RING 8 met for about an hour and a half this night, and the issue in mind was fighter safety. Lenny Mangapione presided at the dais as he introduced the first guest , artist Robert Ecksel. Ecksel is an artist that publishes artwork with the great quotes associated with some fighters —
Willie Pastrano — I don’t like to get hit. Why? Because it hurts.
Georges Carpentier — Feet brought me into the ring, and feet will bring me out of the ring.
and Larry Holmes — the only thing that hurt me was his attitude after the fight.
Roberto Duran — I will make his (my opponents) wife a trembling widow
Ray Arcel, Duran’s trainer on commenting on a “heart condition” of his fighter. Heart Condition? I didn’t know he had a heart!
Emile Griffith — I hit him in the belly and I heard him go “argh!” I’m not in this business to be mean.
and the best one came from the late Paul Pender, who said ” I consider boxing the biggest test of humanity.”
Frank Moran, the fighting dentist, going way back –They pay me more top knock’em out than . . . Moran was a small white heavyweight in the days of Jack Johnson . . .
These are some of the quotes and artwork of Ray Ecksel, who also commented on improving the boxing game today — of which the next speaker was introduced —

Jack Hirsch from Ring Sports.com spoke briefly on the condition of “safety” in boxing. One topic I never spoke in detail is on ring safety and the effects punches have on fighters, and that maybe it is time to mandate headgear in the professional ranks. Although admittedly unpopular, Hirsch stated that it would cut down on the lacerations. However Hirsch stated the two types of damage a fighter gets:
Short term damage — Similar to what happened to Gerald McClellan after his bout with Nigel Benn. The result was immediate and irreparable damage to the boxer. This situation can be prevented.

Long Term damage — the long term effects of wear and tear after the fighter’s career is long over.
Three top fighters of the last century — Sugar Ray Robinson, wound up toward the end of his life not knowing his own name.
Willie Pep and Muhammed Ali all suffered long term damage from their occupation. The other included were Joe Louis, who was mumbling words toward the end, and Henry Armstrong, who toward the end of his life couldn’t know where he was.

“Even though boxing we know is a great great sport and I’ll be a fan till the day I die it is a tough, brutal sport, and we have to protect the fighter in the best way we can.” stated Hirsch, “but it is easier said than done. There are many variables involved out there to protect the fighter. Number 1 the fighter has to look out for himself — if he feels he is hurt he should immediately let the physician know. Sounds simple enough , and there would be a lot less injuries but they won’t, because fighters, no matter what, are told not to quit.”

The problem is that there a lot of unqualified corner men and when the doctors come into the corner, instead of the doctor being their friend, they are perceived as the enemy. These are some of the problems in the sport today. Other variables that affect the sport and should be opened to study:
Genetic. Type of person fighter is. How hard the fighter is getting hit. We must find a way of safeguarding fighters. Unfortunately, a study could last years and the people involved may not be alive when the study is still continuing. Hirsch proposed that possibly we must legalize headgear, but admitted that it would not be popular. Unfortunately, as historian Mike Silver noted, it (headgear) would never reach the pros simply because there is no standardized headgear that the pros can agree on. He also noted that amateur boxing wants to keep separate, as far as it can, from professional boxing.

Doctor Michael Swartz, chairman and president of ringside physicians, spoke about the safety issues in boxing and the controversy that surrounds it. In previous conferences Swartz noted that when asked about changes, it was immediately referenced with “why don’t you doctors change it. Things are changing and our sport (boxing) is in danger of going away. ESPN was giving promoters money to put fights together but now they give nothing.”

” We are now a second class sport” stated the doctor. “We need a central commission — we need major league boxing. We need somebody to make some standardization of what we are trying to do. When referenced to a member boxer who fought in Maine — the doctor did not examine the fighter and just merely asked the question — “How are you doing?”

Other factors that lend to issue is boxing equipment, headgear as well as gloves. “In a sport such as football, an athlete suffers a small concussion when he is hit, and this is with standardized headgear. Another problem with boxing is that tomorrow a guy can walk into a commission office and be ” a professional boxer.” Another point made is the mismatches in boxing. In a recent card in Connecticut == Out of 12 fighters, 10 were missing medical documentation. Out of that 10, 6 needed blood tests the day of the fight. Now what does that do to the physci of a fighter when they need to take blood the day of the fight? Theoretically I should have cancelled the whole card.”
Dr. Swartz also analyzed the theory of headgear and added that there were far more concerning issues that involve the safety of the fighter. ” We must get our house in order and the house meaning that we can’t have lots of groups hanging around with promoters, hanging out with managers, hanging out with trainers, all these conflicts of interest and all having their own set of rules, about what should go on. The poor boxers, they have to pay for it — they don’t even know what they need going from one state to the other. I put together a website that tried to list all the information and only 40 states responded. We try to help them save them money and we can’t even get the commissions to respond to us.

Dr. Swartz’s organization has grown to over 300 physicians all around the world. The first ever board certification has been started in ringside medicine and this is to prevent someone putting on a show just hiring a doctor who has no experience in boxing. In the state of Connecticut, this thinking doesn’t fly — there are standards for the ringside physician to attain.

In Dr. Swartz opinion, a fight can never be stopped too early, only too late.
You can find Dr. Swartz informative website at www.AAPRP.org
Tidbits: Mosley-Wright, Mesi-Jirov on tap for March 13 in Las Vegas. There also hints that Mayweather-Spadafora title bout be held at Madison Square Garden on May 8. Dimitry Salita and John Duddy also appear heade for the card. Golden Gloves is happening right now.