Should Boxing Remain a Sport?!

Boxers have been known to suffer from brain damages as a result of concussions suffered during boxing. These ranges from dementia to encephalopathy. The question is “Should boxing remain a sport?”

What is a sport? A sport, as defined by Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, is a “physical activity engaged in for pleasure”. Sports like lawn tennis, basketball, football (soccer) and the likes easily thrill audiences but when boxing is viewed, at times, it sends cold chills down the spines of spectators. My mum can’t even watch it.

If the definition of sports by Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary is anything to go by, then boxing isn’t a sport. Sport is engaged in for enjoyment, for pleasure. While boxing may thrill some audiences, it apparently isn’t thrilling for the boxers as they mutilate their bodies, especially their brains. “The payday can be huge – but the price – in terms of traumatic brain injury – can be very high”. For most boxers, payday comes first, health, second. What they don’t know is that once a brain cell is destroyed, it can never be replaced.

In our daily lives, most of us don’t get punched in the head by highly trained, muscular dudes so, in reality, the hits and punches of boxing does thrill us because we haven’t really experienced the effects of incessant blows to the head. What we don’t know is that the boxers we watch are vulnerable to traumatic injuries that can truncate their life spans.

Headgears will help reduce the impact of injuries suffered by boxers but it is mostly worn at the amateur level. Most professional athletes don’t wear headgear as it is likely to reduce the thrill enjoyed by spectators. But most boxers at the championship level fight only about two bouts a year, thereby reducing the threat posed to their bodies. But not all boxers have this luxury.

The bottom line is if no sustainable solution is available to the risks posed to the brains of boxers, then, boxing should be banned.

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