Running Head: THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY THAT INCREASED RULES AND

REGULATIONS GIVE IN BOXING

1

The Illusion of Safety that Increased Rules and Regulations Give in Boxing.

Aaron Vissel - Student Number: 388698

Hanzehogeschool of Applied Sciences

Aaron Vissel
Student Number - 388698
Date - 30/01/2019
THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY THAT INCREASED RULES AND REGULATIONS GIVE IN
BOXING 2
Abstract

Over the years since boxing was first introduced, there have been increased rules and regulations

in order to try and reduce injuries, but due to the high impact and physical nature of the sport,

can this goal be achieved?

Aaron Vissel
Student Number - 388698
Date - 30/01/2019
THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY THAT INCREASED RULES AND REGULATIONS GIVE IN
BOXING 3

Introduction:

Boxing, a sport that has been around since Ancient Greece and has been documented as one of

the first sports involved in the Ancient Greek Olympic Games is a sport in which opponents

strike one another in the hope of either knocking out (Victory by KO) or winning by points

decision. However, due to the brutality of the sport, it has been seen that over the years since

boxing was first introduced as a sport, rules and regulations have been increased to try and

prevent injuries from occurring. One of the regulations that were the split of amateur and

professional boxing in which it saw the division of more experienced boxers fighting those with

more experience and amateur boxers only fighting one another. However, even after the

introduction of this idea, as stated by Paul McCroy (2002) one of the main injuries that is seen in

modern day boxing and something that many professional boxers experience is Chronic

Traumatic Encephalopathy (or CTE for short) which can be attributed to constant trauma of the

brain.

Amateur Boxing Versus Professional Boxing:

Amateur boxing is a variant of professional boxing. While it hasn’t been around as long as

regular boxing, it is a sport that is highly growing throughout the sporting world due to the

increased rules and regulations that are implemented. Amateur boxing was first introduced in the

late 19th Century and made its first appearance at the 19th Olympic games. Whereas,

professional boxing has been around a lot longer, and some of the regulations that are

implemented in Amateur boxing are not found in professional boxing which can lead to higher

injury rates. Amateur boxers have access to head guards which can soften blows to the head,

Aaron Vissel
Student Number - 388698
Date - 30/01/2019
THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY THAT INCREASED RULES AND REGULATIONS GIVE IN
BOXING 4
heavier gloves which protect the hand from getting injured and if there is a visible cut to the

head, the bout is stopped. However, in professional boxing, gloves can differentiate between 6. 8

or 10 OZ gloves which mean punches can hurt more and hand is less protected, the match is only

stopped when someone has been knocked out and no headgear is worn. A study was done in

2006 in Victoria Australia to see the injuries that boxers are exposed to. Both professional (14)

and amateur boxers (33) were chosen to take part in this study over a year and the results showed

that between both categories twenty-one injuries happened in which most occurred in the head

region. The findings from this study and the conclusion were that people that partake in any form

of boxing are at a higher risk of injury than any other contact sports.

Brain damage and sustained damage.

Although there is required safety gear before a boxer is allowed to step in the ring for their fight,

or even their training - it can never be seen that these precautions can stop future damage to the

brain, and other internal organs. CTE and another neurological disorder called CTBI (or Chronic

Traumatic Brain Injury) are both sustained by obtaining multiple concussions or getting regular

knocks to the head. A study by H Clausen, P McCrory, V Anderson in (2005) chose to take

professional boxers from both Australia and the United Kingdom and see if current day boxers

are at the same risk of developing CTBI as boxers in the past with more relaxed rules and

regulations. In summary, regardless of rules and regulations, a boxers average boxing career has

dropped from 19 years to just 5 years.

