Wikipedia:WikiProject Boxing/MOSGuidelines

Example lead sections

General guidelines

• If a boxer is no longer active, list the year ranges when they competed: ... competed from 1998 to 2005 if they had a steady career without long gaps, or ... competed between 2000 and 2011 if they spent many years out of the sport; e.g., George Foreman.
  • Use former professional boxer instead of retired professional boxer, as a retired athlete may still be in various forms of employment regardless of their age.
• It is not necessary to pipe link [[professional boxing|professional boxer]] or [[amateur boxing|amateur boxer]], as this is discouraged by WP:NOTBROKEN and MOS:NOPIPE. Also avoid splitting links: [[professional boxing|professional]] [[boxing|boxer]].
• Undefeated records for active boxers should not be emphasised, per WP:PEA and WP:PROMO. The infobox presents such statistics with a more neutral point of view.
  • If a boxer retired or died undefeated, particularly if they held a major world title at the time, link to the list of undefeated boxing world champions article.
• Notable wins or opponents should usually not be included in the lead section, as that does not represent a concise overview of the article; it does not present a neutral point of view; and there is no objective way to determine what makes a victory notable. If it is believed that a single notable victory should be added for a specific boxer, discuss it first on the article's talk page or on the talk page of this WikiProject to determine by consensus whether or not that information should go in the lead section.
• Trainers, promoters or managers should usually not be listed, per WP:PROMO, but can be mentioned in the Professional career section if they are relevant.

Sanctioning body, weight class and championship formatting

These are the formats used by the four main sanctioning bodies, The Ring magazine, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), and Wikipedia's own articles:

Example record table

This is an example blank record with one empty fight slot and a summary box. Users who are new to editing are encouraged to experiment using their own sandbox in order to familiarise themselves with how it works. The fields can be modified or removed accordingly:

==Professional boxing record==
{{Boxing record summary
|draws=<!-- Draws -->
|nc=<!-- No contests -->
|ko-wins=<!-- Knockout wins -->
|ko-losses=<!-- Knockout losses -->
|dec-wins=<!-- Decision wins -->
|dec-losses=<!-- Decision losses -->
|dq-wins=<!-- Disqualification wins -->
|dq-losses=<!-- Disqualification losses -->
}}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" 
|-
!{{abbr|No.|Number}}
!Result
!Record
!Opponent
!Type
!Round(s), time
!Date
!Location
!Notes
|-
|<!-- Fight number in descending order -->
|<!-- Win, loss, draw, or no contest -->
|<!-- Boxer's post-fight record -->
|style="text-align:left;"|<!-- Name of opponent -->
|<!-- Result type -->
|<!-- Round number if stopped, total number of scheduled rounds, and time of stoppage if available -->
|<!-- Fight date -->
|style="text-align:left;"|{{small|<!-- Location -->}}
|style="text-align:left;"|{{small|<!-- Titles at stake; reasons for TD, DQ, or NC -->}}
|}

To add a single new fight slot, copy and paste the following:

|-
|
|
|
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|
|
|style="text-align:left;"|
|style="text-align:left;"|

... and place it immediately below !Notes

Below is an exhaustive example of a fictional record table, together with a summary box, with many different scenarios:

Usage

• For the first table, use {{Boxing record summary}} and input the various statistics which apply. Similarly to the infobox, leave any non-applicable fields blank instead of including a "0", or remove the fields entirely if the boxer has retired.
• All links in the Location and Notes columns should begin from the bottom of the table, and only linked on the first instance without repeating. For more, see WP:OVERLINK.
  • Names in the Opponent column, in the case of rematches, are the only element which may be linked repeatedly.
• Location and Notes should use the {{small}} template, as they contain the largest amount of text compared to the other columns.

No.

• A boxer's total number of fights, in descending order (most recent on top).

Result

• Use one of five different outcomes:
  • Win – |{{yes2}}Win
  • Loss – |{{no2}}Loss
  • Draw – |{{draw}}Draw
  • No contest – |style="background:#DDD"|NC
  • Newspaper decision or draw – |style="background:#FEE1BC"|Win, |style="background:#FEE1BC"|Loss, or |style="background:#FEE1BC"|Draw

Record

• List a boxer's post-fight record, using a format of wins–losses–draws (no contests in brackets and small text), separated by unspaced en dashes (–).
• When no contests apply, use {{nowrap}}: {{nowrap|29–3–1 {{small|(2)}}}}
• For newspaper decisions or draws, use {{N/A}}, as they do not count towards their official record.

Opponent

• Per this RfC, no flag icons should be included in professional boxing record tables.
• Wiki-link only if an article exists; no red linking unless an article is guaranteed to be made soon.

