SPORTS LAW ESSAY

The regulation of Boxing and is it sufficient to protect the rights of individual athletes. Should the law have a more important role to play in certain cases?

By

Stephanie Fiona Murphy

________________________________________________________

Introduction

Boxing is a violent sport and involves punching your opponent with your fists. Boxing was

not the original name given to the sport. Perhaps, what is stranger was the official name

that boxing was known as “Pugilism”.1The definition of pugilism when defined accurately

means “the skill, practice, and sport of fighting with the fists”.2 Over the years boxing has

progressed from a minor fist fight to the proficient, precise, calculated, swift sport. Boxing

has been referred to as “the noble art, and it can seen as the need for man to prove

oneself”.3Thus, boxing as been in existence for centuries but has it become too violent?

Boxing just like all the other sports have rules and regulations that govern the sport. It is

reasonable foresee that all competitive contact sports have high possibility of participants

getting seriously hurt. Furthermore, sports participants are aware of the risks and assume

those risks because it is the nature of the sport.4 This can include consenting to assault

within the rules of the sport. However, what happens if that assault occurred outside the

rules of the sport then it becomes unlawful. According to Judge William Early, “to strike

someone without legal justification is a crime, whether it takes place in the street, in the

family home, or the football pitch or elsewhere”.5This essay will undertake an in-dept 1 “History of Boxing – Fight Club” (2011)< http://ww.fightclubamerica.com/about/history-of-boxing/ (accessed: 25th September 2015) 2 Ibid,3 Gardiner et al, Sport Law, fth edn, (New York: Cavendish Publishing, 2012) at 5264 Agar v. Canning [1965] 54 WWR 302 at 3045 DPP v McCartan Unreported, 1 November 2004, District Court, “was the case of James McCartan, a down Footballer, who was found guilty of assault under (section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act

1

investigation into issues surrounding the regulation of boxing both the consent aspect and

the legal perspective. In addition, the argument I intend to support is that consent in boxing

is prima facie and at what point does that consent go beyond the rules of the sport.

Furthermore, is boxing just sanctioned violence that we all accept because there is element

of entertainment involved or should it be banned.

History of Boxing

Boxing dates back to 3000BC: the ancient Greeks believe that ‘boxing was one of the games

played by the gods on Olympus,’6 which resulted in it becoming part of the Olympic Games

(games). Thus, it was introduced to the ancient games by the Greeks in the late 7th century

BC.7 In 1904, boxing first appeared in the games and has continued to be part of it ever since

with the exception of the games in 1912.8The first set of rules in sport were introduced in

1973, and were known as the ‘Brongton Rules but they were seen as inadequate.’9

Following that you had the ‘Queensberry Rules in 1865 which were introduced by the eight

Marquis of Queensberry.’10Queensberry rules introduced rules like “no hugging or wrestling:

and where rounds would be three minutes in length with one minutes break between

rounds: also the boxers had to wear good quality padded gloves.”11The Irish played a vital

role by dominating national group in professional (pro) boxing in America: boxers included

“Terry McGovern ‘Philadelphia’ Jack O’Brien, Mike (‘Twin’) Sullivan and his brother Jack,

Packey McFarland, Jimmy Clabby, and Britton,” who dominated the sport in 1915.12

Amateur v Professional

1997) for breaking the jaw of an opponent, Kenneth Larkin during a match between Down and Westmeath” reported by F. McNally, ‘McCartan found Guilty of Assaulting Westmeath Player’ Irish Times, 6 November 2004 available at: http://www.irishtimes.com/.../mccartan-found-guilty-of-assaulting-westmeath-player (Accessed: 25th September 2015)6 Kat M, “History of Boxing – WhiteCollarboxing.com” <http://whitecollarboxing.com/boxinfo.htm (Accessed: 25th September 2015)7 “Boxing Equipment and History – International Olympic”< http://www.olympic.org>sports>Boxing (Accessed: 25th September 2015)8 Ibid,9 L.Donnellan, Sport and the Law – A Concise Guide (Dublin: Blackhall Publishing, 2010) (hereinafter Donnellan) at 6810 Ibid, Donnellan 11Ibid, 12 Supra note 1

