As with all sports there is an amount of rule breaking that occurs in boxing. This can vary in severity and punishment can be instant or retrospective. Listed below are the types of cheating that are known or alleged to have occurred, but are not specific to any particular boxer or fight.
Deliberate Fouls
The most prevalent form of cheating is fouling the opponent using tactics or violence that’s outside of the official rules. It can be hard to judge whether these actions are deliberate or accidental, but sometimes it is obvious. Low blows, rabbit punches and headbutts are some of the more serious fouls. Thumbing of the opponent’s eye with the glove, dragging the laces of the gloves across the opponent’s face, and even biting has been known to occur.
The referee can deduct points from or disqualify a boxer for deliberate fouls.
Drugs
Performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are bad for the legitimacy of sport, giving unfair advantage to those who use them. Many boxers, including some prominent ones, have tested positive for banned substances including steroids such as Nandrolone, or other muscle building / fat burning drugs such as Clenbuterol. Anti-doping agencies are used to test and prevent the usage of drugs in boxing, but it is claimed that not enough testing is being done, or that punishments are not harsh enough to dissuade use.
Failing drugs tests before a fight can result in cancellation. If a boxer tests positive after a fight, the results can be changed to retract the win or strip titles.
Organisations such as The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) are sometimes used by boxers to demonstrate their commitment to clean sport, where they agree to be randomly tested. Some fighters can insist their opponents enrol with VADA before a fight.
There’s no place in boxing for PEDs, simple as that. Those caught cheating should be severely penalised to a point where they would never ever consider it again.
Lennox Lewis
Glove / Hand Wrap Tampering
Without some of the checks that are now routine, boxers (or their team) have been known to tamper with the hand wraps or gloves to give themselves an edge, and without regard for their opponent, put them in even more serious danger than normal boxing allows for.
Removal of the padding within the glove would be one way to harden the punches.
A more dangerous and shocking method has been alleged, in which the hand wraps were dusted with a quick setting material, like gypsum plaster (plaster of paris) which hardens after contact with moisture, such as sweat. This hardened glove would do terrible damage to the opponent’s face and body and could even end the career of the opponent.
To combat these types of activities, the taping and wrapping of a boxer’s hands is overseen by officials and a member of the opponent’s team. The wraps are then signed by the inspector so they cannot be undone or re-wrapped without it being noticed. These signings are then visible throughout the fight.
Boxing Unboxed 