How Can Boxing Improve Fighter Safety?

[TheLeprechaun]

Cheeseman took a hiding in the fight.

Those are the kinds of fights that cause serious problems. Fighters like Price who get starched with a clean punch to the chin usually recover. Enzo Maccarinelli took a few starchings but never really took sustained brutal punishment. Braehmer did close up his eye with left hands but in most fights he was in the fight to some degree before getting starched with one punch. If he'd had a better chin, it would have been much more dangerous.

[coneye]

First and foremost you are NEVER going to stop death or serious injury ,, it will always happen in a combat sport like boxing .

But you can make it safer , and somehow stopping the ridiculous amopunt of weight some boxers do will be a good start , Excessive weight draining has become even more prevelant in the last 25 years or so , Maybee all boxers should be tested at the weigh in , and if they have below a certain fat percentage , not allowed , If obvious signs of dehydration are there , not allowed ,
And above all , education of trainers to be more aware and responsible .

Give you an example , a guy i trained 25 years or so ago , he was,nt bad won a couple of ameteur titles , no international ameteur but not bad on a national scale , , he is now training lads , , well he brought a kid he trains to a gym , for sparring , this kid is 18 , good little boxer and strong has a bull , he was weighing 83 kilo , looked good and strong .. fastforward a couple of weeks and the kid fights , i watch him and he loses , loses is not the word , he got belted , , they should of stopped it but thats another story ,,,, His trainer comes to me after and says , i can't work out the problem ,

i looked at him and said , excact words , You crazy , its the weight , he looked a million dollars at 83 , yet he weighed in at 74 , for god sake fight him at at 81 , let the kid grow , he can shit out 2 kilo , but lose 7 kilo your killing the kid

His answer wAS , WE HAVE HAD HIM TESTED HE CARRYS BLA BLA FAT , AND 74 IS THE BEST WEIGHT FOR HIM ACCORDING TO THE TESTS AND DIETISCEN , My answer was , he needs to get another coach who does'nt learn out of books and let others make discisions that should be his to make .. You have an 18 year old boy who is 6"2' strong has an ox , one week ,walking up to the ring looking like a skeleton , with pale skin and sunken eyes , and you wonder why he's getting out muscled and stuffed after 1 rnd .

His answer was , you had me do it (cut weight ) my answer was you walked around at 68-69 i had you make 67 , 1-2 kilo off , Not 9 kilo at 18 , There was no telling him , he was convinced he was correct , and gave me half a dozen examples of top name pro's who cut a lot of weight

Its a desease that has spread throughout the sport , too many cooks , head waiters and bottle washers , all trying to run the kitchen , And most seem to think get weight off = 's being strong , .

Train hard , eat healthy diet a little maybee and you will find your natural strong weight , pale skin , sunken eyes , bag of bones dehydration , = accident waiting too happen

[kbackup408]

First and foremost you are NEVER going to stop death or serious injury ,, it will always happen in a combat sport like boxing .

But you can make it safer , and somehow stopping the ridiculous amopunt of weight some boxers do will be a good start , Excessive weight draining has become even more prevelant in the last 25 years or so , Maybee all boxers should be tested at the weigh in , and if they have below a certain fat percentage , not allowed , If obvious signs of dehydration are there , not allowed ,
And above all , education of trainers to be more aware and responsible .

Give you an example , a guy i trained 25 years or so ago , he was,nt bad won a couple of ameteur titles , no international ameteur but not bad on a national scale , , he is now training lads , , well he brought a kid he trains to a gym , for sparring , this kid is 18 , good little boxer and strong has a bull , he was weighing 83 kilo , looked good and strong .. fastforward a couple of weeks and the kid fights , i watch him and he loses , loses is not the word , he got belted , , they should of stopped it but thats another story ,,,, His trainer comes to me after and says , i can't work out the problem ,

i looked at him and said , excact words , You crazy , its the weight , he looked a million dollars at 83 , yet he weighed in at 74 , for god sake fight him at at 81 , let the kid grow , he can poo out 2 kilo , but lose 7 kilo your killing the kid

His answer wAS , WE HAVE HAD HIM TESTED HE CARRYS BLA BLA FAT , AND 74 IS THE BEST WEIGHT FOR HIM ACCORDING TO THE TESTS AND DIETISCEN , My answer was , he needs to get another coach who does'nt learn out of books and let others make discisions that should be his to make .. You have an 18 year old boy who is 6"2' strong has an ox , one week ,walking up to the ring looking like a skeleton , with pale skin and sunken eyes , and you wonder why he's getting out muscled and stuffed after 1 rnd .

