Should Boxing Be Banned?

[DanielBrown]

Boxing can continue if people still want to see it, and boxers still want to box, but what they need to do is drop the fucking gloves. Before boxing gloves injuries were mainly small cuts and bruises. Brain injuries were non-existant because no one would go for the skull(or any other hard part) with their unprotected hands. Cue gloves and all they do is bash at the head.

Personally I'm not into boxing. It's a silly and very primitive sport.

Edit: Ah, got ninjaed so many times. Should've read through the posts a bit first. :$

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

It is a bit exploitative of the people in the ring, so that lots of other people can make some money.

It gives people the opportunity of mass acclaim and lots of cash themselves, but at the potential of loss, normally later in life.

Some people have argued that Muhammad Ali's parkinson's syndrome arose so early in his life than is regular, because of the repeated poundings he took to the head, in an extended boxing career. However, this is not proven.

Do the 10/15/18 year old people entering the sport with the high hopes really think about the brain damage potential say 30 years on? Would these incomplete ideas on potential outcomes really stop someone who poured their life into the sport, for as long as they can remember, from making the final jump into it?

I still wouldn't ban it though, but it is not without reason that people suggest otherwise. A lot of extreme sports are dangerous, but normally as a bi-product of the main aim of it, whereas boxings main aim is (not always) to knock out the other person in front of you. It is brutal and violent by nature and I'm not even sure that we understand properly the potential consequences.

Sure there can be craft and skill involved and the displays can be very impressive and there is the drama side too. But then there are people like Valuev, where the same can't really be said; where you just get a massive brute who makes big cash for pummelling guys into the ground.

tl;dr I've confused myself and I'm not even sure where I stand on it now.

 

[Roofstone]

Every sport is dangerous to some extent.

Imagine if football (either kind really) was invented today. It would have been outlawed instantly. Nobody would allow it.

But eh, ban? Nah. Too many people enjoy it, and I think that everything you voluntarily do to your own body should be allowed. Freedom and all that.

 

[Euryalus]

It's a silly and very primitive sport.

You're a silly and primitive sport!

...Ok I might be a little biased in favor of boxing, but I don't think it's sillier than any other sport.

Search deep inside yourself and tell me with an honest face that soccer or basketball aren't silly.

Ok, you need to get this ball in this net thing... BUT YOU CAN'T USE YOUR HANDS!

Guys, we want you to throw this ball through that hoop up there, but every time you move the ball has to be bounced on the ground!

 

[Euryalus]

I think that everything you voluntarily do to your own body should be allowed. Freedom and all that.

I wouldn't be that cut and dry about it, but yeah that's mostly my view on it.

I'd throw in an informed-consent-not-clouded-by-mental-illness caveat to that.

 

[Strain42]

Yes, I believe wholeheartedly that we should ban boxing. Put an end to this disgusting violent practice...because then we could focus on building robots to box for us and live in the world of Real Steel.

...Oh and yes, that was totally sarcasm. I used to box. I've been meaning to get back into it. It makes me feel good about myself and it's some of the most exercise I get. I'd be sad if it was banned.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Oh boxing still exists? I thought they call it "Klitschkos asswhoopin'" by now

Nah, on a more serious note: A ban is stupid. Bans never solve anything. Putting your head in the sand or running away is not a grown up method to deal with a problem.
Pointing out and fixing all the problems is a whole diffrent can of worms and there's definitly alot of things the boxing community can work on.

Everyone participating knows the risks and people should have the freedom to be masochistic/self-destructive to a degree. As long as it doesn't become a systemic problem - which it won't, that i'm 99.9% certain - a ban would cause more harm than anything.

Captcha: sour grapes
Yes, only sour grapes ban stuff.

 

[lacktheknack]

The entire point of American football is to violently throw yourself into another dude before he gets away.

Hockey players have knives attached to their feet.

A friend of mine got hit in the facemask so hard in lacrosse that she had a sore neck for weeks and smelled burning rubber for hours.

Swimmers need powerful lungs, because they spend most of their time one muscle twitch away from drowning.

And BOXING is the dangerous one? Everyone's got soft fluffy gloves!

 

[michael87cn]

I think all rough sports should be tweaked to not be so rough. But that defeats the point -- sports replace the barbaric gladiator arenas of old, and they somewhat fulfill the need for that bloodlust in most societies.

I personally do NOT have this bloodlust, but a lot of people do. A lot of people like to sit in an arena and watch as ants fight and injure each other. They get excited and a cheap thrill out of it. It's probably sexual in nature...(without people realizing of course).

Just remember... those players are basically the replacements for people that used to stab and kill each other in an arena for the entertainment of those that enslaved people and worse kinds of scum.

I guess you can probably see my outlook on sports, and my opinion of people that LOOOOOOVE them.....

 

[michael87cn]

Hey, 'lacktheknack'? Headbang for five minutes, intensely. You're not even getting punched, but I can guarantee your head is going to hurt like hell. You know why? Bet you don't! Soft fluffy gloves....

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I think all rough sports should be tweaked to not be so rough. But that defeats the point -- sports replace the barbaric gladiator arenas of old, and they somewhat fulfill the need for that bloodlust in most societies.

I personally do NOT have this bloodlust, but a lot of people do. A lot of people like to sit in an arena and watch as ants fight and injure each other. They get excited and a cheap thrill out of it. It's probably sexual in nature...(without people realizing of course).

Just remember... those players are basically the replacements for people that used to stab and kill each other in an arena for the entertainment of those that enslaved people and worse kinds of scum.

