Marquess of Queensberry Rules

The Marquess of Queensberry Rules, also known as Queensberry Rules, are a set of generally accepted rules governing the sport of boxing. Drafted in London in 1865 and published in 1867, they were so named because the 9th Marquess of Queensberry publicly endorsed the code, although they were actually written by a Welsh sportsman, John Graham Chambers, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. They were the first to mandate the use of gloves in boxing. Other new innovations included each round consisting of three minutes of fighting followed by a minute of rest, and any fighter who went down had to get up unaided within 10 seconds—if he could not he was declared knocked out.

The Queensberry Rules, which eventually superseded the London Prize Ring Rules (revised in 1853), are intended for use in both professional and amateur boxing matches, unlike the less-popular American Fair Play Rules, which were strictly intended for amateur matches. In colloquial use, the term is sometimes used to refer to a sense of sportsmanship and fair play.