His answer was , you had me do it (cut weight ) my answer was you walked around at 68-69 i had you make 67 , 1-2 kilo off , Not 9 kilo at 18 , There was no telling him , he was convinced he was correct , and gave me half a dozen examples of top name pro's who cut a lot of weight

Its a desease that has spread throughout the sport , too many cooks , head waiters and bottle washers , all trying to run the kitchen , And most seem to think get weight off = 's being strong , .

Train hard , eat healthy diet a little maybee and you will find your natural strong weight , pale skin , sunken eyes , bag of bones dehydration , = accident waiting too happen

The narrative amongst young boxers now is that if you are not tight at the weight its not the weight class for them. Ridiculous but thats the mindset boxers are having

[bennie]

Remove the bottom rope.

[tiny_acres]

I wonder if dehydration tests could be implemented at the weigh in.

[Counter-puncher]

First and foremost you are NEVER going to stop death or serious injury ,, it will always happen in a combat sport like boxing .

But you can make it safer , and somehow stopping the ridiculous amopunt of weight some boxers do will be a good start , Excessive weight draining has become even more prevelant in the last 25 years or so , Maybee all boxers should be tested at the weigh in , and if they have below a certain fat percentage , not allowed , If obvious signs of dehydration are there , not allowed ,
And above all , education of trainers to be more aware and responsible .

Give you an example , a guy i trained 25 years or so ago , he was,nt bad won a couple of ameteur titles , no international ameteur but not bad on a national scale , , he is now training lads , , well he brought a kid he trains to a gym , for sparring , this kid is 18 , good little boxer and strong has a bull , he was weighing 83 kilo , looked good and strong .. fastforward a couple of weeks and the kid fights , i watch him and he loses , loses is not the word , he got belted , , they should of stopped it but thats another story ,,,, His trainer comes to me after and says , i can't work out the problem ,

i looked at him and said , excact words , You crazy , its the weight , he looked a million dollars at 83 , yet he weighed in at 74 , for god sake fight him at at 81 , let the kid grow , he can poo out 2 kilo , but lose 7 kilo your killing the kid

His answer wAS , WE HAVE HAD HIM TESTED HE CARRYS BLA BLA FAT , AND 74 IS THE BEST WEIGHT FOR HIM ACCORDING TO THE TESTS AND DIETISCEN , My answer was , he needs to get another coach who does'nt learn out of books and let others make discisions that should be his to make .. You have an 18 year old boy who is 6"2' strong has an ox , one week ,walking up to the ring looking like a skeleton , with pale skin and sunken eyes , and you wonder why he's getting out muscled and stuffed after 1 rnd .

His answer was , you had me do it (cut weight ) my answer was you walked around at 68-69 i had you make 67 , 1-2 kilo off , Not 9 kilo at 18 , There was no telling him , he was convinced he was correct , and gave me half a dozen examples of top name pro's who cut a lot of weight

Its a desease that has spread throughout the sport , too many cooks , head waiters and bottle washers , all trying to run the kitchen , And most seem to think get weight off = 's being strong , .

Train hard , eat healthy diet a little maybee and you will find your natural strong weight , pale skin , sunken eyes , bag of bones dehydration , = accident waiting too happen

always value your input on training mate

[jamesmcdonnell]

First and foremost you are NEVER going to stop death or serious injury ,, it will always happen in a combat sport like boxing .

But you can make it safer , and somehow stopping the ridiculous amopunt of weight some boxers do will be a good start , Excessive weight draining has become even more prevelant in the last 25 years or so , Maybee all boxers should be tested at the weigh in , and if they have below a certain fat percentage , not allowed , If obvious signs of dehydration are there , not allowed ,
And above all , education of trainers to be more aware and responsible .

