Thread: Can you make boxing safe?

If you had the control of Boxing would you introduce anymore aspects that would make it safer?

Glove size, less rounds, weight cutting issue, shorter rounds, more brain scans?

Or would you have expected to see more deaths in boxing (at this stage) and don’t see the need to implement anything else?

RIP Patrick day.

You could always make it more safe, but unfortunately you get to a point to where nobody would want to watch it anymore. I get why people think it’s a brutal sport and have a hard time watching it.

In order to make it safer but keep it the same sport, the best thing you can do is keep weight in check. Make it so that once the fight is signed, you can never be over 10 pounds of the weight limit. So you have to get checked at least weekly to make sure that you are on weight. Cutting weight is just way to detrimental to their health.

Also, we basically never see world class fighters die in the ring. It’s usually the lower class fighters. They could start implementing on non title fights faster stoppages. You know those fights where one fighter is just getting beat up but you can’t stop it because they are still fighting back? The ref could just stop those fights much earlier. I understand that you need to give someone a chance to come back, but when it’s not two high classed fighters, we should think of their health more than their record.

Originally Posted by imp

If you had the control of Boxing would you introduce anymore aspects that would make it safer?

Glove size, less rounds, weight cutting issue, shorter rounds, more brain scans?

Or would you have expected to see more deaths in boxing (at this stage) and don’t see the need to implement anything else?

RIP Patrick day.

Number one I would have 16oz gloves.

Number two I would give 75 seconds in between rounds.

Number 3 a fighter should make the weight the day of the fight.

Number 4 there should be more standing eight counts.

Number 5 I would encourage fighters to take a knee when they are hurt. Being too proud or too afraid to lose a point will make a hurt fighter too stubborn to take a knee. A hurt fighter can get hit with one more shot that can kill him. I would reduce the penalty for taking a knee to half a point.

Number 6 EACH AND EVERY FOUL SHOULD BE PENALIZED BEGINNING WITH THE VERY FIRST ONE....LOW BLOWS, RABBIT PUNCHES, ETC. WI'LL ALL INSTANTLY WITHOUT ANY WARNINGS BE DEDUCTED ONE POINT

Gloves should be smaller not bigger. The bigger and more padded the gloves the harder some fighters will throw their punches just like with football and shoulder pads/helmets they give the wearer of those pads a feeling of invincibility and so they hit with reckless abandon.

Smaller gloves....deal more with facial cuts and fractures and broken hands than brain injuries.

Originally Posted by Fatboxingfan

Originally Posted by imp

If you had the control of Boxing would you introduce anymore aspects that would make it safer?

Glove size, less rounds, weight cutting issue, shorter rounds, more brain scans?

Or would you have expected to see more deaths in boxing (at this stage) and don’t see the need to implement anything else?

RIP Patrick day.

Number one I would have 16oz gloves.

Number two I would give 75 seconds in between rounds.

Number 3 a fighter should make the weight the day of the fight.

Number 4 there should be more standing eight counts.

Number 5 I would encourage fighters to take a knee when they are hurt. Being too proud or too afraid to lose a point will make a hurt fighter too stubborn to take a knee. A hurt fighter can get hit with one more shot that can kill him. I would reduce the penalty for taking a knee to half a point.

Number 6 EACH AND EVERY FOUL SHOULD BE PENALIZED BEGINNING WITH THE VERY FIRST ONE....LOW BLOWS, RABBIT PUNCHES, ETC. WI'LL ALL INSTANTLY WITHOUT ANY WARNINGS BE DEDUCTED ONE POINT

I can agree with agree with a few of these things. Weight draining and rehydration play a big parts in the disparity of body mass/power/damage related physics. That was pretty much proven in Gatti/Gamache court case. Same day weighs would instantly fix many issues with the sport. Poorly Fighters with beer guts and b*tch t*ts would be forced to be more disciplined or take their life into their hands fighting opponents that are solid muscle at the weight. those potential matchups could be reviewed individually. At the same time weight bullies would have to fight closer to their actual weight. This also negates the age factor in favor of skill by shaving down the weight cutting younger fighters have over older fighters.

Standing eight counts arent bad as long as it doesnt prolong the beating. The refs have to review the fighters during these counts.

Not fond of the glove thing just because I hate the way 16 oz gloves feel.

For the Penalizing one, youre probably going to need a central organization that's training the refs to spot these things as so many of these subjective to the angles, the refs, etc. too many deductions can win or lose the fight before it actually happens and also makes room for the actors. (someone like hopkins could be up 4 points after the end of the first round.

It's fine. It's a sport where you get punched in the head until you can't punch back. You're still in more peril playing golf or crown green bowls.

Could it be safer? Of course, some good points have been raised already. Does anyone in real power actually want that?

Whilst the practice of dragging dried out or bloated bodies up and down in weight to make a fight goes on. Lets not pretend that anyone complicit in that practice actually cares about fighter safety.

Originally Posted by imp

If you had the control of Boxing would you introduce anymore aspects that would make it safer?

Glove size, less rounds, weight cutting issue, shorter rounds, more brain scans?

Or would you have expected to see more deaths in boxing (at this stage) and don’t see the need to implement anything else?

RIP Patrick day.

If I had control of boxing, believe me.... there'd be a hell of a lot more things I'd change besides just the safety aspect.

Regarding safety though, I wouldn't cut the number of rounds. It's already been done (from 15 to 12 for championship fights). Reducing number of rounds would ruin the ebb and flow of most fights. The sport would be ruined.

