Boxing rounds last three minutes in professional bouts, separated by one-minute rest intervals.

The longer version

Professional contests are divided into scheduled rounds, with the bell starting and ending each one, and the minute between rounds is the only scheduled recovery time. The interval is short enough that accumulated fatigue decides the late rounds, and long enough for a corner to give instructions and treat minor bleeding.

Amateur formats have used shorter rounds and different scoring, and the length has shifted with medical thinking about head trauma: earlier bouts had no fixed limit and ran until a stoppage. The count after a knockdown is separate from the round clock, which is why a bout appears to pause. Round length also determines how much a fighter can pace.

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