Protecting Boxers Who Won't Quit

Abstract

MOVES to regulate boxing, in the interest of boxers' health and safety, are growing more forceful—and proponents aren't pulling any punches. At the Seventh International Symposium on the Medical Aspects of Boxing, held in New York, NY, speakers called for the establishment of a national regulatory agency for the sport in the United States. This agency would enforce uniform medical standards to be followed in all states. Currently, the rules governing professional boxing and enforcement of these rules vary widely. Some states, such as New York, set high standards, including prefight physical examinations that are administered through the state's athletic commission. Other states, such as Oklahoma, have no regulatory body at all. Boxing officials say that a fighter who is denied a license to fight in New York will go to another state that has no medical standards, or that may not perform tests that are routine in New York.