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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think boxing is the most stupid thing ever

66 replies

aborol · 19/02/2012 23:15

I've been hearing about those 2 boxers fighting in the press conference and how one has threatened to shoot the other as well as spitting in anothers face all day. Why do people want to watch 2 men put in a ring fighting each other anyway.

OP posts:

charleneanna · 20/02/2012 08:56

sorry boxing

MiseryBusiness · 20/02/2012 08:57

Shakirasma · 20/02/2012 09:02

Of course thru are better than thugs! For a start their opponent is there voluntarily and is properly trained to defend and attack.

Nobody makes them do it, it's free choice, and very skilled.

charleneanna · 20/02/2012 09:04

punching someone until they cant stand up is not skilful just brutal

Shakirasma · 20/02/2012 09:09

So are martial arts just as bad in your opinion?

And it's not as easy as just punching someone. In case you hadn't noticed the other person is also trying to punch them too, it's about defence as well as attack.

I couldn't win against a boxer, neither could a 20 stone man built like a brick shithouse if he hasn't got the training! It's a skill.

BertieBotts · 20/02/2012 09:10

It's stupid. I don't care how "disciplined" you claim it is!

MiseryBusiness · 20/02/2012 09:10

You obviously have your mind made up about Boxing, which is fine. Some people dont like it.

However, there is a lot of skill in Boxing. It may not look like it but there truly is. It's not all just standing there and getting hit until you fall over.

But, I'm probably not going to make you see there is a difference between two people training for months, both willing to get into a ring and fight and there being a ref present etc etc compared to someone finding an innocent person in the street and beating them up for no reason. Big Difference

DH also competes in MMA

CaveMum · 20/02/2012 09:10

When boxers are paid hundred of thousands of pounds (at least) to fight, then fines mean nothing. A 1 year ban would hit them (if you'll excuse the pun) where it hurts. No earning potential, no publicity.

MiseryBusiness · 20/02/2012 09:12

Agree CaveMum. Chisora wasnt paid thousands for his fight at the weekend, he was paid millions and he bahaved outrageously. He should be banned.

Shakirasma · 20/02/2012 09:13

Totally agree cavemum.

charleneanna · 20/02/2012 09:16

Default Boxing deaths nearly @ 900
ALLSTAR Study - Ultrasound bone stimulators in stress fractures

This about sums up the story of Boxing's latest fatality.....

Johnson, who absorbed at least two dozen unanswered punches to the head and body, collapsed in his dressing room after the referee stopped the fight in the 11th round. He did not regain consciousness after emergency brain surgery and doctors eventually decided to remove him from a life support machine when his kidneys failed and his heart stopped beating.


Fighter's death renews abolition call
By John Mehaffey in London
September 25, 2005
The Sun-Herald


The death of American Leavander Johnson on Thursday after brain surgery has reignited the debate over professional boxing just two months after Mexican Martin Sanchez also died in a Las Vegas hospital.

Johnson, 35, had been in a critical condition since losing his IBF lightweight title to Mexican Jesus Chavez in Las Vegas last weekend.

An editorial in The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Washington, after the fight said nearly 900 boxers had died as a result of injuries in the ring since 1920.

"It is time to halt that tabulation," the newspaper said. "It is time to ban boxing, a sport in which death is the predictable outcome of athletic proficiency ... it is surprising that more boxers don't die.

"Even among prizefighters who walk away, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons estimates 15-40 per cent of ex-boxers have some form of chronic brain injury and most professional fighters - whether they have apparent symptoms or not - have some degree of brain damage."
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World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman has promised an investigation into the death of Sanchez on July 2, the day after he was knocked out in the ninth round of a super-lightweight fight against Rustam Nugaev of Russia. Sulaiman also pledged to improve safety conditions in Indonesia, where he said five boxers had died in the past year.

Johnson, who absorbed at least two dozen unanswered punches to the head and body, collapsed in his dressing room after the referee stopped the fight in the 11th round. He did not regain consciousness after emergency brain surgery and doctors eventually decided to remove him from a life support machine when his kidneys failed and his heart stopped beating.

"I don't think there's anyone to blame here other than the circumstances," said promoter Lou DiBella. "He's a victim of his own courage."

William Smith, who performed the surgery, said boxers sustaining injuries similar to Johnson's had less than a 25 per cent chance of survival. "He suffered a very severe injury," Smith said. "The problem was that the injury was to the brain itself. In some cases the punishment is absorbed by the skull but in this young man's case the brain itself absorbed the punishment."

charleneanna · 20/02/2012 09:16

yes of course its skilful............not just violent

Animation · 20/02/2012 09:19

I don't know any other sport where the aim of the game is to inflict a physical injury.

