Boxing Safety – The Non-Issue

Athletics pushes the limits of human endurance.  It measures strength and tests the boundaries of man/woman’s capabilities.  That is the role it plays and function it serves in society.  It has always been man’s desire to compete.  He will do it on a battlefield, across a conference table, on a basketball court or in the boxing ring.  The choice has been made to celebrate man’s achievement on the playing field.  There is no time to change the rules or censor those sports that don’t appeal to a specific “special interest” group.  The time has come to let the public know the facts and not selectively feed them sensationalized images of death and destruction.  Look at the impact of Muhamed Ali’s appearance at the Olympics.  Think of the widespread recognition Christy Martin has gotten for her boxing accomplishments.  Boxing is the epitome of sport.  It is “man against man” in unopposed competition.  If the press didn’t continually tell people how barbaric, primitive, and antisocial boxing is, they would allow themselves to see the sport for all of the good that it is.  They would see the lives that it changes, the pure sportsmanship that it brings out in the participants and inspiration that it provides its viewers.  It is time they see the facts so that they are allowed to look beyond the danger of boxing and view it for the value that it holds to our society.

All sensationalism and tabloid style news reporting aside, the facts are this:  Boxing injuries happen.  No boxing fan, no matter how enthusiastic, would deny that there are dangers involved with the sport.  That is not the issue.  The fact is that it holds no more risks than countless other sports that are supported by and romanticized to the general public.  Consider the facts that according to the National Safety Council’s 1996 accident report, boxing ranked 23rd on its list of injuries.  It reported fewer than soccer, wrestling, tennis, volleyball, basketball and nearly every participatory sport that is being offered and endorsed in academic schools across America. 

• In 1995, there were four fatalities directly related to football, plus nine indirect fatalities (caused by the exertion of participation).  Compared to football, where concussions are common place and players often return to the game only minutes later to suffer more punishment, amateur boxing is one of the most highly regulated of all amateur athletics.  The same report cited 65,027 injuries for ice hockey.  Unsupervised fights break out in nearly every game.  It’s not even uncommon to see a hockey player use his hockey stick as a weapon. 

 

• The February 2, 1997 edition of the Kansas City Star reported the death of auto racer Michael Himes from injuries in a crash at the Daytona International Speedway.  He was the 26th person to be killed at the tracks since 1959.  That’s nearly one fatality per year.  Consider also that Daytona is only one track in the whole U.S.  In addition to that, think of the innocent spectators who have died as a result of the collision and out of control automobiles.

• In 1955 at the Lemans, the race continued even after 87 people died and 100 were injured when a car flew into the stands.  Yet, spectacular crashes and multi-car pileups are fully accepted, even glorified by race promoters and fans alike. 

 

Should we begin to put a magnifying glass to all those individuals who die in the sporting arena? 

• How about college basketball star Hank Gather’s who collapsed on the basketball court at the tender age of 23? 

 

• In the press, the precaution and care taken to monitor the Loyola Marymount star’s heart condition took a back seat to the team’s quest to win the NCAAA title for their fallen teammate.  Bill Tierney collapsed and died during a pre-game warm-up. 

• The Fordham University football player was only 20 years old when lost his life due to heart failure.  How about Jim Fixx, author of the complete book of running and originator of the 1970’s jogging craze3, who died of a heart attack . . . while jogging? 

 

• The list goes on . . . in 1996, there were 29 fatalities reported by the U.S. Parachute Association.  That’s over two deaths each month.  Boxing ranked at the bottom of the list with only two deaths in a year.