After the death of Patrick Day: Should Boxing Be Banned?

It happened again. A young boxer has died as a result of a fight. The American Patrick Day was only 27 years old. On Saturday he had gone hard in the tenth round of a title fight. When he hit the ring mat, he contracted a traumatic brain injury. Four days later, his promoter Lou DiBella confirmed his death.

In a statement, DiBella wrote: "Patrick did not have to box because he came from a good family, which was intelligent, educated and could have made a living by other means." knew the risks every fighter knows when he steps in. Boxing was what Patrick loved, it was the way he inspired people and what made him feel alive. "

Day is the fourth dead boxer in the past four months.

• July 23: The Russian Maxim Dadashew, 28, succumbs to a cerebral edema suffered three days after a tough fight.
• July 25: Hugo Alfredo Santillán, 23, dies of multiple organ failure as a result of a blood clot in the head; In the previous weeks he had fought two tough fights over ten laps each, the first in Germany, the second in his Argentinian homeland.
• September 21: Bulgarian Boris Stanchov, 21, collapses in the fifth round of a fight and dies of heart failure in the ring. First, it is reported that the dead is Stanchov's cousin Isus Velichkov. Later it is announced that Stanchov had started under false license.

Has boxing become more dangerous?

The accumulation of tragic accidents raises questions: Has the sport become more dangerous? Harder? Brutal? In fact, it just seems that the number of fatal fights has increased dramatically. Similar phases existed in the late 1970s, mid 1980s and mid 1990s. Three Mexicans died in 2009 after too many hard hits in a row. Since 1979, a total of 54 deaths have been documented.

But if the dangers are so great, why is the sport allowed at all? Can one justify that young people risk their lives just to entertain others and make money? After Day's death, the recurrent demand for a ban on professional boxing is currently being discussed in social media as well as in articles by renowned boxing journalists.

A # banboxing decision is long overdue! It's sorrowful to have athletes at such a young age. The sport is too dangerous. #NoMoreDeaths

One thing is clear: A sport that is primarily about incapacitating its opponent by punching can not be healthy. Unlike American football, for example, which also has ongoing discussions about health problems, concussion concussion is more than just occupational risk. They are in a sense the goal that the athletes are working towards.

Of course, no fighter gets into the ring to hurt or even kill his opponent. But every boxer strives for the Ko, which is nothing but a short-term system failure due to impact.

Boxing is a billion dollar business

Of course, promoters, managers, officials and boxers themselves do not want to know about a ban. After all, you can make very good money with the archaic sport. The highest paid athlete in the world was for many years no football, basketball, tennis or golfers, but boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather jr. who claims to have garnered $ 1 billion worth of guns in his career.

The defenders of boxing argue that global interest is too big to ban the sport. In addition, one would only relocate the problem, because the assets could evade other martial arts - in doubt, even those that are not allowed and thus even more dangerous. In general, boxing is the most original and fairest form of argument at all.

The associations work against each other instead of together

Fighting is done only with the fists, as soon as one of the opponents goes to the ground, the other one has to stop beating and retire to the neutral corner. If one of them can not continue, the duel is over.

In order not to let the prohibition discussion get too big, the boxing federations have announced changes in the rules to make the sport safer. But the scope for influence is limited, especially as there are four major associations that compete with each other and undermine each other's authority rather than working together on fundamental issues.

For example, the long-overdue introduction of a blanket anti-doping system, which has already been approved by the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Association (WBA), is underlined by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and the International Boxing Federation (WBO). IBF) but not yet.

Equal rights differently

A conceivable safety measure would be to give the boxers less time to harm each other. It is known that fatigue, dehydration and poor concentration are major risk factors. That's why at World Championships women fight ten laps of two minutes instead of the men's twelve laps of three minutes each.

Some female boxers see this as a competitive disadvantage. They demand the right to fight as long as men. After the dramatic accidents of recent times, it is conceivable that gender equality is going the other way. Which perhaps also speaks for this approach: Among the 54 fatalities of the past 40 years, there is not a single female boxer.

Should it really come to an adjustment, it would not be the first time that an accident ensures a shortening of the duration of the fight: Until 1982 World Championships were held over 15 laps. Then the Korean Kim Duk-koo died after a ring battle against Ray Mancini. Since then, twelve rounds are the maximum combat length.

The change was enforced by the World Boxing Council, which convenes next week for its annual convention. It would be a chance to respond to the calamities.

Editor's note: The author worked from 2006 to 2013 for Arena Box-Promotion, first in the press department, later as managing director. Today, he is a volunteer for the Association of German Professional Boxers and the World Association WBC (World Boxing Council) operates and writes as a freelance journalist, among others for the SPIEGEL and the trade magazine "Boxing".