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THE ROLE OF THE BRITISH BOXING BOARD OF CONTROL IN PROFESSIONAL BOXING IN THE U.K. AND NORTHERN IRELAND
The British Boxing Board of Control has been overseeing British professional boxing since 1929. During this time the role of the Board has changed immeasurably. In its early years the British Boxing Board of Control was concerned primarily with the procedural side of the sport such as the recognition of Championships. However, in the last few decades the raising of medical protection standards in British boxing has formed a major part of the Board’s work. Arbitration and disciplinary procedures, revision, upgrading and application of the Rules and Regulations, appointment of Referees and Timekeepers, the licensing of people involved in the sport and representation of the interests of British boxing internationally makes up the bulk of the remainder of the Board’s work.
The Board was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company in 1989 and has approximately 2500 licence holders of which around 900 are active boxers. Of these, the vast majority are semi-professional. There are only a few dozen British professional boxers who earn a full time living in the sport. Few British professional boxers these days have more than 12 contests a year and most compete only a handful of times. This trend has become most pronounced in the last 30 years.
To compare the careers of Tommy Farr and Lennox Lewis is illustrative. The former boxed for a total of 18 years (mainly between 1926 and 1940) and had 104 contests. The latter boxed for 14 years as a professional (between 1989 and 2003) and had only 44 contests. Freddie Mills the former World Light Heavyweight Champion and one of the most popular boxers of the 40s and 50s had 73 contests before he got a chance to challenge for the British and “Empire” Titles. World Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch was able to challenge for the Commonwealth Championship in his 12th contest and the British in his 14th.
Concurrent with these changing career patterns there has been the increased activity of the Board in the area of medical controls and safeguards. The British Boxing Board of Control has never sought to deny that professional boxing is a physically hazardous sport and advises every licence holder of the potential dangers.
In addition, through its Medical Committee, the Board set up in 1950, it has provided British professional boxing with an unrivalled set of medical safety checks and balances. Like any effective system of checks and balances, this works through a mixture of the formal and informal.
Boxing is similar to most other professional sports in that it is a tight knit community. The relationship between the various officials involved works through a process of continuous dialogue, with the Board as the lynchpin. To the outside this can result in misunderstanding about the nature of the Board’s control over the sport. The following sections delineate the roles of the key people in the network of safeguards in British professional boxing.
MEDICAL OFFICERS
The British Boxing Board of Control endeavours to ensure that when a doctor is appointed to the Board’s panel of Medical Officers, he or she has a thorough knowledge of the most common injuries which can occur during the course of a boxing match.
On the day of a tournament one of the Medical Officers appointed to officiate will attend the “weigh-in”. Each boxer undergoes a medical examination and is questioned on his/her medical history. If the Medical Officer is unsatisfied about the condition of either boxer, then he/she will not sign the certificate which allows the contest to take place. This applies to all boxers whether permanently licensed by the Board or coming here for one contest only from overseas with an Alien Permit.
No tournament is allowed to commence without one doctor sitting at ringside (with an ambulance on standby throughout the tournament staffed by at least one fully qualified and equipped paramedic). At least one of the Medical Officers at a boxing tournament must be practised and qualified in the management of a unconscious or partially conscious patient and in effect this either means a Consultant Anaesthetist or a Consultant in an Accident or Emergency Unit at a hospital. Although a Referee is in sole charge of a contest and is the only person permitted to stop a contest a Medical Officer sitting at ringside may be called upon to inspect an injury if so required by the Referee and of his/her own volition may visit a boxer’s corner during the one minute interval between rounds should he/she feel there is any cause for concern. Ringside Medical Officers have the power to impose or extend a medical suspension on a licence regardless of whether or not the boxer has won, lost or drawn the contest. No boxer is permitted to leave a venue after a contest without having been cleared fit to do so by one of the Medical Officers in charge.
According to the Regulations of the Board Medical Officers at boxing tournaments are actually appointed by the Promoter but nevertheless no Promoter can appoint a Doctor who is not on the Board’s approved list. All Promoters are content for the Area Secretary/Chief Medical Officer to appoint the working Doctors from the approved list.
To give overall advice to the Stewards of the Board and to co-ordinate practice within each of the seven Areas the Board has appointed an Honorary Medical Consultant who is Dr. Roger C. Evans, FRCP, M.B., B.S., MRCP, FFAEM, FRCS, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff and Barry Hospital, who has experience in both rugby union and cricket injuries.
