Justice Battle - an introduction
By TJ, constructive critical comment welcome at lesnig@yahoo.com
A Fantasy world where justice is determined by brutal boxing bouts 

Read this introduction before the stories


Imagine a fantasy world where matters of justice or disputes are settled by 
combat. A person suspected of a crime is brought before a court of law and the 
evidence is heard, after which the accused has the chance to box for his or her 
freedom against a state appointed opponent. This opponent will generally be 
physically similar to the accused but the fighting skills will be determined by the 
level of and quality of evidence the court has heard. Where guilt has been almost 
certainly proved the state's fighter will be of an extremely high standard, where 
evidence of guilt or innocence is more inconclusive the quality of the state's 
fighter will be as near as possible to that of the accused and where the evidence 
points to innocence the state's fighter will be of a lower standard. 

The following notes apply to female fights:

i.	The accused will not know the quality of opponent they will face

ii.	The duration of the fight, knockdowns etc will be determined by the 
      court and will depend on the severity of the case. As there is an 
      element of punishment and/or retribution it will not always be 
      possible for a fighter to ‘quit'. Refusal to fight on when fit to do so is 
      treated as ‘taking a count', see note iv.

iii.	Rounds are always to a knockdown, each knockdown will result in 
      a forfeit, usually the removal of an article of clothing. For each 
      round and forfeit lost, the count that determines a knockdown 
      increases and can become several minutes depending on the 
      number of completed rounds. Similarly the gap between rounds is 
      not fixed but extends as the fight progresses. It is sometimes 
      possible to estimate how long a fight is expected to last by the 
      number of articles of clothing worn by the fighters however, for 
      some fights where a severe punishment or humiliation is deemed 
      necessary extra clothes, usually designed to add humiliation, are 
      given to a stripped fighter who must then carry on.

iv.	Taking a ‘count' is not recommended as this will result in a free 
      punch to the breast for each infringement. These are meted out to 
      the loser of the round as soon as possible at the rounds 
      completion. Should the winner of the round have incurred any 
      penalties these will be given at the start of the next round.

v.	Each fighter will have state appointed ‘seconds' whose job it is 
      to keep a fighter in the fight for as long as possible. The 
      ‘seconds' pay for the losing fighter is determined by the duration 
      of the fight. That for the winner is a fixed fee. Some seconds 
      specialise in supporting fighters that are expected to lose.

vi.	The seconds are allowed into the ring to assist their fighter the 
      moment they begin to receive a count. If conscious, they can 
      support their fighter (and thus stop the count) for a time 
      Equivalent to the original count. At this time the fighter must be 
      able to stand unaided for a further 10 seconds before the fight
      resumes.

vi.	There are 2 types of State fighter:

      1. The retained professional who would normally fight an 
         accused who was almost certainly guilty.

      2. Amateurs of varying degrees of skill who take part
         in the more open fights. They are very well paid but only if 
         they win. Those that show promise can become retained 
         professionals. Many new, inexperienced fighters start in 
         fights against accused who are probably innocent.

vii.	At the Judge's discretion a victim of a crime can choose to fight 
      the accused or be allowed to appoint her own ‘champion of 
      Justice'. 

viii.	For special cases the judge can impose alternatives to the 
      normal Boxing Battle. These can be imposed by the judge or 
      suggested by the victim and can be of any nature deemed 
      appropriate. A common variation of the Boxing Battle is for the 
      combatants to punch each other in turn, the area of the body hit 
      decided by the throw of a dice for each round or punch. This 
      variation is most often used when the victim chooses to ‘fight' 
      the accused and/or where there is no clear cut evidence of guilt 
      or innocence. The random nature of the dice (or fate) and strength 
      of character will determine the outcome. Many other variations are 
      possible

ix.	All areas of the body are available to be hit unless otherwise 
      indicated by the judge.

x.	Gloves used would be 8oz unless the courts make special 
      exception. 

There is always heated debate about the gloves used, many felt lighter gloves 
would be a stricter test but the consensus was that with a lighter glove damage 
was done too quickly and that a lucky punch could lead to the wrong outcome. To 
win, or lose with 8oz gloves meant a true test of attrition where stamina and 
character were fully tested.