Australian Medical Association demands ban on boxing at Olympics and CWGs

Floyd Mayweather is currently the biggest ambassador of boxing

In a move that is surprisingly inconsistent with the nation’s perceived tough and gritty image, the Australian Medical Association is advocating a ban on combat sports including boxing, at high levels like Olympics and Commonwealth Games. It wants combat sports and martial arts to be completely banned for those under 18 years of age.

Combat sports like boxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) have an ever-increasing fanbase and the athletes involved are amongst the most finely-honed across all sports. But a contest in these sports involves high levels of violence, with the end objective being to beat your opponent, by well, doing all in your power to literally ‘beat’ your opponent.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has assumed a position of vehement opposition to any sport, martial art or activity where the aim is to inflict physical injury, over worries that these sports are causing “irreversible injuries”. According to the AMA, combat sports are defined as "any sport, martial art or activity in which the primary objective of participants is to strike, kick, hit, grapple with, throw or punch one or more participants".

It added, "These sports are a public demonstration of interpersonal violence which is unique among sporting activities. Victory is obtained by inflicting on the opponent such a measure of physical injury that the opponent is unable to continue, or which at least can be seen to be significantly greater than is received in return."

Vice president of the AMA, Dr.Steve Parnis, who is an emergency doctor, voiced his concerns, particularly about MMA and it’s proliferation:

"You see a range of injuries but the ones that concern us the most are the ones that affect the brain and the cervical spine," he said.

"You can see irreversible injury with relatively trivial blows to a head."

"It's a step backwards, it's something you would expect from the 19th century," he said.

"The concussion injuries are very prevalent, even more so we think than boxing because the gloves are almost like bare-fisted fights, and cervical injuries can occur as well.”

"I haven't heard of a case of quadriplegia but I think it's a matter of time."

Australian boxing stars Luke Jackson and Danny Green were quick to counter, saying that making the sport illegal would only force it underground where it would be under the ambit of criminals. Both were strong in their defense of the sport, saying that it saved the futures of many youngsters who lacked direction in their lives and helped foster respect and discipline amongst them. Green, a four-time world champion, said that he was not averse to boxers being under the age of 18 as long as bouts were monitored closely and larger gloves were used.

Renowned Australian boxing journalist, analyst and commentator Paul Upham is of the opinion that the detriments of the sport could be reduced by being more careful with their training and sparring, as a large part of the damage that boxers sustain is during this process.

Australian Olympic Committee spokesperson Mike Tancred stated that he felt that the odds of boxing being banned in the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games were low. He analogised that injuries in sports like surfing, cycling or horse-riding don’t elicit similar strong reactions.

It is interesting to note that one of the most popular Australian sports, rugby, is inextricably linked with violence and physicality. Boxing is the second major combat sport to have the “ban” cloud over it, after Olympic wrestling. The latter, however, is worse for wear as it will not feature in or after the 2020 Olympics, due to myriad factors like TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy, global participation and popularity.