2

Boxing is classed as amateurs and pro. The rules regulating amateur boxing are unified all

over the world. In contrast, to pro boxing rules that differ according to the country. In

Ireland, the governing body for amateur boxing is the Irish Amateur Boxing Association

founded in 1911: which is governed and sanctioned by the ‘International Boxing Association

referred to as the IABA, which is the sport organisation that sanctions amateur Olympic style

boxing matches’.13Since 1980, the governing body for pro boxing is the Boxing Union of

Ireland (BUI).14The BUI is recognised and affiliated to the European Boxing Union (EBU)15 and

oversees the sport in Ireland. Thereafter, you had the establishment of the World Boxing

Council (WBC)16 which is affiliated with the World Boxing Association (WBA).17 The BUI

functions include, inter alia the licensing of Irish pro boxers: the licensing of managers and

trainers.18 The rules are different in amateur and pro boxing. For Instance, pro boxers

compete in weight classes from heaviest to lightest.19Amateur boxers usually compete for

their club or are members of organisations.20 Amateur boxing is not dangerous as they ‘wear

head protectors and bigger gloves and have a better standard of referees’.21 In addition,

amateur matches consist of ‘4x2 minute rounds as opposed to 12x3 minute rounds’ for

pro.22 Money is the notable difference between amateur and pro boxing where pros get

paid. Amateur boxing is a good outlet for young people and is closely supervised so no

participants get seriously hurt. Therefore, the issue of violence in boxing is centred on pro

boxing.

Legality of Boxing

13 Irish Amateur Boxing Association (hereinafter “IABA”) available at <http://www.iaba.ie (Accessed: 29th September 2015)14 Boxing Union of Ireland (hereinafter “BUI”) available at: <http://www.boxingunion.ie (Accessed: 29th September 2015)15 European Boxing Union (EBU) available at: <http://www.boxebu.biz/ (Accessed: 29th September 2015)16 World Boxing Council (WBC) available at: http://www.wbcboxing.com/wbceng/ (Accessed: 29th September 2015)17 World Boxing Association (WBA) available at: http://wwwwbanews.com (Accessed: 29th September 2015)18 Supra note 1419 Ibid, BUI20 Supra note 1321 Ibid,22 Kat, Supra note 6

3

Ireland has no “statutory provisions that deal with that lawfulness of boxing.”23 Cox et al

believes that the law should only intervene where a serious assault has occurred that was

outside the rules of the game or if the injured party is seeking compensation.24 There is a

mens rea and actus reus outlined in Section 2 and 3 of the Non Offences Against the Person

Act 1997 (1997 Act).25 It can amount to assault where consent is not present.26 However, the

English case of Collins v. Wilcock27 makes it clear that consent is not absolute. Therefore,

people who take part in sports are aware of the risks involved and they do consent as part

of the sport to a certain degree of physical contact within the rules of that sport. For

instance, under section 22 (1) of the 1997 act28 states that consent cannot be defence to all

forms assault. Thus, there can be no consent to deliberate acts of violence as stated in R v.

Billinghurst.29

The issue is how do we justify pro boxing as a matter of law when ‘Mike Tyson bite Evander

Holyfield ear,’30 that was outside the rules of the sport. Of course, noted is the fact that he

was banned and fined but he faced no criminal charge. The authority used in England on the

issue of consent of assault is R v. Coney.31In Coney the courts stated that “assaults occurring

during bare-knuckle prize fighting could be subject to criminal prosecution.”32However, the

defendants were only spectators in that case and had no involvement in the fight itself.