As well as the reported migraines he lost 3 lbs in an hour for the weigh in...where's the protection by the BBOBC
From their own literature they acknowledge that it's their responsibility
Now *** up ya wank
The British Boxing Board of Control has been overseeing British professional boxing since 1929. During this time the role of the Board has changed immeasurably. In its early years the British Boxing Board of Control was concerned primarily with the procedural side of the sport such as the recognition of Championships. However, in the last few decades the raising of medical protection standards in British boxing has formed a major part of the Board’s work. Arbitration and disciplinary procedures, revision, upgrading and application of the Rules and Regulations, appointment of Referees and Timekeepers, the licensing of people involved in the sport and representation of the interests of British boxing internationally makes up the bulk of the remainder of the Board’s work.
The Board was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company in 1989 and has approximately 2500 licence holders of which around 900 are active boxers. Of these, the vast majority are semi-professional. There are only a few dozen British professional boxers who earn a full time living in the sport. Few British professional boxers these days have more than 12 contests a year and most compete only a handful of times. This trend has become most pronounced in the last 30 years.
To compare the careers of Tommy Farr and Lennox Lewis is illustrative. The former boxed for a total of 18 years (mainly between 1926 and 1940) and had 104 contests. The latter boxed for 14 years as a professional (between 1989 and 2003) and had only 44 contests. Freddie Mills the former World Light Heavyweight Champion and one of the most popular boxers of the 40s and 50s had 73 contests before he got a chance to challenge for the British and “Empire” Titles. World Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch was able to challenge for the Commonwealth Championship in his 12th contest and the British in his 14th.
Concurrent with these changing career patterns there has been the increased activity of the Board in the area of medical controls and safeguards. The British Boxing Board of Control has never sought to deny that professional boxing is a physically hazardous sport and advises every licence holder of the potential dangers.
In addition, through its Medical Committee, the Board set up in 1950, it has provided British professional boxing with an unrivalled set of medical safety checks and balances. Like any effective system of checks and balances, this works through a mixture of the formal and informal.
Boxing is similar to most other professional sports in that it is a tight knit community. The relationship between the various officials involved works through a process of continuous dialogue, with the Board as the lynchpin. To the outside this can result in misunderstanding about the nature of the Board’s control over the sport. The following sections delineate the roles of the key people in the network of safeguards in British professional boxing.
MEDICAL OFFICERS
The British Boxing Board of Control endeavours to ensure that when a doctor is appointed to the Board’s panel of Medical Officers, he or she has a thorough knowledge of the most common injuries which can occur during the course of a boxing match.
On the day of a tournament one of the Medical Officers appointed to officiate will attend the “weigh-in”. Each boxer undergoes a medical examination and is questioned on his/her medical history. If the Medical Officer is unsatisfied about the condition of either boxer, then he/she will not sign the certificate which allows the contest to take place. This applies to all boxers whether permanently licensed by the Board or coming here for one contest only from overseas with an Alien Permit.
No tournament is allowed to commence without one doctor sitting at ringside (with an ambulance on standby throughout the tournament staffed by at least one fully qualified and equipped paramedic). At least one of the Medical Officers at a boxing tournament must be practised and qualified in the management of a unconscious or partially conscious patient and in effect this either means a Consultant Anaesthetist or a Consultant in an Accident or Emergency Unit at a hospital. Although a Referee is in sole charge of a contest and is the only person permitted to stop a contest a Medical Officer sitting at ringside may be called upon to inspect an injury if so required by the Referee and of his/her own volition may visit a boxer’s corner during the one minute interval between rounds should he/she feel there is any cause for concern. Ringside Medical Officers have the power to impose or extend a medical suspension on a licence regardless of whether or not the boxer has won, lost or drawn the contest. No boxer is permitted to leave a venue after a contest without having been cleared fit to do so by one of the Medical Officers in charge.
According to the Regulations of the Board Medical Officers at boxing tournaments are actually appointed by the Promoter but nevertheless no Promoter can appoint a Doctor who is not on the Board’s approved list. All Promoters are content for the Area Secretary/Chief Medical Officer to appoint the working Doctors from the approved list.
To give overall advice to the Stewards of the Board and to co-ordinate practice within each of the seven Areas the Board has appointed an Honorary Medical Consultant who is Dr. Roger C. Evans, FRCP, M.B., B.S., MRCP, FFAEM, FRCS, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff and Barry Hospital, who has experience in both rugby union and cricket injuries.
As well as the reported migraines he lost 3 lbs in an hour for the weigh in...where's the protection by the BBOBC
From their own literature they acknowledge that it's their responsibility
Now *** up ya wank
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