A mouthpiece is a vital piece of boxing equipment that prevents injuries, allows a fighter to brace themselves for significant impact and makes potentially dangerous cuts visible to a referee to ensure that they are safely protected from themselves.

Ideally, this mouthguard should be custom-fit for your mouth, as a better, more snug fit helps the mouthpiece to stay in, helps to protect the jaw and teeth, as well as avoid any breaks that can potentially cause internal cuts.

Unfortunately, there are many cases of mouthpieces being knocked out following punches. Mike Tyson’s first knockout loss against Buster Douglas was partly the result of him looking for his mouthguard, knowing he would not be allowed to continue without it.

There are many notable instances of mouthpieces being broken, falling out of the mouth or being knocked clearly away. A clean punch to the jaw will cause it to involuntarily release, which often takes the mouthpiece with it.

If this happens and it does not lead to a knockdown, a referee is required under the Unified Rules to call time, stop the action, pick up the mouthpiece, give it to a cutman to rinse it out with water and then put it back in.

This rule is in place to keep boxers safe; if the mouthguard comes out and the fight continues, they could risk having their jaw broken or worse by the next punch.

However, the rule has sometimes been abused, with some boxers who are losing deliberately spitting out the mouthguard to give themselves a chance to recover.

This has led to an additional rule being put in place where a boxer could be deducted points or even be disqualified if their mouthpiece falls out too many times.

As the increasingly frustrated commentator noted during that fight, properly fitted mouthpieces allow you to breathe effectively and do not readily fall out, whilst also protecting your mouth and jaw.