Nonetheless, Stephen J stated that “the consent of the parties to the blows which they

mutually receive does now prevent those blows from being assaults.”33 Coney was an

interesting interpretation of the aspect of consent because the three defendants were mere

spectators and had no involvement in the fight itself. However, the courts did not approve

of spectators who were present at fights that ‘they were deemed to be guilty of

23 Neville Cox et al., Sport and the Law (Dublin: First law,2004) pp. 4.3.1 at 17624Ibid, Cox et al25 Non Offences Against the Person Act 1997 (hereinafter 1997 Act) Section 2 & 326 Ibid, 1997 Act at s. 227 Collins v.Wilcock [1984] 3 ALL ER 374 (hereinafter Collins)28Ibid, supra note 25, 1997 Act s.21 (1)29 R v. Billinghurst [1978] [1978] Crim LR 553, also see R v. Donovan [1975] 2 KB 498 at 507; [1934] ALL ER Rep 207; this was the case where the appellant in private act beat a girl 17 and he was 19 for the purposes of sexual gratification with her consent; the court stated that “it is unlawful act to beat another person with such a degree of violence that infliction of bodily harm is a probable consequences, and when such an act is proved, consent is immaterial” at 21030 T. Friend, “Tyson Disqualified for Biting Holyfields Ear” New York Times (29 June 1997) 31 R v. Coney and Others [1882] 8 QBD 534(hereinafter Coney)32 Ibid, Coney pp.4.3 at 17233 Ibid, Supra note at 549

4

assault.”34Thus, your mere presence at these events was enough for it to be considered

unlawful.35The three defendants in Coney were found guilty of assault and the case was

appealed and the conviction of the three men was quashed.36

The courts view of prize fighting was that it was unlawful.37In Attorney General Reference

No. 6 of 198038was the case of two youths (17 & 18) agreed to sort their differences out in a

street fight; they both consented to the fight. The court held that it was a matter of policy

that a person cannot consent to a fight. The court felt that boxing of the ‘sparring kind with

gloves’ was a legal pursuit, because they regarded boxing as a pursuit not incorporating

constituent elements of intentional harm and danger.”39The decision in R v.

Brown40addressed issue of the legality of boxing. This case was where a group of men had

been involved in various sadomasochistic practices in private. The men were convicted of

‘unlawful and malicious wounding and assault occasioning actual bodily harm’, despite the

fact that the men had consented to the sexual acts.41The issue of consent was discussed in

the context that there is an exception to the rules of consent only in contact sports. Brown

made it clear that consent to assault that intentionally causes bodily harm is prima facie

unlawful unless you are talking about a contact sport that is the only exception.42

Furthermore, this means that boxers have this assumption that the consent reduces

criminal accountability for assault. The issue here is if it goes beyond the rules of the sport

then consent is no longer present and it should be unlawful. There is an Australian case of

Pallante v. Stadiums Ply Ltd43 that confirms this point and suggest ‘that if a fight moves from

being a ‘test of skill’ to being a fight that it becomes illegal’.44 However, the Canadian case of

R v. Cye45makes the argument that where assault occurs within the sport that it is

34Ibid, supra note 9 at 6635 R v. Murphy 172 Eng. Rep. 1165 (1833)36 Coney, supra note 3137Ibid, “per Stephen J” pp. 64 at 54938 Attorney General Reference (No. 6 of 1980) (1981) QB 71539 B. Foley., “Boxing, the common law and the Non fatal Against the person Act, 1997” (2002) 12 1.C.1.J. 15 < http://www.brianfoley.ie/Boxing.pdf (Accessed: 29th September 2015) at 940 R v. Brown [1993] 2 ALL ER 75 (hereinafter Brown)41 Ibid, Brown42 Ibid,43 Pallante v. Stadiums Ply Ltd (No. 1) [1976] UR 33144 Ibid, 45 R v. Cye [1989] 48 C.C.C. (3d) 480, [1989] 5 W.W.R 69, 75 Sask. R.53 (C.A.), is a ice-hockey case in which Cye cross-checked the victim from behind into the boards, causing facial injury, a concussion, and whiplash and spent 3 days in hospital.. The defence argued the victim consent was part of taking part in the sport.

