch. According to a study, hair is capable of significantly reducing the impact from a strike. Such findings are accurate with the boxing organizations’ decision to prohibit having a lengthy beard while inside the boxing ring.
Thus, the results of this study indicate that hair is indeed capable of significantly reducing the force of impact from a blunt strike and absorbing energy, thereby reducing the incidence of failure
SOURCE
As you can see, there’s more to our story rather than just hiding the jawline. Because hair is capable of absorbing a large amount of impact, having long facial hair in a fight—is illegal.
Final words
The last study we examined—contains remarkable findings. We now understand why growing a lengthy beard is against the rules. Eventually, it increases your chances of winning, which is something the boxing community, and the fighters, don’t really appreciate.
As such, ensure you get a clean-cut look before an important fight, so you won’t get disqualified over a weird rule no one knows about.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’ll also enjoy reading about the best boxers in history. Knowing them—will give you the opportunity to learn from the best of the best. So, do give it a read.