Type

• Use one of the many different outcomes:
  • "UD" – unanimous decision or unanimous draw
  • "SD" – split decision or split draw
  • "MD" – majority decision or majority draw
  • "PTS" – points decision or points draw
  • "NWS" – newspaper decision or newspaper draw; this result type will only apply to historical boxers from the early 1900s
  • "TD" – technical decision or technical draw
    • If judges' scorecards are available, clarify in the Notes column if the TD was unanimous, split, majority, or on referee points, along with the reason: Split TD: ...
  • "KO" – knockout
  • "TKO" – technical knockout
  • "RTD" – corner retirement
  • "DQ" – disqualification
  • "NC" – no contest
• To let uninformed readers know what the abbreviations mean, use {{abbr}} to create hoverable tooltips starting from the bottom of the table on the first instance only: {{abbr|UD|Unanimous decision}}, which displays as "UD". This is essential to avoid confusion between the identically-named abbreviations.

Round(s), time

• Round in which the fight ended; followed by the total number of scheduled rounds in brackets, if available; and the exact time of stoppage (time elapsed, not remaining) if available, using M:SS in small text and brackets. Do not use line breaks.
• For decisions or draws which reached the full distance, the total rounds in brackets is redundant and should not be included.

Date

• For most boxers, use either MDY or DMY formats (three-letter months: Jan 1, 2016 or 1 Jan 2016), or YYYY-MM-DD for Japanese boxers (e.g., 2016-01-01), per MOS:DATEFORMAT. Dashes (–) or forward slashes (/) should not be used.
• If there is a separate article for the fight, or if a boxer fought on the undercard of an event which has an article, use a piped link: [[Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao|May 2, 2015]].

Location

• The abovementioned RfC regarding flag icons also applies here; they should not be included.
• The order should be: venue, city/town/commune/municipality, state/province (U.S. and Canada only), and country; all separated by commas.
• If the venue is not known, listing only the city—or at a bare minimum, country—is acceptable.
• The unsponsored name of the venue should be primarily used where one exists and not the sponsored name at the time as per common name rules. If a venue does not have a common unsponsored name and/or the sponsored name (where there is no common unsponsored name) has since changed, use the name by which it was known at the time of the fight. There is usually no need to pipe link the current name, as Wikipedia's own redirect will usually handle it, or one can be manually created.
• In general, if the article for a venue contains the city or state name in the title, use a pipe link to avoid redundancy: [[Liverpool Arena]], England or [[Connecticut Convention Center|Convention Center]], Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. or [[Ice Arena Wales|Ice Arena]], Cardiff, Wales.
  • For arenas with the city name forming the first part of the article title, a pipe is not necessary: Bolton Arena or Boston Garden.
• If possible, avoid describing the venue too broadly, such as a larger casino complex in which an arena is located. If there is an article for an arena within a venue, use that:
  • MGM Grand Garden Arena, not MGM Grand Las Vegas
  • The Joint, not Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas
  • Mohegan Sun Arena, not Mohegan Sun
  • The O2 Arena, not The O2
• Several casino venues in Atlantic City are too broadly described by BoxRec, when they actually took place in arenas or halls. All of the following will correctly link or redirect to the corresponding articles:
  • Broadway by the Bay Theater (at Harrah's Marina Resort)
  • Etess Arena (at Trump Taj Mahal)
  • Circus Maximus Showroom (at Caesars Atlantic City)
  • Steel Pier (at Resorts International)
    • BoxRec almost always incorrectly lists the Atlantic City Convention Hall (known as Boardwalk Hall from May 1997 onwards) as the Atlantic City Convention Center. For fights occurring before May 1997, use a pipe link of [[Boardwalk Hall|Convention Hall]].
    • Another mistake BoxRec sometimes makes is to refer to Bally's Park Place as the Atlantic City Convention Center. If in doubt, video footage may be needed to confirm such discrepancies.
• Many venues in Las Vegas are not actually in the city of Las Vegas proper, but rather within unincorporated towns in Nevada state. Therefore, check to see if a venue is in Paradise, Nevada; Winchester, Nevada; North Las Vegas, Nevada; Henderson, Nevada; or indeed Las Vegas itself. The broader Las Vegas Valley should not be used, as that is a metropolitan area.
• Do not include neighbourhoods, boroughs, or suburbs of a city (sometimes acceptable). Wherever possible, also avoid districts, regions, counties, departments, reservations, or metropolitan areas:
  • London, England, not Greenwich, London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
  • New York City, New York, US, not Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
  • Ledyard, Connecticut, not Mashantucket, Connectictut
  • Montville, Connecticut, not Uncasville, Connecticut
    • For some U.S. states this will vary greatly, particularly hamlets and towns of New York. In the absence of a city designator, the next highest should be a town.
• Wiki-link everything if possible, except for country, on the first instance only.
  • If a city name also contains the country name, pipe link only the city: [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], Puerto Rico
• Use U.S. or US for the United States, depending on where a boxer is from, but not USA; per MOS:US.
• Use England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland as the top-level country suffix for the UK. "England, UK" is redundant, and is not equivalent to states within the U.S.; unlike UK countries, U.S. states are not represented at international sporting competitions.
• If a fight took place in a now-former country such as East and West Germany, the Soviet Union, or former colonies in Africa, use the name by which it was known at the time.

