Judging professional fights is challenging. The crowd is deafening, the corners are shouting, the announcers are audibly doing their thing, and the fans in the arena are allowing their passion to be heard. In the middle of all that, judges need to keep their minds steady, their eyes sharp, and their scorecards impartial.
That kind of focus doesn’t happen by accident. For many judges, it takes discipline, preparation, and even a few rituals. In recent years, I’ve found myself thinking more about what you might call mindfulness – the ability to quiet the noise and stay in the moment when the environment is screaming at you to lose focus.
A spiritual reset
Before every fight, I say a short silent prayer: “Please protect the fighters, please let the right boxer win, and please help me score the bout correctly.”
It’s spiritual, not doctrinal. It isn’t about bringing religion into the ring. It’s about centering myself and remembering why I’m there: to safeguard fighters and give them a fair shake.
I once spoke with Las Vegas judge and referee Robert Hoyle, and he told me he says the same exact prayer. Neither of us claim it guarantees a perfect scorecard. What it does is remind us that the night isn’t about us. It’s about the fighters, their safety, and their work.
The mantra of stillness
Then, just before the opening bell, I give myself a mantra: “Be still and be ready.”
Those five words pull me into the moment. They help shut out stray thoughts – about the crowd, the corners, or even what I ate for dinner – and prepare me for the rhythm of the fight. A boxing match is chaotic. Every round is a storm of sound and movement. A mantra becomes a kind of anchor, keeping your attention where it belongs.
The psychology of distraction
Why does mindfulness matter in judging? Because distraction is everywhere.
Crowd noise can turn a partially blocked punch into what sounds like a knockout blow. A fighter’s reputation can make a jab look sharper than it is. A flurry at the end of a round can feel bigger than steady work throughout. Even something as superficial as flashy trunks or a famous cornerman can tilt perception.
Judges know this, and commissions remind them constantly: score what you see, not what you hear or feel. But awareness alone doesn’t make it easy. Mindfulness gives you a process for managing those biases. It helps you reset and come back to the four scoring criteria – clean punches, effective aggression, defense, and ring generalship.
Lessons from other sports
This idea isn’t unique to boxing. In figure skating and gymnastics, judges are taught visualization and breathing exercises to help block out crowd influence. In martial arts, referees use brief meditations before bouts. Even in the NBA, referees talk about developing rituals to reset after a bad call or a hostile crowd reaction.
The principle is the same across sports: you can’t control the environment, but you can control how you meet it.
Practical mindfulness for judges
Mindfulness doesn’t mean detachment. It means being fully present. For judges, that translates to:
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Reset each round. Treat every three minutes as a clean slate.
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Score only what lands. Not what looks flashy, not what draws cheers.
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Ignore the noise. Corners, crowds, reputations, and histories don’t land punches.
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Stay present. Each exchange is its own moment.
In a 12-round fight, that means making12 separate mini-verdicts. Each one has to stand on its own. Mindfulness makes that possible.
The human factor
At the end of the day, judges are human. No mantra or prayer makes us infallible. But these practices – whether spiritual or mental - are tools that help us do our job under some of the most distracting conditions in sports.
The best judges I know spend as much energy on awareness as they do anything else. They develop rituals to stay grounded. They remind themselves why they’re there. They work on clearing away everything that doesn’t belong on the scorecard.
Why it matters
When judges lose focus, fighters pay the price. Careers get sidetracked, titles shift unfairly, and fans lose faith in the sport. Bad decisions erode boxing’s credibility. Mindfulness isn’t a cure-all, but it’s a way to give fighters the fairest chance possible.
Because in the end, judging is about more than knowing the rules. It’s about knowing yourself – and keeping yourself out of the fight.
