Quite like boxing but only ever watch big fights, I don't follow it seriously. Never watch any other combat sports. I don't have a problem with them and boxing clubs often seem do a lot of good in more deprived communities. I would worry about the risk of head/brain injuries though if anyone I knew took part in the sport in a serious way.

It's true that American Football carries a big risk of it as well though, it's only in the last few years that the NFL has really taken big steps to try an protect players.

I love a bit of boxing. I see no reason that consenting adults should be stopped doing a sport they love and one that gives them self-control and discipline. Horse racing and horse riding is really dangerous and prone to a lot of injuries and deaths. Can't see anyone calling for it to be banned though.

That bothers me more than combat sports tbh because you're putting an animal at risk there not just yourself

That's true. If it was up to me I would ban hurdles racing all together. I know people love horse racing, why not just have flat racing though? Sending a horse and rider over a massive jump at high speed surrounded by other horses is just attempted suicide.

Yeah definitely, I can't watch those, would it make that much of a difference to the races really? Or do people get enjoyment from watching how many fall I wonder? :worry:

I know someone who watches F1 in case there's a massive crash. So maybe people do watch hurdles racing for that reason. Can't fathom it myself. I, like you, can't watch it.

:joker: Cynical woman. :hee: I LOVE 'Jumps' racing because it requires far more skill in a jockey than just 'steering' as with Flat Racing, and the horses actually ENJOY jumping - witness how many who have unseated their rider often continue to jump and complete the course.

:fist: Hands off my sport Liv -even IF they are beautiful hands. :hee:

hhhmm I don't know if you can say the horse enjoy it tbh just because they keep running the same way the others are going, they could just be terrified and working off instinct

Yes, horses just do what the rest are doing. They are pack animals and follow the herd. I can't watch the National or the likes at all...I think it's cruel making those beautiful creatures jump such high fences and beating them with a whip to make them go faster..:oh:

I took up boxing at 8 years old in a 'spit and sawdust gym above a barn - it was still well equipped though for those days - after dabbling in Shotokan for a while, and there is nothing wrong with my brain. (though some on here will disagree. :laugh:)

Seriously, though, there is far less chance of being seriously injured through boxing than a lot of other sports.

Casualties in any sport will always happen in spite of the most rigorous of precautionary measures and the finest of Medical Provisions, but the most common cause of serious head injuries hails from boxers who continue boxing well past the date they should have retired, and boxers who abandon the twin disciplines of training and healthy living in favour of drink, drugs, and the bright lights, and who step into the ring in a far inferior state and condition that they should be in.

I love ballet, and once in awhile, a supremely gifted boxer will step into that ring whose footwork, grace, and elegance of movement is as moving and beautiful as any Sylvie Guillem or Darcy Bussell - and the young 'Black Gazelle' Cassius Clay/Muhammed Ali is THE best of them all.

Some say that Ali's terrible Parkinson's Disease was caused by too many blows to the head, and if that is true, then it is because even he 'went on' for far too long.

All I know is, that Boxing GAVE Ali to the world.

By the way, one of my sons boxes - and he is very good at it.

Do I have palpitations watching him - No. His skill, that headguard and those big old overstuffed gloves protect him.

There are huge anti-horse racing movements actually... probably bigger than for boxing actually... the difference is, it's not because anyone cares about jockies getting hurt (although they often do) but because they care about the conditions for the horses :joker:


This is actually a myth Kirk, the reason unseated horses continue to run the course is that they're instinctually driven to continue to "run with the herd". Horse racing on the whole is pretty ruthless and, fairly obviously, the horses would MUCH rather be running free in large groups over open spaces...

And all of this coming from a bookie :hehe:. I actually dislike horse racing as a sport. I mean I'm far from a PETA activist or a... bleuch... "vegan"... but it DOES seem like needless exploitation.

...Dog racing is even worse, though.

Yeah I'm constantly seeing pages pop up on FB about greyhound racing and the awful way the dogs are treated afterwards. I do have a dislike towards greyhounds though as one of them nearly killed my dog :fist:

They're a fairly aggressive breed and if they're ex-racers it's even worse... they shouldn't really be out unmuzzled tbh.

And I concede that you AND Jet, are probably right here too -

I wish you had been there a few months ago, to tell the dickhead who I was arguing with because he'd got THREE of the 'orrible things running wild in a local park where there were little tots playing.

tell me about it, this dog used to just wander around on her own with no muzzle (she got knocked down in the end) There's actually a Rhodesian Ridge back that lives up the road from me who's always outside on his own with no muzzle either (he's never done anything aggressive though thankfully

Obviously things like this are extremely rare, just spooky that I was reading this thread then checked BBC news and this was the most read story

Here's an article I found about MMA and the top sports for fatalities :

Less people have died fighting in MMA than in scuba diving. Since the sport was sanctioned in the USA in 2001, there have been four deaths in sanctioned fights and six deaths in unsanctioned fights. Bear in mind that since 2001, there have been over 160 UFC events and countless other MMA events held around the world.

How can a sport with such a savage disposition result in so few deaths? It’s due to the nature of the sport itself and the strict enforcement of rules.

In MMA, strikes are directed at all parts of the body, thus distributing blows more evenly; compared to boxing where blows are concentrated on the head. In MMA, refs must stop a match immediately a fighter is unable to defend himself. There’s no eye-gouging, hair pulling, or kicking in the groin in MMA.

The injuries in MMA are still pretty gruesome; where else can one person get a broken leg, 2 black eyes, plus a concussion to boot, all within ten minutes? Despite that, MMA is still one of the safest full-contact sports around today. Here are ten sports with a much higher death rate since 2001.

shocked at Soccer being No.2 and no boxing on the list

10. Football: 9+ Deaths
9. Rugby: 12+ Deaths
8. Wrestling: 13+ Deaths
7. Eventing: 18+ Deaths
6. Cycling: 22 Deaths
5. Sailing Yacht Racing: 30+ Deaths
4. Car Racing: 40 Deaths
3. Motorcycle Racing: 48+ Deaths
2. Soccer: 67 Deaths
1. BASE Jumping: 219 Deaths

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/...rous-than-mma/

That list doesn't take into account how many people compete in those sports though.

One of the things I don't like about boxing is how cocky the boxers are before the match. The trash-talk and all that. Just for the show.

That's my favourite part :hehe: Also, it's more than just for the show I think, the psychological warfare is important as well as the fight itself

This should be in the sports section :nono:

No it shouldn't, it's a debate on whether these sports should be banned

thats my job

That young boxer who fought
the other day has now died
in hospital.