The Wilmington morning star., 1947-06-22

andv O,Rrion remember that first name please
is a veteran sports writer with the Montreal Standard "ho
has some views on boxing that should interest 1ans every
wbere since he claims the sport should be banned due TO
the increasing number of deaths in the last few years. from
the punches thrown by one pug to another.
O'Brien at least, pulls no punches In MS argument,
as he tells the world, or maybe just his readers, that
honest and capable guidance in the ring IS missing
from the fight game. :.
juries occur in every sport only in flstlana are such injuries
planned and glored over.
From both sides of the continent come protests to
O'Brien's protest. Jack Dempsey, from Los Angeles
declared that SO per cent of the fatalities IN boxing
are caused by inexperience and neglect, that boxing is
the best known sport for the development OF mannooo
and clean living, and that the outstanding method Tor
building up American men for combat during the last
war was done in ring battles.
From New York, Gene Tunney is even more eloquent
Barring boxing because of a few deaths would be like STOP
ping the sale of automobiles because of motor accidents,
says the ex-chanpion of the world. Efficient regulation
will halt any problems in the game.
OBrien heedS not the words OF either OF the 1lght
games top past performers. making it well known that
he feels neither had anything to gain or lose by their
statements, since both are long retired.
And he claims that as a means OF selt-defense, boxing
has been proven far inferior to ju-jitsu and wrestling, when
If true, explodes the theory of Dempsey.
Along these lines it might be worth remembering
that the New York Boxing commission has begun steps
to stop mismatching, which is admittedly one OF the
worst crimes of bout, promoters. The commission in
cidentally, tried to railroad this plan through once, and
failed, but like the old adage. they're trying 1t again.
This idea is to classify all fighters in classes from A
TO E, based on their records, skill and weights. Class E
fighters would include those men with less than 30 vic
tories, Class C would be those with less than Az wins, ana
80 on.
Then those losing five bouts in a row would drop
from one class to another, and by winning, would move
UP a class. Fighters with Is straight losses would be
barred from the ring, which is the most sensible thing
about the whole deal, since when a guy gets it for the
18th time in q row, it's time he started opening a res
taurant.
This effectively would meet the problem of misnatch-
ing, but it wouldn't satisfy ORrien, who stills holers. Ban
the sport" He wants it known that even evenly matched
Well, the Irishman has an idea, and he can't be
criticized for believing in it, but you aren't going to
see boxing banned in this country because folks get
The scholastic rules of fighting might be mentioned
in this issue. They demand that the referee stop any fight
that seems to prove one batter has too great an edge on
Scholastic rules further demand that rounds be limited
to two minutes instead of three, in order to make it easier
on the fighter.
That's okeh.
The ref can stop the fight at any time one man suffers
an injury, and officials can award the bout to which ever
This begins to get questionable supposing the
man getting hurt is ahead on points at that moment,
but the first bit of a recovery by the guy losing, is a
punch that "hurts" his opponent. Then his comeback
is wasted.
The rules demand that any bout stopped in the first
round be called a draw.
This stirks a confident fighter could hold
himself in check for one round, and then belt the day
nights out OF his adversary. He may, in fact, hit so
hard he Injuries his opponent fatally -. so what does
that first-round-draw business prove?
We like OBren's willingness to go out on a limb in an
effort to do something he really feels will benefit a lot of
people. But, we think that while a complete overhauling of
regulations might mean something worth while, we think
a complete ban of the sport is out of the realm of logic.
Too many folks like the sport, and too many men
have made their living by it. You can't stop people
from taking chances, whether it be fighting, or auto
racing -. which is just as dangerous.
Anyhow, who ever heard of an Irishman who didn't
like to fight?