Yes, boxers are very skilled at inflicting this specific kind of head injury.

How is this NOT stupid though.

Whatmeworry · 20/02/2012 09:22

Boxing is a disciplined martial art, just without the acceptable Zen stuff so YABU there.

YANBU re that behaviour, but I'd add all sorts of sports people to that list. Agree with Cavemum that a no-pay suspension and title stripping would do far more to clean it up than fines.

MiseryBusiness · 20/02/2012 09:23

I will agree with you that people can sustain horrible unjuries from Boxing.

However, I have personally witnessed some terrible accidents in Rugby and Horseriding so I would argue other sports can have some pretty brutal consequences too but people still do it.

TinyPants · 20/02/2012 09:29

I can't watch boxing, I find it brutal and unsettling. Being punched repeatedly in the head like that can't be much good for you!

ipswichwitch · 20/02/2012 10:13

am sure i read that there are more deaths in motorsports than boxing, yet nobody wants to ban that. i would say that most boxers are more than completely aware of the risks, so it's their business if they want to stand in a ring and knock ten bells out of each other. do you really think that if it gets banned there will never be another boxing match?? of course people won't stop, they'll just do it under the radar without regulation and proper medical support.
and by the way, there are twats in every sport, not just boxing...football being a prime example

OTheHugeManatee · 20/02/2012 10:30

I don't like heavyweight boxing as the contestants are often so slow and heavy they do terrible damage to one another. I also feel a bit uncomfortable about the circus that surrounds professional boxing, especially when they are clearly not the sharpest tools in the box.

But YABU about amateur boxing: it's electrifying to watch, a great way to get fit and a fantastic constructive outlet for a lot of men (and some women). Lots of sports involve risk and some people really enjoy the combative element. Just because you don't fancy risking being punched in the head doesn't mean others don't relish the challenge and excitement of boxing.

mayorquimby · 20/02/2012 11:49

"Chisora had 30K deducted from his purse for slapping Vitali Klitschko before the fight but I think he should be banned for his behaviour over the weekend. He was awful to both Klitschko Brothers and his press conference fight with David Haye was disgusting!"

Well tbf Chisora is a genuine psychopath by all accounts, it's not showmanship from him or trying to get hype for a fight, he's properly disturbed so he's a liability waiting to happen.

CaveMum · 20/02/2012 12:02

I'm pleased to see that the British boxing authorities ate considering a lifetime ban for Chisora.
They've pointed out that they have no authority over Haye as he is retired, but they will consider forbidding him from reapplying for a license, which he has hinted at doing.

mayorquimby · 20/02/2012 12:04

yeah but if he lines up to fight either of the Klitschko brothers he'll be getting his licence from the states or Germany so they probably won't be able to do anything either way.

SquidgyBiscuits · 20/02/2012 12:17

Boxing is one of the most heavily regulated and controlled sports. Yes there is risk of injury, much the same as in most sports. Infact, I can't think of a high adrenaline activity that doesn't carry risk. It requires a tremendous amount of skill and discipline, far beyond what you see for a few rounds on tv. Personally I prefer MMA.

In the last few years I recall a few footballers collapsing and dying on the pitch. Shall we ban that too?

It really pisses me off when people who know shite all about the sport start with their calls to ban it.

Birdsgottafly · 20/02/2012 13:45

YADBU.

You can choose not to watch boxing, no-one is forced to watch it or take part. Plenty of people enjoy it an it is highly regulated in the UK.

You cannot compare a fight in the street to boxing, but tbh if there was a decent fist fight were the men were equal weights and abilities i would watch it.

The injury quotes are neither here or there, rugby has a higher number of injuries and deaths, even amongst children taking part.

The aim isn't just to injure your opponent, you are judged on a number of factors, not the most damage done by the move.

MsF1t · 20/02/2012 13:54

Misery and Squidgy are spot on.

No-one's forced to do it, or even watch it if they don't want to. If we eliminated all activities that entailed any sort of risk of injury, it would be a boring bloody world.

I personally have enjoyed boxing and other martial arts (training and watching) as well as sky diving and motorcycling (watching and riding).

I don't enjoy rugby- but I wouldn't stop others from doing so.

As for the dafties having a punch up outside the ring, what a pair of wallies.

MsF1t · 20/02/2012 13:59

Oh, and I would like to point out that boxing as a sport has done a hell of a lot for young people in areas where there is often little else to motivate them and keep them positive (I used to attend a Boxing Association gym in South London which had turned a lot of kids' lives around.) It can be an excellent discipline, and headgear is worn at most levels.

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