Should professional boxing be banned?

[brentspeak]

Recently, I've been watching a lot of classic fights posted on youtube: Ali vs. Foreman, Hagler vs. Hearns, Frazier vs. Quarry, etc. This is all exciting action, classic sports.

Youtube, though, also has clips of fights which ended in a fighter's death: Mancini vs. Kim, Pintor vs. Owen, Peret vs. Griffith. This is horrifying footage -- and much of it was originally broadcast live on national TV.

So I did some web research, and discovered that many of the great boxers have suffered or are still suffering from permanent brain damage. Muhammad Ali, despite his advanced Parkinson's, is actually doing better off than many of his colleagues who are dealing with brain injuries: former welterweight champ Wilfredo Benitez is practically a vegetable; Jerry Quarry died young from brain injuries, as did his younger boxing brother, Mike. A third Quarry boxing brother, Bobby, is suffering from the same type of boxing-induced Parkinson's as is Ali.

I have conflicting emotions on this issue: boxing is an exciting sport, but it's also a devastating sport; the boxers understand the risks involved, but that doesn't necessarily make everything "ok".

[KamaAina]

1. No, but...

consideration should be given to the use of headgear as in amateur boxing.

NOT the F'd up amateur boxing scoring system, though!

[Va Lefty]

2. No, but Don King should be banned from boxing

[Mojambo]

3. Switch to MMA. Much safer sport.

More exciting too, (IMHO.)

[LeftyMom]

6. That raises a good point

Boxing confines the blows to the relatively impervious torso and the vulnerable head. A guy who gets TKO'd with one hell of a concussion doesn't look nearly as badly hurt as one who gets a badly broken leg or something, but scrambled brains never totally recover and limb damage is usually completely repairable or nearly so in the hands of a skilled orthopedist.

I think there's a perception that because boxing is more controlled than MMA it's less risky, but the rules are structured in such a way that brain injury likely more of a risk in boxing.

[brentspeak]

4. kick

[brentspeak]

5. final kick

[HuskerDU]

7. I actually attended a boxing match which resulted in the death

of one of the fighters. It was the undercard of a Ray Mercer fight about 4 years ago at a casino in Florida. I was actually working it, and was given a free ticket to watch the event.

At the end of the fight, both fighters danced around like the winner. But the man who ended up dying had clearly lost the fight by a wide margin. His opponent was declared the winner and we all waited for the Mercer fight, thinking little or nothing about this undercard fight.

I learned that the man had died the next day. It was the first and last boxing match I ever watched in person. Let me tell you that the action was probably the best I've ever seen in sports, and I've seen sporting events of all kinds, all over the country. But I will never go to one again. I don't think that they should be banned, but other sports fans should be warned that you could watch a man die if you go to a boxing match.