Actually I'm not sure they do know the risks yet. Head trauma and it's long term effects are still being researched and clarified. That said, I wouldn't like to see it banned. It isn't my cup of tea at all but then lots of things aren't.
Last night's boxing; Nick Blackwell v. Chris Eubank Jr.
- Thread starter Dec66
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They know they are risking head trauma which may or may not have long term side effects. They also are adults and can do what they wish with their bodies.
Andrew_P
In between here and there
I watched the Eubank - Watson fight live and was cheering Eubank on when he was pummeling Watson Eubank was literally on his knees in round 11 the bang that uppercut felt really shocked, sick and awful afterwards stayed with me enough that I cannot watch any boxing.
Inertia
I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
[QUOTE 4213745, member: 76"]Well there has been lots of research on the long term effects of the drugs that seemed rife over the past decades. Plenty of riders dying from those effects, gloopy thick blood, catastrophically low blood pressure and on and on..[/QUOTE]
The boxing injuries are caused by actions legal within the rules of boxing. Your example of drugs is an activity which is specifically banned in cycling.
Im not saying I would ban boxing but I think comparing it to sports like cycling is innacurate.
The boxing injuries are caused by actions legal within the rules of boxing. Your example of drugs is an activity which is specifically banned in cycling.
Im not saying I would ban boxing but I think comparing it to sports like cycling is innacurate.
Dimensia, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, not just what happened to Blackwell. I wonder if they truly think about those things and I wonder if the choices they make as consenting adults are born out of choice or necessity of their own circumstances from which boxing offers a way up. They may do I don't know. Like I said I wouldn't take that choice away.
Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Do F1 drivers really think they might crash and die? No. Do parachutists think their chutes might not open and they might die? No. Do Moto GP riders think they might really crash and die? No. If they really did they wouldn't do these things.
The point I am making is there are risks in nearly all sports and athletes may think about the consequences but they never think it will happen to them. But it is their risk, their bodies and it is up to them.
We need to quit being a nanny state with things like this. If people don't like something (i.e. Boxing) just don't watch, don't talk about it on forums, don't tell everyone you know how bad it is - you sound like a bore. Just ignore it. I don't particularly like tennis but I don't visit every tennis thread and say it should be banned or tell anyone who listens that.
I'm not having a go at anyone on here, just sick of hearing people on the radio / in the media going on about it.
If you read my post properly I said I wasn't speaking about anyone one this forum (that means you as you are posting on this forum, silly) but thanks for saying I sound like a nasty, violent person.
You keep fighting the good fight though, good luck to you...
OP
OP
Dec66
A gentlemanly pootler, these days
- Location
- West Wickham
Banned, yes... But it still happens. Mainly at the behest the teams, rather than individuals.
Where you have professional sport, you have unscrupulous people, whether they are some of the parasites in boxing pushing washed-up fighters into one more payday, or the "doctors" in cycling giving young men concoctions which they tell them are "vitamins".
One sport has a brutality to it, which to some people is balletic, some people poetic, and yet others viscerally repugnant (and I can understand that last viewpoint, I feel the same about bullfighting). The other has many of the same virtues, yet whilst it lacks the raw brutality it possesses an insidious deviousness, much more than one finds in prizefighting.
Either way, young lads can get their health ruined by the unscrupulous.
I like boxing, as an athletic pursuit; but I'll be the first to admit that there's a lot wrong with the professional side of the sport. I love cycling, otherwise I wouldn't be here; but, my goodness, there's a heck of a lot wrong with the professional side of that, too.
Put it another way; boxing's governing bodies have a history of trying to alleviate the dangers in their sport. Cycling's, for far too long, turned a blind eye to theirs.
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Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
Not really. If boxing was interested in alleviating the dangers, they would ban head strikes. Boxing is intrinsically dangerous. Cycling's dangers come from things largely outside the sport itself, and, what's more, they are shared with every other sport in the world, including boxing, which has a terrible record for drug testing etc.
Boxing is not my bag but I've done a few years of Taekwondo (bring on the haters!). It's similar. Mostly fitness, plenty of techinal, lots of stretching and a fair amount of sparring. Hurting people in a controlled environment.
It teaches discipline, self defence, self confidence amongst the physical aspects. Plenty of kids and juniors do it and I feel it is beneficial. I don't know much about boxing but i understand it often gives kids from disadvantaged back grounds a good discipline and channel.
Do other sports have violence? Yes, football and rugby are physical. See a rugby match up close to see the pain inflicted on others deliberately. Boxing is certainly less subtle but it's all there in plenty of other sports. Is hurting someone ideal? No but it's human nature in a relatively controlled environment.
It teaches discipline, self defence, self confidence amongst the physical aspects. Plenty of kids and juniors do it and I feel it is beneficial. I don't know much about boxing but i understand it often gives kids from disadvantaged back grounds a good discipline and channel.
Do other sports have violence? Yes, football and rugby are physical. See a rugby match up close to see the pain inflicted on others deliberately. Boxing is certainly less subtle but it's all there in plenty of other sports. Is hurting someone ideal? No but it's human nature in a relatively controlled environment.
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
You really think it's similar? I did years of full-contact kung-fu. It was practiced with lots of padding, including for the head - which I believe is also the case for Taekwando - and head strikes were specifically prohibited 99% of the time.
In any case, you are talking about amateur / leisure sport, not a professional version. Amateur boxing is a whole different ballgame too, with head guards* and limited length contests with the emphasis on point-scoring not knock-downs.
*Although I hear they are about to get rid of these and allow Pros to fight at the Olympics, which is madness IMHO.
OskarTennisChampion
Guest
- Location
- West Central Scotland
That's a recipe for disaster.
I mean how many bouts are in an Olympic tournament.
I dread to think of the Heavy/Super Heavyweight divisions
Tenacious Sloth
Guru
- Location
- Huntingdon, UK
The trouble is, if people like you get your way where does it stop?
While we're at it let's ban judo, karate, in fact all martial arts. And what about rock climbing? That's very dangerous, better ban that as well. Skydiving, motor racing, underwater basket weaving. Ban them all!
Rugby? No way! Ban it!
Once all sports apart from Chess have been banned you'll have to focus your nanny state energies elsewhere.
Maybe stop people wearing red socks on a Friday?
The Nanny State drives me wild. Health & Safety is keeping stupid people alive, polluting the gene pool.
Yes, let's regulate these dangerous sports to reduce risk as much as is reasonably possible. But let people make their own choices.
Phew! Rant over. Feel better now.
Graham.
Tenacious Sloth
Guru
- Location
- Huntingdon, UK
As far as I'm aware, most, if not all martial arts award points for landing blows on your opponent. Isn't this how boxing is scored?
Love my boxing was up early Sunday morning to watch it as put it on sky planner as was watching fight night on sky ( kell brook )
Was a good contest with a sad ending , thought the referee done well in stopping it when advised though feel it could of been stopped a round or two earlier when Eubank really opened up onto Blackwell without any response from the latter , he's a tough kid you've got to give him that !
Not sure how far Eubank is going to progress @ world level , he caught Blackwell with some great shots but he seems to lack that big knockout punch that I feel he's going to need at a higher level
Was a good contest with a sad ending , thought the referee done well in stopping it when advised though feel it could of been stopped a round or two earlier when Eubank really opened up onto Blackwell without any response from the latter , he's a tough kid you've got to give him that !
Not sure how far Eubank is going to progress @ world level , he caught Blackwell with some great shots but he seems to lack that big knockout punch that I feel he's going to need at a higher level
