From the EB website…..
England Boxing Position statement – White Collar Boxing
England Boxing, the National Governing Body for Olympic-style boxing, said:
“White collar boxing is unlicensed boxing and we are deeply concerned at the inconsistency of safety provisions across bouts and the potential risks this poses to the health and wellbeing of participants.
“The lack of a recognised governing body for white collar boxing means the sport is effectively unlicensed with no harmonisation of rules and regulations. This leads to alarming variations in safety standards at white collar shows which pose a significant threat to the health of the boxers, which would not be the case if they were competing in Olympic-style boxing delivered through England Boxing affiliated clubs.
“Some white collar shows do meet good standards of safety, however these are not uniform and we are aware of many examples of contests that have taken place without adequate safety provisions in place to protect the health of the boxers or checks on their suitability to compete.
“As the governing body for Olympic-style boxing, the safety of participants is England Boxing’s number one priority.
“Like all contact and combat sports, participating in a boxing contest involves an element of risk, which is why we insist that such rigorous standards of safety are met before, during and after all bouts sanctioned by England Boxing and delivered through our network of more than 800 affiliated clubs.
“All boxers undergo a medical each time they box and a doctor must be present at ringside. Bouts must be overseen by qualified officials and boxers should be evenly matched. Boxers are not allowed to compete unless all of these provisions are met and are not rushed to compete, just because an event is for charity or any other type of event.
“Very few other sports have anything like the same level of safety provisions in place as Olympic-style boxing and research shows that properly managed and regulated boxing is far less dangerous than many others sports.”
“Our advice to anyone that is involved in grassroots boxing or is thinking of taking up the sport is go to your local amateur boxing club where you will be trained and taught the sport by qualified people that fully understand the importance of safety and will ensure that, if and when, someone does compete that everything is in place to ensure their safety and protect the health and wellbeing of the boxers.”
For background (non attributable):
Examples of inadequate safety provisions that have been documented in white collar boxing include:
- Bouts taking place without a Doctor at Ringside
- Boxers not possessing an annual medical card to provide evidence of their suitability to compete
- Boxers not being given a pre-bout medical to assess their suitability to compete
- Boxers being mis-matched in terms of weight, age, experience and ability
- Bouts being refereed and judged by untrained officials