I guess you can probably see my outlook on sports, and my opinion of people that LOOOOOOVE them.....

Its much better than us killing ourselves over rivalries. But you know, when you find a universal cure for violent tendencies let me know. Having a poor opinion of someone because of one thing seems a bit harsh though, just sayin.

 

[The White Hunter]

http://mobile.journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/_layouts/oaks.journals.mobile/articleviewer.aspx?year=2007&issue=01160&article=00005]
TL;DR I think Banning Boxing is a crap idea. What do you guys think?

Curious how much fewer injuries deaths occured back in the bare knuckle days.

Gloves stop you breaking your hand, so you can just whail on the guys face. A better solution than banning boxing would be to ban boxing gloves; nobody is gonna break their knuckles on a guys jaw.

 

[Ingjald]

Short answer: no.

long answer: extend short answer to satisfactory length.

more elabourate answer: maybe everyone would be happier if we just banned boxing gloves instead of boxing? The gloves protect the fighters knuckles, meaning he doesn't have to hold back to avoid injuring himself, but the energy transferred to the opponents head is the same. So if we bring back bareknuckle boxing to replace regular boxing, we reduce serious injuries, increase minor injuries such as cuts, and we get an overall decrease in lethality while simultaneously truly becoming the bloodsport decriers are already so keen on calling it.


EDIT: ninja'd by The White Hunter.

 

[Mersadeon]

I'm in favour of abandoning the gloves, which would make the "brain injury" part way less significant. How, you ask? Well, in the time before gloves, people didn't go to for the head. To much risk to hurt your hand, slide off or just not doing enough. In fact, the gloves allow boxers to punch as hard as they possibly can without as much risk for their hands.

So yeah. Get rid of the gloves, in my opinion.

Also, I think "banning" it is out of the books, anyway. That would be a very draconian and unconstitutional way of dealing with a dangerous sport.

 

[kasperbbs]

Nope. If people want to box for a living fully knowing the risks then let them, they arent hurting anyone except themselves. If someone wants to ban it solely for the fact that it's dangerous then most sports should be mentioned, not to mention MMA, Wresting and even that ridiculous american wresting or whatever it's called show should be canceled. Car sports should be banned too, people die in car crashes after all.

 

[elvor0]

http://mobile.journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/_layouts/oaks.journals.mobile/articleviewer.aspx?year=2007&issue=01160&article=00005]
TL;DR I think Banning Boxing is a crap idea. What do you guys think?

Curious how much fewer injuries deaths occured back in the bare knuckle days.

Gloves stop you breaking your hand, so you can just whail on the guys face. A better solution than banning boxing would be to ban boxing gloves; nobody is gonna break their knuckles on a guys jaw.

I was actually just about to point that out in regards to your original post. According to the British Medical Assosiation, head related injuries and deaths have actually seen an increase since they introduced gloves. Like you say, you can punch as hard as you want with gloves on without any damage to /you/.

However, in the Bare knuckle days, fights were designed to go on until the winner was basically the one who wasn't /totally/ fucked, so Boxers ended up more fucked overall, and cared that much about their health at all. Essentially, I think Bare-Knuckle, but with todays rules would be better all round. Even if people did break their wrists, that's better than someone dying or being left to be a bit of a spastic in their retirement days, and to be honest, noone went for the head that much, as you of course have a jaw to hit.

Frankly, I wish the Ref would get involved less, Mens boxing has started to become boring to watch, every time something interesting starts happening, the ref steps in and breaks it up. It's a sport where people punch each others lights out, stop fucking interfering! This is why I watched the womens boxing last olympics instead, they were actually allowed to hit each other.

 

[The White Hunter]

http://mobile.journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/_layouts/oaks.journals.mobile/articleviewer.aspx?year=2007&issue=01160&article=00005]
TL;DR I think Banning Boxing is a crap idea. What do you guys think?

Curious how much fewer injuries deaths occured back in the bare knuckle days.

Gloves stop you breaking your hand, so you can just whail on the guys face. A better solution than banning boxing would be to ban boxing gloves; nobody is gonna break their knuckles on a guys jaw.

I was actually just about to point that out in regards to your original post. According to the British Medical Assosiation, head related injuries and deaths have actually seen an increase since they introduced gloves. Like you say, you can punch as hard as you want with gloves on without any damage to /you/.

However, in the Bare knuckle days, fights were designed to go on until the winner was basically the one who wasn't /totally/ fucked, so Boxers ended up more fucked overall, and cared that much about their health at all. Essentially, I think Bare-Knuckle, but with todays rules would be better all round. Even if people did break their wrists, that's better than someone dying or being left to be a bit of a spastic in their retirement days.

Frankly, I wish the Ref would get involved less, Mens boxing has started to become boring to watch, every time something interesting starts happening, the ref steps in and breaks it up. It's a sport where people punch each others lights out, stop fucking interfering! This is why I watched the womens boxing last olympics instead, they were actually allowed to hit each other.

Yes you are pretty much correct.

In the bare knuckle days people worked the body because it's softer and less likely to break bones in your hand or wrist, and thus it was more about outlasting and exhausting your opponent. Basically who was fucking knackered first, rather than beating the shit out of the guys face until he has a fatal aneurysm.

 

[Weaver]

I think so long as boxes are made aware of the obvious and real risks of brain damage and choose to continue to box, then let them box.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

why not pick up a martial sport with less concussive damage potential? like sword-fighting?

no, not fencing, put your toothpicks away, I'm talking Broadswords here!