Boxing Should Be Banned - NZMA

Boxing Should Be Banned - NZMA

The New Zealand Medical Association has reiterated its long-standing opposition to boxing as a sport, following the death of a boxer in the United States, and would like to see it banned on medical grounds.

“The death, the second boxer to die in the United States after a bout in the ring in only two months, is a wake-up call for the sport,” says NZMA GP Council Chairman Dr Peter Foley.

Boxer Leavander Johnson died today from brain injuries sustained during his International Boxing Federation lightweight title fight five days ago. Johnson's death follows that of Mexican boxer Martin Sanchez, who died in July, after he was knocked out in a super lightweight fight in Las Vegas

“Boxing is a dangerous sport and its basic intent is to cause bodily harm in the opponent. It is a form of interpersonal violence which is unacceptable in a modern society,” says Dr Foley.

“Victory is obtained by inflicting on the opponent such a measure of physical force that the opponent is unable to continue, or by inflicting more physical force than the opponent.”

Dr Foley said that boxing produced an alarming incidence of chronic brain injury.

“New Zealand, as a society, condemns other forms of violence, such as domestic violence, bullying and child abuse. It is high time that all forms of boxing are also condemned as an unacceptable form of violence.”

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