My efforts would be in weight control and brain scans. Yes.... due to the nature of the sport, brain scans are absolutely necessary and probably should be more frequent. It's a pain in the ass for the boxers, but it's for their own good.

Weight.... I've weighed in (pardon the pun) many times on this subject. I'd favor same day weigh-ins, to be sure. Of course, that would ruin the careers of those weight cheats who thrive on being 30 pounds heavier than the opponent, but c'est la vie.

Having brain scans before/during/after fights sounds like a good idea paid for by the authorities.

Monitoring fighters weight during camp and then have same day weigh in would stop people starving themselves and leaving themselves too vulnerable in fights.

Bring back 15 rounds world title fighters so that they can pace themselves better.

Stop having fighters get a licence from Luxumberg or Ireland when fighting in the UK as it undermines BBBC.

Originally Posted by powerpuncher

You could always make it more safe, but unfortunately you get to a point to where nobody would want to watch it anymore. I get why people think it’s a brutal sport and have a hard time watching it.

In order to make it safer but keep it the same sport, the best thing you can do is keep weight in check. Make it so that once the fight is signed, you can never be over 10 pounds of the weight limit. So you have to get checked at least weekly to make sure that you are on weight. Cutting weight is just way to detrimental to their health.

Also, we basically never see world class fighters die in the ring. It’s usually the lower class fighters. They could start implementing on non title fights faster stoppages. You know those fights where one fighter is just getting beat up but you can’t stop it because they are still fighting back? The ref could just stop those fights much earlier. I understand that you need to give someone a chance to come back, but when it’s not two high classed fighters, we should think of their health more than their record.

Spot on

Yes I hate those fights in which one fighter is really taking a beating and yet he is still game enough to throw back two or three punches every 10 or 12 that he gets hit. It's kind of a heartbreaking thing to watch. Seeing the gameness of the losing fighter. Fighting valiantly without fear. But taking a terrible battering. It's a tough one for the ref to stop sometimes

I just thought of something that can make the sport a lot safer and that would be for the corner people of the losing fighter to throw in the towel a lot sooner. We always like to blame the ref for not stopping it in time but hey wait a minute THE CORNER HAS A PERSONAL STAKE WITH THAT FIGHTER SO SHOULDN'T THEY BE THE ONES WHO THROW THE TOWEL IN BEFORE ANYBODY ELSE?

Ultimately the risk and and culmination is why we watch. You can respect and appreciate 'the defensive masters' and hit and not be hit aspects but lets be honest, were not clamoring to watch Mayweather shadow boxing sessions. It'll never be completely safe but precautions can be stepped up. For me number one would be mandatory 100 day medical suspensions after a ko loss. Not 30 or 90 depending on a 'tko or ko' but flat out 100 days out. And it goes hand in hand with a unified boxing-athletic commission that is recognized Nationally. No 'borrowing' commissions or fighters being stopped in one State to simply travel to another where scans, record keeping and medical evaluations are done differently or in some cases not done at all. The needs to be a uniformed code across the board. Same with South America and Mexico. We've seen guys, Daniel Franco comes to mind, be knocked out and skirt some suspension requirements by shipping down South where things can be a bit lax, knock out some non entity and return now in the win column and having passed a recent medical which may have been comprised of a temp check and a turn your head and cough .

Originally Posted by Fatboxingfan

Yes I hate those fights in which one fighter is really taking a beating and yet he is still game enough to throw back two or three punches every 10 or 12 that he gets hit. It's kind of a heartbreaking thing to watch. Seeing the gameness of the losing fighter. Fighting valiantly without fear. But taking a terrible battering. It's a tough one for the ref to stop sometimes

I just thought of something that can make the sport a lot safer and that would be for the corner people of the losing fighter to throw in the towel a lot sooner. We always like to blame the ref for not stopping it in time but hey wait a minute THE CORNER HAS A PERSONAL STAKE WITH THAT FIGHTER SO SHOULDN'T THEY BE THE ONES WHO THROW THE TOWEL IN BEFORE ANYBODY ELSE?

There needs to be a mercy rule in place. It would take some getting used to, but right now the tough fighters feel like it’s a huge hit to their pride to quit or get stopped. If it just became normal to stop some of these fights, that attitude would change and it would just become part of boxing.

Would any of our suggestions have saved Patrick Day?

ESPN just ran a piece asking this same question (can boxing be made safe?)

They mentioned 4 deaths in the ring since July... and there was at least one voice questioning the sport itself.

I think something should be done, not only to safeguard the sport of boxing, but to improve the safety aspect of the sport.

Brain scans is a big one, the more I think about it. The whole problem is the rattling of the brain inside the cranial cavity. The very nature of the sport is going to lead to some effects on the brain.

NFL football got scrutinized (and still is) big time regarding concussions, CTE, and what to do about it. The sport being as huge as it is, is constantly attempting to deal with the situation.

But in boxing, knocking people out is the actual intent of the sport. It's tough to implement safety rules when the object of the sport is to knock people out.

I sure hope the brilliant minds in boxing can come up with something. Every ring death starts the "should we abolish boxing" conversation all over again.

Originally Posted by Master

Would any of our suggestions have saved Patrick Day?

After he got hit behind the left ear you could see that he lost his equilibrium and could not get his footing. He sort of stumbled to his right and just barely avoided a gigantic overhand right that just grazed the tip of his chin. He was still stumbling away to his right. I would have given him a standing 8-count at that point. The tragedy happened when he tried to square himself up to his opponent and got caught with a picture perfect left hook right on the button. A ref could have stepped in there and given a standing 8-count.