OPINION:
Earlier this month, two Japanese boxers on the same bout sheet died after fights, a day apart. Super-featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, died from subdural hematomas, or intracranial bleeds that can exert fatal pressure on the brain.
Although nothing new — sadly, about a dozen professional boxers die in the ring annually — the deaths of two fighters at the same venue, on the same card, within 24 hours of each other have prompted some changes in the sport at the professional level.
It should prompt further changes still.
The Japan Boxing Commission, which governs professional boxing in Japan, announced last week that revisions to its protocol “would include pre-bout urine tests, tougher rules on rapid weight loss and improvements in ringside medical services,” according to reporting by The Guardian.
The organization announced earlier that title fights for WBO Asia Pacific and the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation, for which Kotari and Urakawa fought, will now last 10 rounds instead of 12.
The latter change would have helped Kotari, who died hours after his 12-round fight was over, but it wouldn’t have done a thing for Urakawa, who passed after surgery following an eighth-round knockout loss.
Improved ringside medical service may have aided both men, but doctors were in the corners at each fight to tend to the boxers between rounds. In video footage, Urakawa and Kotari look fine up to the ends of their respective fights. Medical personnel appear to take Urakawa off on a stretcher almost immediately after his knockout; Kotari stands as the judges call the fight a split draw and then exits the ring on his own. For him, it was only after the fight that hematoma symptoms became apparent.
There’s “nothing from watching the fight back, at least in the case of [Kotari], that we can say, ‘Boy, why was he allowed to continue?’” Dr. Brian Sutterer said in a recent episode on his popular YouTube channel.
The bigger problem was likely the delay in getting Kotari to the hospital. According to a social media post by Kotari’s brother, about 40 minutes elapsed between the fighter’s loss of consciousness and the arrival of an ambulance.
Indeed, the JBC also announced that from now on, ambulances will be on-site for all fights, not just world title fights, and that nearby hospitals will be “prepared” to treat head injuries.
Why would a hospital have to be told to be prepared to handle what is surely a frequently seen type of trauma? Worldwide, head injuries are among the most common causes of death. What’s more, even if all these changes had been in place during the men’s bouts, there was no guarantee that any or all of them would have proved lifesaving. Elite fighters can hit so hard — one study showed a per-punch average of 776 pounds of force — it’s a wonder there aren’t more severe brain injuries and/or deaths among them.
It’s enough to make any sane person wonder why these athletes do not wear headgear. Yet in 2013, the International Boxing Association eliminated that requirement for amateur male boxers in international tournaments, saying that, in a study, headgear hadn’t done much to prevent brain injuries. (Last year, the organization also did away with mandatory headgear in women’s boxing.)
Other studies, however, have shown the opposite. A 2015 Australian experiment — in which a “punch machine” was created and used to hit a dummy head that “permitted vertical and rotational orientation of the head and neck” — found that headgear significantly reduced head acceleration, which plays a large role in brain injuries.
Yet today, the only head or face protection worn by most professional fighters, male or female, is a mouth guard.
The real reason there’s not more push for headgear is very probably commercial. Protective coverings obscure the audience’s view of fighters’ faces, punches and any gore that may result from a meeting of the two. Viewers like gore, and they’re the ones who watch commercials and pony up for pay-per-view.
It’s high time that professional boxing organizations stood up to these interests for their fighters’ sake. Make headgear mandatory in professional fights. Doing so won’t stop all lacerations, broken bones, concussions or even hematomas, but it’s a commonsense start that could save some athletes’ lives.
• Anath Hartmann is deputy commentary editor for The Washington Times.
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