Can You Take A Punch?

The world revolves around safety and of course being politically correct and one can only assume that the two go hand-in-hand.

Sports are to be played under the umbrella of safety and one can only ponder why it is taking some sports to follow this guideline in addition to why it is taking so long to do so?

Concussions play a major role in today’s sporting world and are a huge concern for everyone playing, but when it becomes a part of the culture that involves court cases that’s when sporting groups have to start taking it far more serious.

Recently we spoke about the term or word “Midget” being offensive to some, which we can see and now are hearing that Boxing has come under fire regarding safety.

Years we have watched various boxing matches at both the Amateur and Pro level get hammered regarding the fact that it is far too violent and that is left up to the judgement of those watching the sport.

Standing toe to toe punching someone isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea” as my Mom used to say, so why has it taken the governing body so long to make a rule change regarding headgear?

Now the governing body has finally “tried to” put an end to concerns regarding concussion with repetitive hits or blows to the head.

So effective immediately Boxing Canada and the Rules Commission have ruled that headgear must be worn by all competitors 

This includes being worn at all domestic boxing events, which will include the upcoming Canadian Qualification later this month and the Canadian Championships.

The Elite level of Men Boxers (2013) the number of lacerations has greatly increased and has prevented some boxers from advancing in a multi-bout tournament all due to cuts, which could have been prevented with headgear, or so the governing body thinks?

At a recent edition of the Elite Men’s World Championships in September 2019 there were 78 Countries competed in 357 bouts, some of which have medical statistics that have shown a number of cuts occurred during the competition. 

There were 46 lacerations greater than one centimeter as well as numerous secondary lacerations, one of which occurred in semi-finals and two during gold medal bouts. 

In both cases the fights had to be stopped and it’s reported that these (possibly) avoidable injuries determined the outcome of the bouts.

Boxing Canada is the National governing body for Olympic boxing and as expected it is their duty to be proactive in ensuring the health and safety of all boxers in hopes of preventing these injuries. 

To no real surprise the rule reinstating the use of headgear was unanimously supported by all Provincial Associations.

Pat Fiacco, Boxing Canada’s President mentions “It is quite obvious that the removal of the headgear for Elite male boxers has resulted i n an increase in injuries to the boxers and we have seen a significant increase in facial cuts due to unintentional headbutts. 

It’s reported that when the headgear was worn, these cuts never occurred, states, but there is no evidence of a decrease in concussions as initially reported when AIBA made the decision to remove the headgear. 

It’s reported that USA Boxing and the Argentina Boxing Federation have also brought back the headgear rule for those Elite male boxers. 

Let’s all remember that this is Amateur Boxing – NOT Professional Boxing!!

AIBA has not shown to our satisfaction that the removal of headgear was justifiable and has not proven the removal to be safer for our boxers. 

The no-headgear rule will continue to be applied in international competitions where AIBA rules apply.

We must remember that this is Amatrue Boxing and NOT Professionl Boxing.

One has to only ask WHEN WILL FIGURE SKATING ENFORCE HELMETS FOR ALL SKATERS, REGARDLESS OF LEVEL?

No argument from us on this rule!!

If you have any questions or comments please contact 

Emilie Garneau Marketing & Communications Manager

Boxing Canada egarneau@boxingcanada.org