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ok benny, what's with the articles? you lost me man
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5 steps that can taken now to improve boxer safety
By Margaret Goodman, M.D.Buzz up!
When I became a ring physician in 1994, I was naïve about the boxing business. But as I became more involved in the sport on a local and national level, the outright refusal by many officials to implement desperately needed changes to protect fighters and improve safety became suffocating.
Why the delay? Is it just naivete on the part of others? Or is safety often too complicated a distraction? And when is naivete merely blind ignorance?
While safety in sports like NASCAR and professional football has evolved, boxing safety has not, at least not sufficiently. Commissions concentrate on deflecting blame rather than ensuring that federal law is followed. Accountability simply doesn’t exist.
Let’s simplify the matter and start not with what we wish, but what we can change now to advance boxer protection. Five changes that could improve fighter safety:
1. Go back to same-day weigh-ins
If an athlete is well-conditioned, the timing of the weigh-in shouldn’t matter. For generations, the weigh-in took place the day of the fight. Boxers would step on a scale, drink a cup of water and step in the ring. But some of them came into a bout so dry they were unable to give a good performance. They often failed to replace essential fluids and therefore couldn’t address problems on a cellular level that resulted from dehydrating to make weight.
In the mid-1980s, the weigh-in was pushed back to 24-hours before a bout to address the dehydration issue. Many were optimistic this would be a springboard to educate fighters and trainers about the dangers of dehydration.
Unfortunately, the day-before-the-fight weigh-in has become an agent of unfairness contradictory to fighter safety. Contracts are too often based on earning power and not body size, meaning boxers are competing in weight classes in which they don’t belong. With many weigh-ins taking place more than 24 hours before the bout, fighters are not just replenishing water but actually gaining weight.
Same-day weigh-ins would force fighters to compete in a weight class where they belong. Also, if they would show up at the weigh-in (no more than 12 hours before the bout) dehydrated, they simply wouldn’t be cleared to fight.
The cost to return to same-day weigh-ins would be negligible. Over a short period of time, it would encourage fighters to compete in a weight class in which they belong. Fights would be fairer, and there would be less wear and tear on the fighter’s body. And, ultimately, healthy, well-hydrated fighters make for more exciting fights.
Boxing needs to admit its mistake and revert to same-day weigh-ins.Comment
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That it does matter what they weigh by fight-time. That's their ACTUAL FIGHTING WEIGHT. They don't step off the scales and then fight. They rehydrate their bodies and can put on a ton of weight. That's why Clottey weighed 170 against Diego Corrales at WW/147.
So say it is at 147: You can have one guy come into the fight at 149...and another come in at 170. That's the same division?
Gatti-Gamache
Last edited by Benny Leonard; 05-10-2009, 03:29 AM.Comment
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Thanks for sharing this article..green K given.Thread:
Joey Gamache's case against NYSAC on after 9-year wait
BY MITCH ABRAMSON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Monday, December 22nd 2008, 9:10 PM
For a brief moment, Joey Gamache was flying through space.
When he finally crashed down in the ring at Madison Square Garden nearly nine years ago, his retirement and the kernels of a lawsuit would be hatched.
Three judges and a trio of attorneys later, Gamache will finally get his day in court.
On Monday, Judge Melvin Schweitzer of the New York Court of Claims produced a 26-page decision, sending the civil case to trial and beginning the process of resolving a matter that has been shrouded in controversy throughout this decade.
Gamache contends that Arturo Gatti, his opponent for his Feb.26, 2000, bout, was allowed to weigh in over the agreed-upon weight limit of 141 pounds and that Gatti was given an unfair advantage in the ring.
The night of the bout, Gatti reportedly weighed 160 pounds, according to HBO scales, while Gamache, who made weight the day before, checked in at 145 pounds.
The result was inevitable.
Gamache was nearly decapitated in the second round, retired from the sport on his way back to the dressing room and was reported to have sustained permanent brain damage.
Shortly thereafter, Gamache filed a lawsuit against the New York State Athletic Commission, alleging fraud, breach of contract and negligence at the Feb.25 weigh-in.
Two of the causes were thrown out, while the negligence cause of action withstood.
"We're extremely pleased that by making this decision the court is saying loud and clear that the commission can and will be held responsible when they conduct themselves in a negligent manner that results in injuries to the fighters," said Gamache's attorney, Keith Sullivan. "They had a duty that day that when Joey weighed in at 141 pounds, that his opponent also weighed in at the same weight. It's disgraceful."
No trial date has been set, nor has compensation been discussed, but Sullivan expects the case to begin in February or March.
Gamache, 42, lives in Manhattan and works as a boxing trainer.
A year after Gamache's alleged incident at the weigh-in, Beethaeven Scottland was killed because of injuries incurred in the ring against George Khalid Jones at the U.S.S. Intrepid.
Sullivan described the New York State Commission back then as "a festering ground of political patronage with guys who didn't have the knowledge or skills to help the fighters."Comment
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Pay attention to what they say at {TIME :07 to :19}
Last edited by Benny Leonard; 05-10-2009, 03:34 AM.Comment
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Because of the golden rule: he who has the gold, makes the rules.Comment
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So why are you bitching about Floyd vs. Hatton being at 147?
And why is Freddie bitching about Shane, Cotto, and Floyd must move down to be drained or no fight?
Pac needs to man up and Fight Wlad if size doesn't decide the outcome.
P4P is nothing then. The HW crown is the only title that matters.Comment
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