1. (a) Referees are responsible for enforcing the rules of the contest and shall exercise immediate authority, direction and control over contests. The referee shall conduct a rules meeting before the first bout of the event.
2. (b) The referee may eject from an event any person who violates the Code or Department rules. If a second violates these rules or the Code, the referee may disqualify the seconds' contestant.
3. (c) If an assigned referee is unable to officiate, he shall notify the Department at least five hours before the contest.

4. (d) The referee may stop any contest:

   1. (1) where there is reason to believe that continuing may result in serious injury to either contestant;
   2. (2) if a contestant cannot defend himself;
   3. (3) because of an injury or a contestant's poor physical condition; or
   4. (4) if the referee feels that a contestant is not fighting in earnest.
5. (e) If a contestant is accidentally head butted in a contest but can continue, the referee may stop the contest, for a reasonable time, and inform the judges and the contestant's second of the head butt.
6. (f) If the contestant who is knocked down does not rise before the count of ten, the referee shall declare him the loser by a knockout. If the contestant appears to be seriously injured, the referee may summon the ringside physician into the ring, and declare the bout terminated by knockout.
7. (g) If a mouthpiece is knocked out, the referee shall call time during a break in the action, the contestant's second will clean and reinsert the mouthpiece. If the mouthpiece is spit out the same procedure will be followed and the referee can charge the contestant with a foul.
8. (h) The referee or Commissioner may disqualify a contestant and declare the opponent the winner after one warning by the referee or Department representative for the use of profanity, obscene or threatening gestures by a contestant, his manager, or his second.
9. (i) When a foul occurs, the referee shall call time and advise the judges of the foul and the number of points they should deduct.
10. (j) Before each bout, the referee shall call the contestants and their chief seconds together for final instructions. The referee shall hold the chief second responsible for his contestant's conduct during the contest.
11. (k) When a low blow incapacitates a contestant, the referee shall give him reasonable time to recover. The referee may confer with the ringside physician. If a contestant shows an unwillingness to continue because of a low-blow claim, and the referee has resumed the fight, that contestant shall be declared the loser by a technical knockout.

12. (l) Knockdowns.

    1. (1) When a punch knocks a contestant down, the referee shall order the opponent to go to the ring's farthest neutral corner, pointing to the corner, and immediately pick up the timekeeper's count.
    2. (2) The referee shall audibly announce the passing of the seconds, accompanying the count with upward motions of his arm for each second and indicating the count with visual finger counts after each second.
    3. (3) The referee shall stop counting if the opponent does not remain in the neutral corner until the count is complete.
    4. (4) No contestant who is knocked down shall be allowed to resume boxing until the referee has finished counting to eight.
    5. (5) If a contestant who is down rises before the count of ten and goes down again without being struck, the referee shall resume the count where he stopped.
    6. (6) When a round ends before a contestant who was knocked down rises, the bell shall not ring, and the count shall continue. If the contestant rises before the count of ten, the bell shall ring ending the round.
    7. (7) The referee's count is the official count.
    8. (8) When a contestant is knocked down three times in any round, the referee shall stop the contest, and the contestant scoring the knockdowns shall be declared the winner by technical knockout.
13. (m) If a contestant does not answer the bell signifying the start of a round, the referee shall give a ten count and declare him the loser by a technical knockout.
14. (n) If a contestant who has been knocked out of the ring or has fallen out of the ring during the contest fails to return immediately, the referee shall give the contestant 20 seconds to return to the ring. After a 20 second count, if the contestant has not returned to the ring, the referee shall count the contestant out as if he were down. No one may help contestants back into the ring.
15. (o) If during the first four rounds a contestant is pushed, knocked or falls out of the ring, is injured by the fall and unable to return, the referee shall declare the bout a technical draw. If this occurs during later rounds, all completed and partial rounds in which the bout is terminated shall be scored and the contestant ahead on points shall be declared the winner by technical decision.
16. (p) A referee applicant must have at least three years active experience as a referee in the combative sport he/she wishes to be licensed. Active experience means officiating in at least ten combative sporting events per year. The Commissioner may approve licensure for persons with comparative experience in any combative sport.

Source Note:The provisions of this §61.41 adopted to be effective October 1, 2000, 25 TexReg 9941.