More safety sanctions needed
Boxing authorities must move to more strictly regulate all charity events in the wake of Kain Parsons’ tragic death after an injury at the Fight for Christchurch promotion.
Some people – appalled at the second New Zealand-wide fatality in three years – will clamour for charity boxing to be banned.
There would be some sympathy in New Zealand for the stance of British brain injury charity Headway, which called earlier this year for boxing, in general, to be outlawed after the third death of a British fighter in five years.
Headway chief executive Peter McCabe told the Daily Mail: ‘‘Boxing is a senseless waste of life and the time has come for it to be banned’’.
But when have bans worked? Did the United States’ government’s prohibition policy in the 1920s end alcoholism?
Charity boxing events have become a dime-a-dozen here.
Barring them would only drive the practice underground. And, who would enforce it?
Banning charity boxing, per se, would only lead to unsanctioned events without licensed trainers, qualified referees and medical support.
Do we really want a return to the days when people flocked to watch fairground bare knuckle brawls with a lookout on the door?
Kain Parsons’ passing should, however, lead to a comprehensive review of Fight for Christchurch’s practices and the general rules applying to charity boxing.
It is time for the organisations which sanction charity boxing events – New Zealand National Boxing Federation (NZNBF) and New Zealand Professional Boxing Association (NZPBA) – which licenses charity events – to heed the warnings of experienced boxing trainers and make stringent safety practices mandatory at every event, big or small.
This tragedy is the most serious of several troubling incidents at New Zealand charity boxing events this year.
A man was knocked out for 20 minutes and hospitalised for four days with a brain injury at a Boxing Alley event in Auckland last April. That led Boxing Alley to cancel corporate fights indefinitely.
Auckland’s Peach Gym also quit the corporate fight scene after Joel Rea, 36, was severely concussed at a corporate fight in September.
Rea’s wife, Olivia, told NZME she was furious that he was allowed to fight after just five weeks training and said his opponent was up to 40kg heavier. The NZME report claimed Joel Rea had not disclosed a childhood brain injury to event promoters.
This year’s incidents follow the 2016 death of 49-year-old Hamilton man Neville Knight, who collapsed in the ring and died in his fiancee’s arms at a charity event.
His death was attributed by his trainer to a ‘‘freak medical event’’ rather than an injury, but it prompted Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) New Zealand spokesman Keith Walker to say charity boxing should be banned.
Other insiders felt it needed to be regulated not outlawed or it would be driven underground. They predicted Knight’s death would be a ‘‘game-changer’’ and lead to more stringently policed rules. But has it?
Experienced Auckland trainer Harry Otty told NZME this year: ‘‘You could go to a corporate event anywhere in the country and one boxer will have shorts, singlet and a head guard on, the other boxer will have no singlet, no head guard.’’
Kain Parsons was not wearing headgear, which was optional.
Former Olympic Games trainer Phil Shatford – who has run scores of charity boxing events – told Stuff that the rules varied from event to event, and ‘‘that is totally wrong’’.
It’s time the regulators listened to experts such as Shatford and fellow Christchurch trainer Brian Barry (Joseph Parker’s cut man).
Saddened at Parsons’ plight, they called on boxing authorities to insist on a raft of safety measures for all corporate events.
They want:
❏ All corporate contestants to be trained by licensed trainers.
❏ Headgear to be mandatory instead of optional.
❏ Gloves sizes increased from 16oz to 18oz.
❏ More emphasis put on matchmaking to ensure fighters aren’t being asked to punch above their weight.
❏ Promoters should be hiring licensed trainers to run the boxing side of the event to ensure there are no glaring mismatches.
❏ Boxing principles must take priority over entertainment. If a fight even looks like getting out of hand, it should be over, no matter how many corporate tables have been sold or sponsors signed up.
Let’s give credit where it’s due.
It takes great courage to step into a boxing ring – and charity boxers should be commended for their support of a good cause.
They may be fighting in front of people at corporate tables, but don’t be fooled by the Rocky soundtrack and Let’s Get Ready to Rumble blasting over the sound system: These are amateur, not professional, events.
Charity boxing must always be run along similar lines to the Boxing New Zealand (BNZ) amateur environment where fighter welfare is paramount.
Amateur boxers must be under 40 years old, be registered with BNZ and have passed medical tests.
No rookie steps into the BNZ ring without extensive training and conditioning by seasoned coaches. They are matched, in strict weight divisions, against opponents of similar size and experience.
Charity boxing has almost become a ‘must-tick’ on the average punter’s bucket list – much as running a marathon.
But, marathon runners aren’t fighting someone flinging punches at their head.
This isn’t like Crossfit boxing training in the gym.
You can’t become a skilled boxer in six weeks – or five, in Joel Rea’s case.
And, speaking generally, not specifically, you shouldn’t step into the ring against someone much bigger, stronger and fitter.
Look back at the Fight for Life undercards where rugby league and union rivals went toe to toe. They were evenly matched.
So, next time you see a charity boxing event advertised check to see if the organisers are registered with the NZNBF or the NZPBA; whether all the boxers have headgear and proper gloves, have a bona fide boxing trainer in their corner and aren’t overmatched.
If not, don’t attend – let alone lace on a pair of gloves.