Concerns mount over boxing toll
3 deaths and nearly 14,000 ACC claims over 3-year period
In the past three years there have been three known deaths and just under 14,000 ACC injury claims related to boxing. The injury statistics, released to the by ACC, show that since January 1, 2016 to November 5 this year there were 13,864 boxing claims made to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
Broken down by year, 4366 claims were made in 2016, 3985 in 2017 and 5513 for the current year up to November 5.
Soft tissue injuries were the most common, with 10,801 claims, including contusions, sprains, strains and internal injuries.
This was followed by fractures and dislocations with 1475 claims, lacerations and punctures with 561 and injuries classed as “other” with 393 claims. There were also 334 dental injuries and 300 concussions.
Boxing New Zealand president Keith Walker said most serious injuries come from the professional boxing scene but amateur boxing had a very good safety record.
“The concussions statistics would not be related to the amateur side of the sport at all.
“For instance when we have an international competition, where there is somewhere around 350-odd bouts, we have nil concussions.
“But we do have a lot of cuts, I do admit that, and more so now because they have taken the head guards off the elite male boxers, therefore most of the injuries we have are cut eyes and brows.”
However, Walker said the essence of boxing was not causing injury but about skill.
“It is certainly a contact sport but there are so many safety aspects around that. You just can’t look at it from a point of view of ‘he is going to try and punch that guy so it will cause injury’.
“That is certainly not the case, in actual fact there is more skill factor to it than the desire to cause serious injury to the opponent. That is not the essence of the sport at all.”
ACC spokesman James Funnell said ACC is a no-fault scheme, covering all injuries: “In setting up the scheme that way, the Government of the day removed the right for people to sue for damages following an injury, which means we cover all injuries irrespective of the situation — with the exception of wilfully self- inflicted harm, which we do not always cover,” he said.
However, not all agree that boxing should be covered by ACC.
Bruce Rogan, from Mangawhai, wrote to the to express his disapproval.
“It has been widely reported in the media that a blow to the head of someone in a boxing ring is an accident. Many of us were under the impression that hitting the opponent’s head was the main purpose of the fixture,” he wrote.
“If it was an accident, ACC will pick up the tab and if there is permanent brain damage that tab could by millions of dollars.”
But sports injury research specialist Dr Doug King said things become very confusing when you started to unpack who should and shouldn’t be covered by ACC.
“You have to draw the line somewhere. It depends on what side of the glass you are looking at it, whether it is half full or half empty, as to whether it is or isn’t wilfully selfinflicted or not.
“Driving a car at 120km/h and crashing, is that wilfully self-inflicted harm? Someone jogging down the road, for a person who hates jogging, is that wilfully self-inflicted harm?”
Legendary boxing referee Lance Revill said he was riled by the suggestion boxing shouldn’t be covered by ACC when there were plenty of other sports with high injury rates.
“There have been deaths in rugby but they all stay quiet because it is our No 1 sport, but as soon as it is something like boxing everyone jumps on the bandwagon to ban the sport,” he said.
“The problem is people opening up boxing gyms that know nothing about the sport and [they] clearly just want to make a buck out of tournaments.
“We have to sort that out but boxing has been around a long time so it is crazy to talk about banning the sport.”
The release of the statistics follow the death of Kain Parsons, 37, who died last Wednesday after being injured during the Fight for Christchurch charity boxing event on the evening of Saturday, November 3.
Kain was fighting former Canterbury and Tasman Makos rugby halfback Steve Alfeld when he was critically injured.
He died four days later in Christchurch Hospital. His death has been said to be the first incident in the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association’s history where a fighter has suffered a critical injury in the ring.
However, earlier this year Lucy Aroha Brown died after receiving a head injury during a sparring session.
The mother of two was flown to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition, after she collapsed during routine sparring at Wellsford Boxing Sport & Fitness Club on August 18.
Brown, 31, died on August 22 after her life support was switched off.
In 2016, Neville Knight also died during a charity fight in Hamilton.
The 49-year-old collapsed in front of hundreds of spectators on September 24. Despite desperate efforts to administer CPR , including by Knight’s fiancee Michelle Burke, he could not be revived.
There have been deaths in rugby but they all stay quiet because it is our No 1 sport . . . Boxing referee Lance Revill