Time to modernise boxing

I used to enjoy watching boxing, but the idea of two people fighting, trying to harm each other over money, the crowd screaming with glee whenever someone is suffering, in pain, out cold and could be left with irreparable brain damage or worse, has turned me off the 'sport'.

It was, therefore, with a great deal of reservation that I forced myself to watch the Sakima Mullings vs Glenroy Beckford fight on 'The Contender' - aired on TVJ two Wednesdays ago. I hoped to see validation of my concerns for the participants, and it did not disappoint.

A direct punch to the head is like being hit with a padded, 12-pound mallet swung at 20mph (a little more than 32kph). So, after seeing Beckford absorb many head shots, I became very concerned for his safety. When the cumulative effect of Mullings' punches left Beckford visibly hurt, the cheers rose to a high-pitched crescendo. Beckford was being concussed repeatedly, and I was mortified that the fight wasn't stopped before his corner man eventually threw in the towel and climbed into the ring to save him from permanent brain damage (2.07 minutes into the fifth round).

We've come a long way

Although boxing has come a far way from its documented origins (323-146 BC) and has undergone transformation from bare-fisted contests to gladiators with metal-studded spikes on their hands and fighting to the death to its revival in 18th-century England, to Jack Broughton's gloves and rudimentary rules, to the Marquis of Queensberry's rules (with padded gloves, timed rounds, timed breaks, 10-second counts) ... we now live in a modern era, and it has a far way to go.

My main concern about boxing is the brain damage that can result. All blows to the head can lead to brain swelling, coma or death. Most people don't know that a concussion ('a short loss of normal brain function in response to a head injury') can occur without any loss of consciousness. Even heading a ball when playing football (soccer) can result in a concussion. Severe concussions produce confusion, memory loss and/or unconsciousness.

However, less severe concussions usually produce no discernible effects even though they cause some brain injury. When they occur repeatedly, especially over a short period (as they often do in boxing), they are more deleterious.

Boxers can end up with permanent brain injury that manifests as slurred speech, tremors, slowed mental processing, chronic traumatic encephalopathy associated with boxing, dementia pugilistica, psychiatric disorders, long-term memory problems, Parkinsonism, and even early Alzheimer's disease.

New technology

Because boxing involves wilful, repeated, hard head blows, the American Academy of Neurology, the World Medical Association and the medical associations of the UK, US, Australia and Canada have all called for a ban of the 'sport'. However, I believe that boxing should be modernised by using 21st-century technology to protect competitors.

Even the (American) footballers are endorsing the use of the high-tech headgear. The Zenith X-1 adaptive, shock-absorbing helmet has been available since 2007. And, the new Head Impact Telemetry System is being put in helmets to study injury mechanisms.

There is no reason why sensors cannot be placed in protective headgear (helmets with chin guards), especially designed for boxing, so that each blow is registered and the severity displayed on a screen (perhaps with varying colours) for everyone to see. The ring officials could use this to determine point scoring and/or the need to stop a contest when the blow is severe enough to have caused a concussion (were it not for the headgear).

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