Supremo mourns tragedy but defends his sport
BRITISH boxing is in mourning for Mike Towell but strong in its belief that not even the latest fighter to succumb to brain injuries would want the sport abolished.
Towell died after being knocked out and sent into a coma by Dale Evans in a final eliminator for the domestic welterweight title on Thursday.
Robert Smith, British Boxing Board of Control general secretary, led the sport’s outpouring of sympathy for Towell and those close to him.
‘This is a tragedy which is felt by us all,’ said Smith. ‘Everyone will be thinking of all those nearest and dearest to Mike.
‘But it is my responsibility to point out that this is only the second fatality in a British ring in more than 20 years.
‘All the advances we have made medically and in care for the boxers come into place when an accident like this happens now.
‘Our boxers have the right to decide for themselves if they wish to take part in combat.’
Towell’s partner Chloe Ross posted on social media that he had been suffering from migraines prior to this bout.
Smith explained: ‘Like all our professionals, Mike received the full examinations correctly and there was no history of problems in his career.
‘His manager Tommy Gilmour is one of the most experienced men in the sport and if he had been told of any problems he would have intervened before the fight.
‘Of course we will examine all the medical reports and the procedures which took place around this bout to make sure nothing was amiss and to see if there is anything to be learned from this tragedy.’
The bout was refereed by Victor Loughlin, who was also in charge of the British middleweight title fight in March between Chris Eubank Jr and Nick Blackwell, which ended the latter’s career after he suffered a bleed on the brain when he was stopped in 10 rounds.
Brain injury charity Headway called for boxing to be banned following the tragedy. Peter McCabe, chief executive of Headway, said in a statement: ‘How many more lives have to be damaged or lost before this senseless sport is banned?’