How Can Boxing Improve Fighter Safety?

[SAPFO]

Over the last few days, and in light of the sad news, the talking heads on the radio have been suggestion all sorts of ideas to improve safety. These range from a total ban, to less rounds, to 2 minute rounds. All madness & uneducated in my opinion, as less rounds/time, will only encourage harder, more intense fights.

It got me thinking of how we can improve safety, without compromising the skill aspect of the sport.

How about increase the 60 sec interval to allow better recovery?

Fighter education is also key. I'm not sure if there are signs or symptoms you can feel or see, but I'd imagine a cracking headache would be one major symptom of a fighter on a rapid decline. Educate fighters to alert their corner if they feel any symptoms, and allow a dignified, & safe way out. I would never begrudge a fighter for telling his corner he feels something is different, and does not want to die. The fighter maybe must then have a full investigatory scan before competing again.

[spudder56]

The biggest problem in my opinion is fighters drying out to make weight and then trying to rehydrate in 24 to 36 hours I’ve seen fighters stagger to the scales looking really gaunt and on the day of the fight weigh over a stone heavier this cannot be good for the fighter. Boxers should remember they employ the manager and trainer not the other way round if you don’t feel comfortable making weight move up a division and always remember boxers are brave men but don’t risk your life or serious injury just to make weight

[Floyd the snake]

The 3 higher profile fatalities in the last few months were all long distance fights & the injuries happened in the championship rounds ie ,10 ,11 ,12 , limit all bouts to maximum of 8 rounds and the sport will have less fatalities .

[tobyh5]

The 3 higher profile fatalities in the last few months were all long distance fights & the injuries happened in the championship rounds ie ,10 ,11 ,12 , limit all bouts to maximum of 8 rounds and the sport will have less fatalities .

That was the argument for going from 15 to 12 and could be argued that the shorter distance increased intensity, thus injuries now happen later in these shorter bouts. Could it be that a reduction to 8 would do the same? Put the pace so much higher that it will then be injuries in 6, 7 and 8th rounds, so we will go down to 5 rounds?

[3132DW]

The 3 higher profile fatalities in the last few months were all long distance fights & the injuries happened in the championship rounds ie ,10 ,11 ,12 , limit all bouts to maximum of 8 rounds and the sport will have less fatalities .

That was the argument for going from 15 to 12 and could be argued that the shorter distance increased intensity, thus injuries now happen later in these shorter bouts. Could it be that a reduction to 8 would do the same? Put the pace so much higher that it will then be injuries in 6, 7 and 8th rounds, so we will go down to 5 rounds?

I think your right - 8 rounds folk would just go off and break neck pace. They know they wouldn’t need stamina really - probably even more dangerous as they’d focus more on power ?

[margaret thatcher]

Weight cutting stuff would be a key thing

[Floyd the snake]

Think it's a combination of weight making & long hard fights but that's championship boxing , unfortunately we will always have one around the corner .

[3132DW]

The biggest problem in my opinion is fighters drying out to make weight and then trying to rehydrate in 24 to 36 hours I’ve seen fighters stagger to the scales looking really gaunt and on the day of the fight weigh over a stone heavier this cannot be good for the fighter. Boxers should remember they employ the manager and trainer not the other way round if you don’t feel comfortable making weight move up a division and always remember boxers are brave men but don’t risk your life or serious injury just to make weight

Are more MRI/Brain scans possible ? (The again you factor cost and who pays)

Guys are putting on 18lbs - within 1 day some even more - can’t be good long term for your body. Draining it of all substance sometimes.

Said on thread the other day - different sport but a jockey had lettuce leaves & tea for 3 days to get down to low weight for a ride in big race - again that simply can’t be good.

[TheGman]

The biggest problem in my opinion is fighters drying out to make weight and then trying to rehydrate in 24 to 36 hours I’ve seen fighters stagger to the scales looking really gaunt and on the day of the fight weigh over a stone heavier this cannot be good for the fighter. Boxers should remember they employ the manager and trainer not the other way round if you don’t feel comfortable making weight move up a division and always remember boxers are brave men but don’t risk your life or serious injury just to make weight

Also why the commissioners let the fight take place if some fighters are getting helped to the scales? They are also there for the safety of the sport not just to pick up pay cheques.

[TheLeprechaun]

Nothing much more can be done. It's a sport where very strong men punch each other as hard as they can in the head. It's obviously going to be the case that there will be regular long term injuries and deaths. Many fighters will struggle as they get older after they are retired.

The only thing to do is to increase awareness so that referees, corners and officials have these things at the forefront of their minds. In almost every sport there are risks. Even jockeys could fall and break their neck or get trampled by a horse. There is just that risk involved and given it's always going to be there.

[Coco]

The 3 higher profile fatalities in the last few months were all long distance fights & the injuries happened in the championship rounds ie ,10 ,11 ,12 , limit all bouts to maximum of 8 rounds and the sport will have less fatalities .

That was the argument for going from 15 to 12 and could be argued that the shorter distance increased intensity, thus injuries now happen later in these shorter bouts. Could it be that a reduction to 8 would do the same? Put the pace so much higher that it will then be injuries in 6, 7 and 8th rounds, so we will go down to 5 rounds?