Notes

• This field is for listing details such as titles at stake; why a fight was ruled a no contest, technical decision, or disqualification; and if a fight was part of a notable tournament.
• Use the following terminology for title scenarios:
  • "Won..." – boxer gained title(s).
  • "Retained..." – boxer successfully defended title(s).
  • "Lost..." – boxer lost their title(s).
  • "... was/were at stake" – title(s) were on the line, but an NC rendered the result null and void.
• In most cases the contents of this column are sentence fragments, so there should be no periods in accordance with WP:BULLET. Semicolons should be used if line breaks (<br> or <br />) are present.
• Weight classes, as well as the word "title", are not proper nouns, so they must not be capitalised.
• Depending on the sanctioning body, and in the case of a world title, use a detailed link to point to the history of that particular title on the first instance only:

[[List of WBO world champions#Heavyweight|WBO heavyweight title]]

WBO heavyweight title

[[List of WBC female world champions#Flyweight|WBC female flyweight title]]

WBC female flyweight title

• For minor sanctioning bodies without a direct link to their title histories (see list of boxing organisations), or if the title is only a regional one by a major sanctioning body, split the links individually between sanctioning body and weight class:

[[International Boxing Association (professional)|IBA]] [[featherweight]] title

IBA featherweight title

[[World Boxing Association|WBA]] Inter-Continental [[bantamweight]] title

WBA Inter-Continental bantamweight title

• Separate multiple titles using commas together with the word and, not an ampersand (&) or slash (/):

Lost [[list of European Boxing Union lightweight champions|European]], [[list of British lightweight boxing champions|British]], and [[list of Commonwealth Boxing Council champions#Lightweight|Commonwealth lightweight titles]]

Lost European, British, and Commonwealth lightweight titles

• If multiple titles are on the line, but with each boxer defending different ones, use line breaks with semicolons to list a boxer's own title first, followed by the opponent's title:

Retained [[list of WBC world champions#Light heavyweight|WBC]] and [[list of IBF world champions#Light heavyweight|IBF light heavyweight titles]];<br>Won [[list of The Ring world champions#Light heavyweight|''The Ring'' light heavyweight title]]

Retained WBC and IBF light heavyweight titles;
Won The Ring light heavyweight title

• As with the lead and Professional career sections, if a boxer has won titles by multiple sanctioning bodies in the same weight class but which use different formats, use Wikipedia's own naming format instead of two different ones:

Retained [[list of WBA world champions#Super lightweight|WBA]] and [[list of WBO world champions#Junior welterweight|WBO light welterweight titles]]

Retained WBA and WBO light welterweight titles

• If any titles were vacant, list the non-vacant ones first; anything after "vacant" will be all-encompassing:

Won [[list of WBA world champions#Heavyweight|WBA (Regular)]], [[list of WBC world champions#Heavyweight|WBC]], vacant [[list of IBF world champions#Heavyweight|IBF]] and [[list of WBO world champions#Heavyweight|WBO heavyweight titles]]

Won WBA (Regular), WBC, vacant IBF and WBO heavyweight titles

• After any titles, include a note if a fight took place as part of a TV network tournament:

[[Prizefighter series#Prizefighter 29: The International Heavyweights III|Prizefighter 29: heavyweight quarter-final]]

Prizefighter 29: heavyweight quarter-final

• Replace any unused instances of |style="text-align:left;"| with |
• Exceptional fight-ending circumstances such as disqualifications, a boxer unable to continue after falling out of the ring (due to illegal punches or a push), or cuts from head clashes should be included using the abbreviated outcomes:
  • "Unanimous TD: Boxer cut from an accidental head clash"
  • "Majority TD: Opponent unable to continue from a knee injury"
  • "Split TD: both boxers unable to continue from an accidental head clash"
  • "Boxer disqualified for repeated holding"
  • "Opponent disqualified for an intentional low blow"
    • This also applies to no contests in which the result was later changed: Originally points TD win for Boxer #1, later ruled NC after they failed a drug test, or Originally SD, later ruled UD after an incorrect judge's scorecard
    • If a boxer is knocked out of the ring from legal punches, then that is still a TKO or KO under normal rules and does not need to be expanded upon.
    • Normal stoppages (TKO or RTD) from cuts or injuries should not be mentioned; only if a TD occurs.