LET'S FIGHT!! For transparent governance


Governance and regulation within combat sports are frequently evolving. Sports like boxing, judo, karate, and even mixed martial arts seem safer than ever at an elite level, but the failure to distribute education outside of its bubble and engage with the grassroots populous or ungoverned

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British boxing icon and former world middleweight champion, Alan Minter once said: “Sure, there have been injuries and deaths in boxing – but none of them serious.” A bit of tongue and cheek from the fighter affectionately known as ‘Boom Boom’, but there is a certain gravitas to his words that cannot be ignored.

Combat sports cannot exist without a minimum level of safety, either recreationally or competitively. This is unlike mass participation sports such as football where there is a greatly reduced barrier to entry, both monetarily and safety wise. Grab a ball, gather a group of friends and go! Anyone can set-up a game or even a league, and it’s this inclusiveness which attracts such an enormous amount of fans and participants globally.

It must be accepted by the international and national governing bodies of combat sports; whether that be the elders of Judo, the chiefs of boxing, or the masters of karate, that they are ultimately the ones responsible for everything that happens in their sport, affiliated or not, sanctioned or not.

This decade alone there have been 10 casualties committed by the squared circle, not to mention a myriad of serious brain injuries incurred; and the only reason there is no official number for this is because no governing body is willing to put measures in place to record such harrowing statics. Moreover, instead of thinking of proactive ways to resolve such horrific calamities, legislation makers are only stepping in after the fact and this retroactive style of governance just won’t suffice!

Undoubtedly, governing bodies have worked tirelessly over the years to clean up the top-end of the sport. In some cases, it took a severe moment of scare for change to be erected. The British Boxing Board of Control, as an example, made massive changes to their medical regulations after Michael Watson vs. Chris Eubank Sr. in 1991, when Watson was left untreated for 28 minutes after suffering serious head trauma. Watson required multiple brain surgeries and was subsequently forced to retire from boxing due to irreversible neurological damage.

In spite of major changes to regulation and safety precautions, support and funding has failed to trickle down to the grassroots level of combat sports. One can easily assume why such resources are pumped into the top of the pyramid because that is where the majority of money is made, a vicious model of preferentialism which is very rarely broken. With more eyes (and scrutiny) on the professionals, it is somewhat understandable as to why more so than any other level, a clean and progressive image needs to be presented. The issue with that, however, is that there are not enough resources to be divvied up with the rest of the participation pyramid, meaning that clubs and lower-level promoters have to cut corners, exposing athletes to dangerous breaches in safety.

Take ‘white-collar boxing’ for example which is far more elementary than grassroots. Here promoters regularly recruit a handful of wannabe fighters who have never donned a pair of gloves (or so is to be believed), to compete with just eight weeks of training under their belt. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely against white-collar, in fact, if done correctly and safely, I think it’s a fantastic gateway and an intelligible way to capture the detached, recreational market who might otherwise have no interest in combat sports. There does, though, need to be a definitive path of progression for these rookies, so that all competitors can meet a minimum level of skill and safety in order to guarantee a process of development which matches that of any amateur club.

In contrast, it cannot be denied that some white-collar promotions have reckless intentions. Not too long ago a young lady turned up to my gym to train, she told the coaches that she had signed up to fight on a white-collar event in eight-weeks and thus, needed appropriate preparation. Within two weeks of starting that eight-week programme, she was told that she will fight against someone 10kg heavier than her. Considering she is only 52kg, it meant that she would give away 20% of her weight. This sort of weight disparity would never be allowed to happen in regulated combat sports, yet white-collar promoters, kings unto themselves, are freely able to get away with the endangerment of people. It’s a recipe for disaster. She went on to lose her fight, but thankfully she wasn’t seriously hurt.

It may be easy to put the blame on the unregulated underground aspects of combat sports, but inequality is littered throughout the sporting hierarchy, even amongst the regulated. Due to a lack of transparency amongst federation members and the absence of a unified, cross-body records programme for all of the sports, athletes run the risk of being unfairly matched against more experienced opponents. How can this happen, you ask? We see it day in day out, athletes moving from one sport to another. Judokas do MMA, wrestlers do judo, boxers do MMA, karatekas do boxing, and the list goes on. When an athlete makes the jump from one competitive sport to another, their records (and experience) effectively reset to null, a mind-numbing admission which can be simply deduced as opposing bodies being unwilling to share records with each other. It’s because of this that an experienced judoka can compete against a beginner boxer without declaring their experience, because on paper both have 0-0 records in boxing. Should a serious injury befall the lesser experienced athlete because the opponent or the club failed to declare their full résumé, it could lead to catastrophic repercussions for the overseeing body for a failure to complete their due diligence.

This is equally as problematic for athlete medical records and suspensions. When an athlete migrates from one club to another, or on a grander scale, one sport to another, they do not take medical records with them. Let’s say as an example, a kickboxer from X country has been suspended for 45 days after suffering a concussion during a match, that same athlete can go and compete in another sport, maybe MMA, without declaring their suspension. This is where things can take an awful turn. In some cases, the athlete may be caught during a screening process, as England Boxing – the amateur governing body for boxing – requires athletes to undergo an annual medical and pre-bout examination in order to fight competitively, but this is not widespread across all sports.

To say that there is a simple remedy to such problems would be a wild underestimation, but there are processes which can be put in place by the regulatory bodies; within all combat sports, to reduce the probability of catastrophe. The white-collar organisations and the fringe players should be brought into the fold by governing bodies. Support these programmes which are able to reach the recreational masses and use it as an ample opportunity to effectively educate the organisers and the athletes on safe practices, instead of shunning them and further fuelling their dangerous existence.

Alas, there needs to be transparency and communication across the board through a unified data platform for records and medicals. Some may view this as a radical, impossible change, but if such proclamation can ensure the safety of athletes and recreational participants for generations to come, eliminating totally preventable casualties, then rival bodies should have no choice but to put their pride to one side and unite to preserve the legacy of combat sports, for everyone.