Health Physician Charles Bernick, MD says “..why some athletes develop these long term

complications and some don’t. The hope is by following people over time, we can learn where

Aaron Vissel
Student Number - 388698
Date - 30/01/2019
THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY THAT INCREASED RULES AND REGULATIONS GIVE IN
BOXING 5
earliest changes of injury occur..” This shows that at the moment, there is no significant way to

see if a boxer is at risk of developing diseases such as CTBI or CTE until further along the way

and that maybe if further study is done earlier, doctors will be able to combat these diseases in

order to prolong a boxers career.

Conclusion

Increased rules and regulations of boxing only give an illusion that the sport of boxing is safer.

Due to the brutal physicality of the sport, boxing will never be safe. There will always be some

form of injury, but due to certain rules and regulations some injuries are able to be reduced such

as lacerations to the face and broken bones. The split of professional boxing and amateur boxing

can be seen to have attributed to this. However, long term diseases such as CTBI or CTE are

only able to be detected further down the line after a boxer has been exposed too many years of

blows to the head. But, if further testing is seen and boxers are more closely monitored - it could

possibly be seen as to when a boxer starts to develop these long term conditions, and if there are

possible ways to prevent these from happening.

Appendix 1 - Feedback:

Review of the essay done by Roger Krickelberg, “Sport Technology as a Feedback Tool

to Analyze Basketball in the U.S.” - The essay done by Roger Krickelberg outlines the

importance and use of new technology in basketball in the United States. By using mr Drew

Aaron Vissel
Student Number - 388698
Date - 30/01/2019
THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY THAT INCREASED RULES AND REGULATIONS GIVE IN
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Henderson, a former division one college player and current teacher at Hanzehogeschool - Roger

Krickelberg was able to get a firsthand look at someone that has experienced technology from an

earlier time compared to the research he has done on the new technology. Roger’s sentence

structure and grammar was done in a correct way, as well as being able to quote his sources

throughout the entirety of his essay. However, it could’ve been more beneficial if there was a

comparative of the emergence of sport technology as a feedback tool for other sports to get an

understanding and prove how much more possibilities are available. Overall, an interesting essay

to read. Estimated Grade: 75.

Review of the Essay done by Edvardas Tutlys “Paramountcy of Physical Education” -

The essay written here is an interesting essay to read. This is due to the topic of the essay, which

is a highly debated topic of modern times and his use of grammar and correct sentence structure

which allows the reading of the essay to flow. Proper English wording is used - and for someone

that has English as a second language it is impressive. While the introduction was well written,

for an essay that is only 1000 words, it was too long and too much information put into the essay

- could be more concise. This essay, while shows lots of statistics - is lacking a personal opinion

which is essence of an essay. However overall, it is well structured and interesting to read.

Estimated grade - 72

References

Zazryn, T., Cameron, P., & McCrory, P. (2006). A prospective cohort study of injury in amateur

and professional boxing. British journal of sports medicine, 40(8), 670-4.

Aaron Vissel
Student Number - 388698
Date - 30/01/2019
THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY THAT INCREASED RULES AND REGULATIONS GIVE IN
BOXING 7
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2579447/

Boxing Ontario. Amateur vs Pro boxing. Retrieved from

http://boxingontario.com/athletes/amateur-vs-pro-boxing/

Bernick, C (2012) Boxing and Brain Damage Research. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5yp4fgwjvs

McCrory, P (2002) Boxing and the Brain. Br J Sports Med 2002;36:2. Retrieved from

http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC1724461&blobtype=pdf

Engle, D. (2017). The concussion repair manual. Las Vegas, NV: Lifestyle Entrepreneurs

Press.

Boxing 194. The Difference Between Professional and Amateur Boxers. Retrieved from

https://www.boxing914.com/boxing-info/difference-between-professional-and-amateur-

boxers/

Clausen H., McCrory P., Anderson V. (2005) The risk of chronic traumatic brain injury in

professional boxing: change in exposure variables over the past century British Journal of Sports

Medicine 2005;39:661-664. Retrieved from

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/39/9/661

Aaron Vissel
Student Number - 388698
Date - 30/01/2019