Industry weighs in on corporate bout safety rules
Boxers fighting in corporate events in Auckland will face stricter rules including the compulsory use of headgear after industry heads agreed to draft guidelines to try to lessen the number of serious injuries.
A last-minute meeting at ABA Stadium on Sunday brought together about 30 boxing heads from across Auckland to nut out safety standards.
Auckland Boxing Association president Paul McSharry, who called the meeting, said he was concerned at the number of fighters getting seriously injured and wanted to do something about it.
He said he now had enough information to draft a report for figureheads to mull over to try to prevent fighter injuries.
“I think we got through quite a lot of things. We went through the history of boxing . . . to ensure we’re protecting the boxers and therefore protecting the sport.”
McSharry called the meeting after three serious cases so far this year — the death of Wellsford woman Lucy Brown, who died after a sparring session; Joel Rea, who was knocked out eight seconds into his heavyweight bout; and a corporate fighter at Boxing Alley who was hospitalised for four days in April.
Some of the new rules included making headgear compulsory and ensuring all corporate fighters were registered to ensure they were fighting opponents of the same skill level.
Another option was making fighters heavier than 100kg use bigger gloves to soften the impact on their opponents.
Fighters aged over 40 would also have extra requirements to meet before getting in the ring.
“There’s some simple things to start with,” McSharry said.
“That’s ensuring headgear is compulsory for corporate boxers because we’ve got to save some people from themselves.
“Professionals don’t wear headgear. Corporate boxing is run under the same organisation as professional boxing so it’s always been optional if you want to wear headgear . . . and it’s just a mess, really.”
McSharry said he would now spend the rest of the week drafting up a report for those who attended the meeting to mull over “and see where it takes us”.