5

considered lawful. The case is an important persuasive authority as the courts took the view

that consent within a sport and where assault occurs is lawful. Thus, this is a similar

approach that was used in Brown. Where boxing is legal despite the fact that it causes actual

bodily harm but because it is regulated by rules and there is public interest issue then this is

considered lawful.46 Cox et al makes the argument that the difference between brown to

boxing is the fact that boxing takes place in public unlike the activities in Brown.47

Volenti Non Fit injuria

Volenti non fit injuria simply translated means the ‘assumption of risk’. For liability to occur

in competitive sports the plaintiff needs to able to prove that the defendant failed to

exercise a degree of care and that the injury went beyond the rules of the game. There is a

general rule that sportspersons who part take in a sport that there is a general assumption

to consent to risk of injury which can occur within that sport. In Condon v. Basi48 was where

the plaintiff suffered serious leg injury as a result of a tackle from opposing team member in

football match. The plaintiff exposed himself to the risk and he was aware that it could

occur can been seen as consent to the risk of harm. The court of appeal upheld the

judgement in Condon and found in favour of the plaintiff stating that there is a duty of care

of one sportsperson to another and a set of rules within that sport that should be adhere to,

and if they go beyond those rules they can be held liable.49

In Watson v British Boxing Board Control (BBBC)50 there was the question been asked was

the boxing board liable and did they owe Michael Watson a duty of care. Watson was

claiming compensation against the BBBC when he suffered brain damage in a match in 1991

against Chris Eubank. It was held that the BBBC failed to provide medical care at the ringside

and that they had a duty of care to those who took part. The evidence showed that the

injuries that he sustained would have been less severe if medical treatment had been

available at ringside. The duty of care in this case was not in the causing of the injury but

the duty to ensure that if injuries occurred were immediately treated at ringside.51What

46 Brown, per Lord Jancey at 88A-B47 Cox et al at 17148 Condon v. Basi [1985] 1 WLR 86649 Ibid, “per Sir John Donaldson MR” pp. 13 at 72850 Watson v. British Boxing Board Control (BBBC) [2001] QB 1134 (hereinafter Watson)51 Ibid,

6

these cases demonstrate that it is possible for an injured sportsperson to seek civil redress

for injuries sustained within a sport if it goes beyond the rules of the game. Also, if a

sporting body had not taken reasonable care to ensure that medical care was available to

those who took part in the boxing match

Should Boxing Be Banned?

Yes

Boxing comprises health, it is the only sport where beating another human being is legal

and even if that resulted in death; legal? For Instance, Pedro Alcazar, Cho Hi, Jimmy Garcia,

Oscar Gonzalz, Simon Byrne, Jefferson Goncala, and James Murray all dead due to injuries

sustained in boxing.52The Australian Medical Association actively opposes boxing.53In 2005 a

female boxer from America Becky Zerlentes was hit with a punch and fell unconscious.54.She

died from ‘blunt force trauma’ to the head; it was the ‘first case of a female boxer dying’ in

the US.55 There is always the risk of brain damage. Boxers’ repeately get hit in the head and

professional boxers don’t have protected head gear unlike amateur boxers. The greatest

boxer of all time in my view has to be Muhammad Ali. However, three years after

Muhammad Ali retired he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 42. This is

neurological syndrome that may or may not be linked to boxing but there is a strong

possibility according to a US doctor.56

Furthermore, there is a potential for boxer’s to contract HIV, the virus known as AIDS.

Heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison died at the age of 4457.Morrison tested positive for HIV

hours before a match in 1996.58At present there are only four states that carry out

52 “Horrific Boxing Deaths” (22 September 2013)< http://www.inquistr.com/95953311/horrific-boxing-injuries-and-deaths-from-the-last-100-years (Accessed: 01st October 2015)53Australian Medical Association “Boxing” 1997, reaffirmed 2007,< http://www.ama.com.au/node/444 (Accessed: 01st October 2015) 54 J. Alarcon-Swaby, “Unfortunate Deaths in the Ring Within the last 10 Years” (7 August 2011)<http://bleacherreport.com/articles/794374-10-unfortuate-deaths-in-the-ring-within-the-last-10-years/page/3 (Accessed: 01st October 2015)55 Ibid,56M. Healy, “Doctor says Ali’s Brain Injuries Due to Boxing” Los Angeles Times (16 July 1987) <http://www.articles.latimes.com/1987-07-16/sports/sp-4337_1_muhammadali (Accessed: 01st October 2015)57D..Skretta, “Ex-heavyweight boxer champ Tommy Morrison dies at 44” USA Today (2 September 2013)<http://espn.go.com/.../_/idl/.../ex-heavyweigh-champ-tommy-morrison-dies-44 (Accessed: 01st October 2015)58 Ibid,

