Identifying a high-risk fighter in boxing

Abstract

Boxing is one of the most popular of combat sports. The goal in boxing is to win by causing a knockout (KO). Every punch thrown at the opponent’s head is thrown with this intention. As a result boxers experience numerous head impact exposures (HIE) both in and out of competition. The sport carries a high incidence of acute and chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI) as well as occasional disabling orthopedic and ophthalmological injury. While no fighter (combatant) is immune to these injuries, there are fighters who for various reasons are more susceptible to these injuries or in whom these injuries carry high morbidity and mortality. These fighters are colloquially referred to as “high-risk fighters”. A high-risk fighter needs closer medical supervision before, during and after a bout. In this commentary an attempt is made to identify these high risk fighters.