I agree, the 15 rounders always went at a slower pace.
Even in the amateurs I remember when doing 3x2's it was a real sprint whereas doing 3x3's was a completely different pace.
An 8x3's in a championship fight would be proper intense.

[margaret thatcher]

Be interesting to see how punch stats differ from 10 to 12 to 15 round fights

[Coco]

You will never get away from the fact that boxing is a damn dangerous sport.

The only real way to make it safer is to only have body shots

[margaret thatcher]

Ya, danger will always be there, though that doesn't mean things can't be made safer.

[oogiebe]

Dehydration/Rehydration needs to be curtailed. Better pre-emptive medical check-ins need to be administered. That's a start.

[3132DW]

Ya, danger will always be there, though that doesn't mean things can't be made safer.

Some places don’t even have basics like Oxygen at ringside - Hearn said himself he was shocked in Italy that there wasn’t any ringside at one of the Matchroom shows a while back.

[margaret thatcher]

Ya, and look at the lad who died recently in Argentina. It was just a total scene of incompetence. He was obviously in a bad way, and instead of rushing him to medical attention, his corner just tried to hold him up so they could hear the decision.

Clearly this type of thing doesn't just have to be that way.

[MasterG]

Nothing much more can be done. It's a sport where very strong men punch each other as hard as they can in the head. It's obviously going to be the case that there will be regular long term injuries and deaths. Many fighters will struggle as they get older after they are retired.

The only thing to do is to increase awareness so that referees, corners and officials have these things at the forefront of their minds. In almost every sport there are risks. Even jockeys could fall and break their neck or get trampled by a horse. There is just that risk involved and given it's always going to be there.

I go along with this. I have tried to rack my brains thinking of how to make a combat sport that allows 2 men to hit each other in the face a safer sport and I cannot think of any other than stopping a fight sooner if one boxer is not fighting back. The issue I have with this theory is that a bleed on the brain could have been caused with the first serious hit to the head. A little seepage of blood may take upto a hour to cause significant damage and give no signs until there is no more room in the skull for the blood to seep.

Boxing is a combat sport and unfortunately there are going to be injuries and deaths at some point. Its a very unfortunate part of this game and I cannot see how to stop this.

[margaret thatcher]

Like I said, obviously there is always going to be danger to it, I don't buy though that there really is no way it can be made safer. We already have cases where clear improvements could've been made. We know weight cutting practices are extreme and dangerous. We know fighters who've suffered major injuries have sometimes had pre-existing conditions that weren't addressed properly or they boxed under suspension. We know there has been incompetence and negligence in responding to fighters obviously in a bad way. Etc.

Some major injuries will probably happen even when everything is done right, because it's an inherently violent sport, but no improvement? Don't agree at all.

[margaret thatcher]

One thing I might add, when blokes get dropped we all focus on the punch that did it, but often the back of the head (a sensitive area) sickenly crashes against the canvas. That's a big killer in the streets and is often what does it there rather than the punches.

Is there a way to make the ring more fall friendly while still not impairing the combat?

[margaret thatcher]

One problem is, improving safety takes reform and effort. That for a lot of people in boxing , like the people who make money off these guys even if deaths happen, just ain't worth it. They can keep on benefitting without having to bother with making any changes at all.

Death is almost a banality in this sport isn't it? At least not too far...

[MasterG]

One thing I might add, when blokes get dropped we all focus on the punch that did it, but often the back of the head (a sensitive area) sickenly crashes against the canvas. That's a big killer in the streets and is often what does it rather than the punches.

Is there a way to make the ring more fall friendly while still not impairing the combat?

Under the canvas there is a layer of rubber usually about 2cm thick which is far better than concrete.

[margaret thatcher]

It's better than concrete, but can it or something else be better than it is now. That's the perspective I think

[MasterG]

It's better than concrete, but can it or something else be better than it is now. That's the perspective I think

You have to remember that a boxing ring has been approved and it has to have stability for the boxers to stand on. There may well be a product that is better as a shock absorber than the rubber that is currently used but if there was im sure it would have come to light by now.

Maybe it is time for brain scanners to be used on all bbboc shows. They still have not approved these and we will not know how effective they are until they are used and have detected a bleed and prevented a death. Would head guards stop a bleed? Possibly yes but realistically what would head guards do to the sport? Lets face it boxing is more about money these days than glory.

Make all rounds 2 minutes like womens boxing. Has there been any fatality in womens boxing using 2 minute rounds?

Better monitoring on weights. Each boxer must have a log of their weight kept for inspection right up to a weigh in.

Would body mass index make any difference to what wieght a person should actually be rather than fighting at a lower weight class.

[Ricky]

Too many garbage referees and cornermen around.

Take for instance Ted Cheeseman vs Sergio Garcia. Why was that fight not stopped? I don't get it. It became obvious after about 6 rounds cheese was overmatched. Every round was a carbon copy of the last, Cheeseman walking forward into a slicker operate, teeing off on him at will turning his face into pepperoni pizza.

Can the referee not read a fight? Can he not assess the pattern of the match up?

What did his corner think would happen, that despite getting beaten to a pulp all of a sudden he was going to find a miracle bingo punch from somewhere?

This is exactly the type of instance (and i can think of hundreds, i see it every weekend) where a referee and chief seconds should be fvcking fined and suspended. Above all else; refs and corners have a duty of care towards fighters, its high time we held them to a higher standard in waving off fights that become one sided.