7

mandatory HIV testing. There needs to be unified approach to the testing of boxers for HIV

worldwide. For instance, in 2005 Tommy Perez who was 19 at the time and has HIV was

allowed to box in match in Ontario despite the state rules about HIV.59

No?

Boxing promotes discipline, fitness and dedication. If you were to ban boxing it would go

underground. In Ireland, boxing has been one of our most “successful Olympic sport with 16

medallists, 7 of which have been won in the last two Olympic games”.60 Boxing is not the

only sport where deaths have occurred. For instance, recently there was a cricketer ‘Philip

Huges’ who died from a traumatic brain injury.61This has resulted in the call for better

helmets but no one called for cricket to be banned.62 Thus, if you banned boxing you would

have to ban kickboxing, judo or any other competitive contact sport. The list would be

endless. According to a US based Centre for Disease Control Prevention reported by the

IABA that “boxing provided the best mixture of exercise for people whose goal is to

decrease their risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis and

cancer”.63Furthermore, boxing offers a unique opportunity for young people who are living

in disadvantage areas like Sugar Ray Leonard to excel and can change their whole life for the

better.

Conclusion

There is a need for the criminal law to play a role in where serious injuries have occurred

that were intentionally, deliberate and recklessly in nature and were outside what was

consented in rules of the sport. At present there is no Irish case law that offers insight into

59S. Sprinter, “Boxer Fought Despite HIV” Los Angeles Times (July 30 2005) <http://www.articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/30/sports/sp-boxer30 (Accessed: 08 October 2015)60 Supra note 1461 “Philip Huges: Australian Batsman Dies, aged 25” (2014) <http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cricket/30219440 (Accessed: 09 October 2015)62 Ibid,63 Super note 13

8

how the courts view the legality of boxing. The cases mentioned although from other

jurisdictions offer a persuasive authority and demonstrates how the courts approach

consent and the legality of violence within competitive contact sports. Given that there are

shortcomings in the 1997 Act in relation to consent as defence in sports. Furthermore, the

1997 Act makes it clear that a person can consent to assaults causing harm, short of serious

harm. There should be no exception to assault whether it takes place in the boxing ring or a

street. It is reasonable occurrence that injury would occur within any sport, although some

courts have recognised this as implied consent. Boxing is the only sport where actual bodily

harm is the objective of the sport. In Greece, the Greek parliament has passed a ‘new bill on

violence in sport’s to tackle this very issue. 64There is a need for reform in boxing but

banning boxing is not a solution and it does not deal with the issue at hand. Boxing would

just end up go underground. Furthermore, there is a need for pro boxers to wear protective

headgear like amateur boxers. It would go some way to protecting the individual boxer from

serious and fatal head injuries. Boxing offers more than the shadow of violence that

surrounds it. Violence is always going to be part of boxing but steps can be taken to protect

the individual athlete. Thus, the law needs to play a bigger role, not only for protecting the

individual boxers, but the sport.

