Free consent in corporate boxing
Are corporate boxers properly matched for skill, asks neurosurgeon Graham Martin.
Boxing matches cannot be banned, because that would offend the Human Rights Act. They are a pleasurable encounter by mutual consent, a human right for those who like them. As a retired neurosurgeon, who for many years was honorary medical officer to the Boxing Association of New Zealand, I have watched tournaments and talked to amateur boxers and trainers. I support the two boxing trainers who oppose corporate boxing matches (Warning for corporate boxing, Nov 5).
Boxers in amateur tournaments are rarely much injured, because they are properly trained, and box against a properly matched opponent.
When the head is hit, the brain is injured in two ways, firstly by impact and shockwave, and secondly by acceleration. A blow sends a shockwave through the brain, shaking it up and tearing some nerve cells apart, sometimes also blood vessels, which bleed and compress the brain. The violence of this shock wave varies with the force of the blow.
Mostly, a shockwave only damages a very few nerve cells permanently, and the victim rapidly recovers. The young brain has vast reserves of spare nerve cells, so it can lose a few cells, provided the concussion is not repeated too often. Padding the gloves limits the impact, so reducing the damage of the shockwave.
The second mode of injury, from blows to the head, is acceleration. Trained boxers are taught to move away from a blow on the head, so reducing the acceleration the brain suffers. Moreover, he or she has trained to get stronger neck muscles, which can control how much any blow shakes the head around.
Acceleration damages the brain by shaking it up. The brain floats rather loosely in the skull, so if the head is shaken violently, parts of the brain may not keep up, and be damaged by stretching.
This damage by acceleration and stretching is even more likely after the age of 40. The brain shrinks with age and so, the older you are, the more it is likely to flap around in the head. Worse still, as you age you gradually use up your spare neurons. Over 40 your chances of a good recovery from brain injury are less, because you have fewer spare nerve cells.
Does corporate boxing encourage ageing athletes to risk themselves, without adequate training, for the sake of the ‘‘corporation’’? Senior executives are often expected to leap 10-storey buildings.
Are corporate boxers properly matched for skill, or to make the reputation of the corporation? If there is any pressure on the executive to compete for the corporation’s sake, then the match is an assault to which he or she has not given a free consent, as required by the Human Rights Act.
Amateur boxing trainers match their trainees very carefully; any trainer who mismatches his fighter, putting him or her up for a bout where they get a pasting, loses his mana.