Comments Thread For: Making The Sport Safer: Standing 8 Counts and Early Stoppages

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Mitch Abramson - In the wake of the tragic death of another boxer on Wednesday, a number of ideas have been put forward on how to make the sport safer, from increased drug testing to mandatory MRIs to health insurance for all fighters. These are all good ideas and should be implemented. The more protections for the fighters the better...
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[Curtis Harper]

Ending obvious mismatches or reverting to head gear and pillows for gloves is the only way. Everything else is a waste of time.

[Letmaku]

Governing Alphabet Bodies should immediately lower rounds to a maximum of 10 for a safety start.

[Satir]

Ending obvious mismatches or reverting to head gear and pillows for gloves is the only way. Everything else is a waste of time.

Obvious mismatches end up quickly, its in the competitive fights that they take more shots during the fight

[Dip_Slide]

Governing Alphabet Bodies should immediately lower rounds to a maximum of 10 for a safety start.

The idea is good but it'd be really dumb to have an even number of rounds again for scoring purposes. 11 or 9 rounds is the way to go.

I like that idea lot more than the standing 8 count or premature stoppages. Also having variable glove sizes for the different weight classes is a must, the fact that a 105 pounder fights in the same gloves a 147 lbs fights in is crazy. a 147 pounder can do a lot more damage. so it's either they drastically increase glove sizes and padding to save fighters but then there will never be any KOs or they fight bare knuckle where hand pain would stop the fighters from dishing out crazy amount of punishment over a prolonged periods of time.

Even with these and with drug testing, more MRI screening, avoiding mismatches and unnecessary fights etc...., people will still get injured and fighters will still die and that's something that we have to accept. All we can do is to reduce such cases. This is not ballet, this the hurt business.

[Dip_Slide]

Reducing the number of rounds fighters spar/fight by avoiding meaningless record padding mismatches is not only good for the fans, but also good for the fighters long and short term. Even while preparing for easy fights, fighters spar and also take a lot of damage and at the end of the day it's for nothing moneywise or legactwise.

If these fighters will be taking these types of risk, every fight has to mean something and they have to be paid very well for it so that they can retire early. I have no problem with fighters retiring after 15-20 fights. We should also take advantage of the fact that we have too many weight classes, this means we could have a lot of championship fights throughout the year anyways, no need for fighters to be fighting more than they should since there's always boxing on TV anyways.

[Curtis Harper]

Obvious mismatches end up quickly, its in the competitive fights that they take more shots during the fight

Sometimes a dog will take a prolonged beating. That ''punchers chance'' saying is a farce.
''Tune up'' is another joke.

In the end, it's grown people hitting each other on the head and body as hard as they can. I'm surprised more people don't end up damaged.

[Boxingfanatic75]

To prevent the rash of deaths occurring the state commissions and sanctioning bodies should enforce a 5% weight limit from the time of weigh in. The constant dehydration/rehydration is what is killing fighters. Enforcing a 5% limit forces fighters to fight at their natural weight thus protecting the fighter. Each time you dehydrate the body your brain and organs are impacted. The body was not built to constantly dehydrate. Dehydrating depletes the brain of the fluid protecting it.

From a study,
“ Less well-known but more intriguing are the short- and long-term effects of severe dehydration on the human brain. Recent studies have linked dehydration to a wide range of detriments. Some of them, like increased risk of concussion and reduced pain tolerance, are especially relevant to combat sport practitioners. Other symptoms, such as the build-up of metabolites linked to neurodegenerative diseases and lower cognitive efficiency, apply to all subjects suffering from dehydration[3, 4]. In light of these dangers, it is imperative that combat sport organizations establish regulations to prevent fighters from undergoing such severe dehydration immediately prior to their fights.

The risk of traumatic head injury seems inevitable for those who engage in striking sports such as boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. A 2016 study of post-fight examinations in Edmonton, Canada between 2000 and 2013 concluded that 10% of all boxers and 8% of all mixed martial artists sustained a concussion during their fights[5]. Another study from the same year found that over 30% of Korean mixed martial artists who visited a doctor were diagnosed with a concussion[6]. Unfortunately, an increasing amount of evidence links intense dehydration to higher chances of concussion. Several studies have linked water loss in the brain to an increase in the volume of cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF[4, 7]. CSF is a fluid that encases the brain in the skull. It acts as a cushion for the brain during shocks by dampening its displacement in the cranial cavity, akin to a hydraulic brake”

[DuckAdonis]

No pls don't do that. There will be even more corruption in the sport. The boxers know the risk. Stop it

[Main Source]

Governing Alphabet Bodies should immediately lower rounds to a maximum of 10 for a safety start.

Headgear will not protect you from brain damage in boxing.

Dehydration in combination with sudden hard impacts causes brain damage. Helmets can't help that.