Bibliography

Cox, Neville Dr., Alex Schuster., Sport and the Law (Dublin: First Law: 2004)

Donnellan, Laura., Sport and the Law – A Concise Guide (Dublin: Blackhall Publishing, 2010)

64 New Bill on Violence in Sport Passed By the Greek Parliament” (2015) <http://www.greece.greekreporter.com>Greeknews (Accessed: 10th October 2015)

9

Gardiner, Simon, O’Leary, John, Welch, Roger, Boyes, Simon, and Naidoo, Vrvasi, Sport Law, (fth edn) (New York: Cavendish Publishing, 2012)

Articles

Alarcon-Swaby, Jorge., “Unfortunate Deaths in the Ring Within the last 10 Years” (7 August 2011)<http://bleacherreport.com/articles/794374-10-unfortuate-deaths-in-the-ring-within-the-last-10-years/page/3 (Accessed: 01st October 2015)

Australian Medical Association “Boxing” 1997, reaffirmed 2007,< http://www.ama.com.au/node/444 (Accessed: 01st October 2015)

Boxing Equipment and History – International Olympic” http://www.olmpic.org>sports>Boxing (Accessed: 25th September 2015)

Foley, Brian, “Boxing, the common law and the Non fatal Against the person Act, 1997” (2002) 12 1.C.1.J. 15 < http://www.brianfoley.ie/Boxing.pdf (Accessed: 29th September 2015) at 9

History of Boxing – Fight Club” (2011) <http://www.fightclubamerica.com/about/history-of-boxing/ (Accessed: 25th September 2015)

“Horrific Boxing Deaths” (22 September 2013) <http://www.inquistr.com/95953311/horrific-boxing-injuries-and-deaths-from-the-last-100-years (Accessed: 01st October 2015)

Katz, Michael, “History of Boxing – WhiteCollarboxing.com” <http://www.whitecollarboxing.com/boxinfo.htm (Accessed: 25th September 2015)

“New Bill on Violence in Sport Passed by the Greek Parliament” (2015) <http://www.greece.greekreporter.com>Greeknews (Accessed: 10th October 2015)

“Philip Huges: Australian Batsman Dies, aged 25” (2014) <http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cricket/30219440 (Accessed: 09 October 2015)

Sprinter, Steve, “Boxer Fought despite HIV” Los Angeles Times (July 30 2005) <http://www.articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/30/sports/sp-boxer30 (Accessed: 08 October 2015)

Skretta, Dave, “Ex-heavyweight boxer champ Tommy Morrison dies at 44” USA Today (2 September 2013)<http://espn.go.com/.../_/idl/.../ex-heavyweigh-champ-tommy-morrison-dies-44 Date accessed: 01st October 2015

Newspaper Articles

M. Healy, “Doctor says Ali’s Brain Injuries Due to Boxing” Los Angeles Times (16 July 1987)

10

<http://www.articles.latimes.com/1987-07-16/sports/sp-4337_1_muhammadali (Accessed: 01st October 2015

F. McNally, ‘McCartan found Guilty of Assaulting Westmeath Player’ Irish Times, (6 November 2004) http://www.

T.Friend,“Tyson Disqualified for Biting Holyfields Ear” New York Times (29 June 1997) available at:

Cases

Irish

DPP v. McCartan, Unreported, 1 November 2004, District Court

English

Attorney General Reference (No. 6 of 1980) (1981) QB 715

Condon v. Basi [1985] 1 WLR 866

Collins v. Wilcock [1984] 3 ALL ER 374

R v. Billinghurst [1978] [1978] Crim LR 553

R v. Brown [1993] 2 ALL ER 75

R v. Coney and Others [1882] 8 QBD 534(hereinafter Coney)

R v. Donovan [1934] 2 KB 498; [1934] ALL ER Rep 207

R v. Murphy 172 Eng. Rep. 1165 (1833)

Watson v. British Boxing Board Control (BBBC) [2001] QB 1134

AustralianPallante v. Stadiums Ply Ltd (No. 1) [1976] UR 331

Canadian

Agar v. Canning [1965] 54 WWR 302

R v. Cye [1989] 48 C.C.C. (3d) 480, [1989] 5 W.W.R 69, 75 Sask. R.53 (C.A.)

11

WebPageshttp://www.iaba.ie http://www.boxingunion.ie

http://www.boxebu.biz/ (http://www.wbanews.com/ http://www.wbcboxing.com/wbceng/

Table of Legislation

Non Offences Against the Person Act 1997

s.2 s.3 s.22 (1)

____________________________________________________

12