Give you an example , a guy i trained 25 years or so ago , he was,nt bad won a couple of ameteur titles , no international ameteur but not bad on a national scale , , he is now training lads , , well he brought a kid he trains to a gym , for sparring , this kid is 18 , good little boxer and strong has a bull , he was weighing 83 kilo , looked good and strong .. fastforward a couple of weeks and the kid fights , i watch him and he loses , loses is not the word , he got belted , , they should of stopped it but thats another story ,,,, His trainer comes to me after and says , i can't work out the problem ,

i looked at him and said , excact words , You crazy , its the weight , he looked a million dollars at 83 , yet he weighed in at 74 , for god sake fight him at at 81 , let the kid grow , he can poo out 2 kilo , but lose 7 kilo your killing the kid

His answer wAS , WE HAVE HAD HIM TESTED HE CARRYS BLA BLA FAT , AND 74 IS THE BEST WEIGHT FOR HIM ACCORDING TO THE TESTS AND DIETISCEN , My answer was , he needs to get another coach who does'nt learn out of books and let others make discisions that should be his to make .. You have an 18 year old boy who is 6"2' strong has an ox , one week ,walking up to the ring looking like a skeleton , with pale skin and sunken eyes , and you wonder why he's getting out muscled and stuffed after 1 rnd .

His answer was , you had me do it (cut weight ) my answer was you walked around at 68-69 i had you make 67 , 1-2 kilo off , Not 9 kilo at 18 , There was no telling him , he was convinced he was correct , and gave me half a dozen examples of top name pro's who cut a lot of weight

Its a desease that has spread throughout the sport , too many cooks , head waiters and bottle washers , all trying to run the kitchen , And most seem to think get weight off = 's being strong , .

Train hard , eat healthy diet a little maybee and you will find your natural strong weight , pale skin , sunken eyes , bag of bones dehydration , = accident waiting too happen

I agree wholeheartedly.

Dehydration depletes the liquid surrounding the brain, making chances of a brain injury more likely.

It has to stop.

[gilgamesh]

I agree with coneye's points as well. I've said for years that these massive weight cuts fighters do are obviously not good. It's just common sense really.

Aside from the susceptibility to brain injuries, I'm quite sure fighters would simply perform better and would be stronger if they weren't draining themselves of a lot of extra weight the week of the goddamn fight.

[tigermoth87]

Weed out the shit referees who risk fighters well-being by not stopping the fight to give the home fighter the advantage. Helping Clev to the corner vs Kov for example when he's clearly out on his feet.

Lifetime ban for all drugs cheats and change every victory to a DQ defeat. Stamp that out.

Stricter licensing (How the fornicate, for example, is Danny Williams still fighting)

[spudder56]

First and foremost you are NEVER going to stop death or serious injury ,, it will always happen in a combat sport like boxing .

But you can make it safer , and somehow stopping the ridiculous amopunt of weight some boxers do will be a good start , Excessive weight draining has become even more prevelant in the last 25 years or so , Maybee all boxers should be tested at the weigh in , and if they have below a certain fat percentage , not allowed , If obvious signs of dehydration are there , not allowed ,
And above all , education of trainers to be more aware and responsible .

Give you an example , a guy i trained 25 years or so ago , he was,nt bad won a couple of ameteur titles , no international ameteur but not bad on a national scale , , he is now training lads , , well he brought a kid he trains to a gym , for sparring , this kid is 18 , good little boxer and strong has a bull , he was weighing 83 kilo , looked good and strong .. fastforward a couple of weeks and the kid fights , i watch him and he loses , loses is not the word , he got belted , , they should of stopped it but thats another story ,,,, His trainer comes to me after and says , i can't work out the problem ,

i looked at him and said , excact words , You crazy , its the weight , he looked a million dollars at 83 , yet he weighed in at 74 , for god sake fight him at at 81 , let the kid grow , he can poo out 2 kilo , but lose 7 kilo your killing the kid

His answer wAS , WE HAVE HAD HIM TESTED HE CARRYS BLA BLA FAT , AND 74 IS THE BEST WEIGHT FOR HIM ACCORDING TO THE TESTS AND DIETISCEN , My answer was , he needs to get another coach who does'nt learn out of books and let others make discisions that should be his to make .. You have an 18 year old boy who is 6"2' strong has an ox , one week ,walking up to the ring looking like a skeleton , with pale skin and sunken eyes , and you wonder why he's getting out muscled and stuffed after 1 rnd .

His answer was , you had me do it (cut weight ) my answer was you walked around at 68-69 i had you make 67 , 1-2 kilo off , Not 9 kilo at 18 , There was no telling him , he was convinced he was correct , and gave me half a dozen examples of top name pro's who cut a lot of weight

Its a desease that has spread throughout the sport , too many cooks , head waiters and bottle washers , all trying to run the kitchen , And most seem to think get weight off = 's being strong , .

Train hard , eat healthy diet a little maybee and you will find your natural strong weight , pale skin , sunken eyes , bag of bones dehydration , = accident waiting too happen

Spot on mate

[Heretic]

I agree with many points made on this thread.

