BOXING’S DRAMATIC MOMENTS MAY BE THOSE ABOUT PHYSICAL DAMAGE
When Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez step into the ring tonight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, observers will be expecting two fighters to provide the kind of head-rattling finish fans crave.
However, boxing’s most dramatic moments can be the ones that involve the gravest physical damage. The absence of national regulation and monitoring of the unforgiving toll exacted on the human brain is a moral conundrum the sport continues to wrestle with.
“It’s one of the reasons boxing is such a guilty pleasure,” said Lou DiBella, a veteran New York fight promoter and former HBO executive. “Our greatest warriors are the guys you can most identify with having damage.”
DiBella said he’s conflicted by showcasing the ongoing performances wrote by brave fighters while knowing the regulation of their health and safety leaves much to be desired.
He’s watched in sadness as his former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor has spiralled from knockout losses to multiple arrests.
After previously working with the late Sen. John McCain to craft the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act and testifying to Congress about needed improvements years ago, the Harvard-educated DiBella said the sport requires help.
That could be provided, advocates say, by a national commission to institute consistent monitoring of fighters’ neurological exams and cognitive skills starting before their pro debuts, or a federal law requiring states to institute consistent medical tests in order to stage combat fight shows.
“It’s barbaric when you look at the state of health and safety regulation in boxing to think there are no standardised tests or regulations across all 50 states,” DiBella said. “In a number of states, all you need ■ to fight is an eye test and an HIV test, and there’s guys fighting on club shows who’ve been knocked out 10, 15, 20 times who are getting approved.
“There’s no concussion protocols like the NFL has adopted,” in pulling a player off the field. “To stop the action and look at a fighter — at first I thought it was ridiculous — you’ve got to do that. It might save lives. But there’s no standard anything.”
Dr Bennet Omalu, who first established Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in examinations of the brains of late NFL players, said he’s come to believe “no one under 18 should box,” to avoid punishment to the developing brain.
Lou DiBella | Fight promoter
California’s commission has pressed for national standards to address dehydration. New York has toughened its health reviews following the severe brain damage suffered by heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov in a 2013 bout at Madison Square Garden, a case that resulted in the vegetative fighter’s family winning a $22 million (Dh80.81 million) settlement from the state.
Deep-seated issues
“These issues are deep-seated. Commissions don’t talk to each other and share information [on fighters] as they should, and while we’ve tried to ramp up our medical protocols in New York, such as having ringside physicians assessing the fighters between all rounds, how others do it ranges from A to Z,” said Dr Nitin K. Sethi, the chief medical officer of the New York State Athletic Commission.
In a 2015 fight in Fairfax, Va., Puerto Rico’s Prichard Colon sustained numerous punches to the back of the head, causing a brain bleed. He has been in a vegetative state since. Last year in Iowa, Rancho Cucamonga’s Daniel Franco returned to the ring less than three months after a knockout loss, was knocked down once, then knocked out for good in the eighth round and required life-saving brain surgery to emerge from a coma.
“If a guy’s knocked out, we need to consider if the length of suspension should be longer than 60 days ... New York stops a lot of fights now, and I’ve made a conscience decision not to argue with them anymore because I’ve seen too much happen,” DiBella said. “We, as boxing fans, will say, ‘Oh, that guy quit like a dog,’ or, ‘That guy gave up.’ They’re in the ring, we’re not.