Boxing can never be made safe. But it could be made more safe than what it is now.

Absurd weight cutting should be looked at. Maybe add limit to fight night weight? Some kind of rehydration test to see if the boxer is well could also be good solution.

Some people can take loads of heavy shots to the head. Some seem to get serious injuries from just a couple of hits. This suggests that there might be some kind of weakness in the brain of some people. Might be small aneurysms or other similar things. Maybe this could be found with brain scans? Maybe we should have mandatory brain scans for every boxer?

[spudder56]

I agree with many points made on this thread.

Boxing can never be made safe. But it could be made more safe than what it is now.

Absurd weight cutting should be looked at. Maybe add limit to fight night weight? Some kind of rehydration test to see if the boxer is well could also be good solution.

Some people can take loads of heavy shots to the head. Some seem to get serious injuries from just a couple of hits. This suggests that there might be some kind of weakness in the brain of some people. Might be small aneurysms or other similar things. Maybe this could be found with brain scans? Maybe we should have mandatory brain scans for every boxer?

Every bbbofc boxers has a full medical and brain scan every year when they renew their licence

[TheGman]

First and foremost you are NEVER going to stop death or serious injury ,, it will always happen in a combat sport like boxing .

But you can make it safer , and somehow stopping the ridiculous amopunt of weight some boxers do will be a good start , Excessive weight draining has become even more prevelant in the last 25 years or so , Maybee all boxers should be tested at the weigh in , and if they have below a certain fat percentage , not allowed , If obvious signs of dehydration are there , not allowed ,
And above all , education of trainers to be more aware and responsible .

Give you an example , a guy i trained 25 years or so ago , he was,nt bad won a couple of ameteur titles , no international ameteur but not bad on a national scale , , he is now training lads , , well he brought a kid he trains to a gym , for sparring , this kid is 18 , good little boxer and strong has a bull , he was weighing 83 kilo , looked good and strong .. fastforward a couple of weeks and the kid fights , i watch him and he loses , loses is not the word , he got belted , , they should of stopped it but thats another story ,,,, His trainer comes to me after and says , i can't work out the problem ,

i looked at him and said , excact words , You crazy , its the weight , he looked a million dollars at 83 , yet he weighed in at 74 , for god sake fight him at at 81 , let the kid grow , he can poo out 2 kilo , but lose 7 kilo your killing the kid

His answer wAS , WE HAVE HAD HIM TESTED HE CARRYS BLA BLA FAT , AND 74 IS THE BEST WEIGHT FOR HIM ACCORDING TO THE TESTS AND DIETISCEN , My answer was , he needs to get another coach who does'nt learn out of books and let others make discisions that should be his to make .. You have an 18 year old boy who is 6"2' strong has an ox , one week ,walking up to the ring looking like a skeleton , with pale skin and sunken eyes , and you wonder why he's getting out muscled and stuffed after 1 rnd .

His answer was , you had me do it (cut weight ) my answer was you walked around at 68-69 i had you make 67 , 1-2 kilo off , Not 9 kilo at 18 , There was no telling him , he was convinced he was correct , and gave me half a dozen examples of top name pro's who cut a lot of weight

Its a desease that has spread throughout the sport , too many cooks , head waiters and bottle washers , all trying to run the kitchen , And most seem to think get weight off = 's being strong , .

Train hard , eat healthy diet a little maybee and you will find your natural strong weight , pale skin , sunken eyes , bag of bones dehydration , = accident waiting too happen

I was speaking to a former pro today about weight cuttin etc and i said exactly the same,everyone is trying to get an advantage so when a guy who walks around at 11st healthy but cuts weight to 10st and is a bag of sh1t its no wonder he gets beat or they have serious injuries,they are dehydrating the liquid from around the brain so then the brain has no cussion between the skull which equals memory loss,bleeds on the brain or even death. Im 5 foot 4 and when i was boxing i was 63 kilo but in my head i used to think i can get to 57kg because i was training alongside Jamie McKeever who was about 2 to 3 inches taller than me,its a myth look at Mike Tyson he was 5 foot 11 and knocking guys out who was 6 foot plus some as tall as 6 foot 5 so just because your small doesnt mean you have to cut soo much weight to reduce other advantages. Id say remove some weight classes take away super bantam,super feather,super light and light middle but keep the rest this might take away the pressure of trying to make certain weights. You never see or hear about heavyweights dying in the ring or dying from boxing related injuries because they arnt cutting weight.