Deaths in the Boxing: History and Ethical Perspective

Introduction

Boxing is a sport that attracts fans from all cleavages of society, from working-class immigrants, to famous actors, models, athletes, singers, politicians, and people of all races. People are crazy about this game. The game of boxing has been the topic of concern for many researchers in the field of sports, sociology and psychology because of a number of reasons. One of such reason is of death in the boxing ring. While death or serious injuries are inherent risks in a sport as violent as boxing, they rarely occur when those who regulate the sport take proper precautions.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the safety aspects of boxing regulations in the United States. Political scientists have found many factors that account for policy variance among states. This paper would talk from the perspective of number of deaths that occurred in the boxing ring and related history about the issue. This paper would also shed light on the ethical aspect of the issue.

Significance of the Study

The implications of this research project are potentially far-reaching. In terms of psychology and ethics this project contributes to the literature by examining historical data and conditions and various other reasons that are responsible for the deaths occurred in the boxing ring. Furthermore, the range of this study is nationwide, thus explaining the variance in all of the available cases. In addition, this study explores historical trends in the regulation of boxing, and provides a detailed look at the boxing regulations.

Research Objective

The aim of this research is to fulfill following objectives:

To explore the history of deaths in the boxing ring.

To prove that those who say that deaths in the game of boxing occur due to the lack of health and safety reforms are wrong and hence there are immense rules and regulation to prevent the deaths in the boxing ring.

To talk about the ethical aspects of the boxing in relation with health and safety measures to prevent death in the boxing ring.

History about the Deaths in the Boxing Ring

Some historians view the genesis of boxing as arising over five thousand years ago among the Sumerian people in southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and Syria). What is certain is that boxers are depicted on the tombs of Mery-Ra in the El-Minia Governorate (Northern Egypt) and in the Mastaba tomb of Ptah Hotep in Saqqara (near Cairo) from the time of the pharaohs (3580 B.C.) in Ancient Egyptian civilization (Rader, pp. 55).

The power of maritime travel enabled boxing to come to America. By various accounts, the first official prizefight to take place in the United States came in 1816 between Jacob Hyer and Tom Beasley. Although men had tussled for money long before, this is considered “official” in the sense that the Broughton Rules were accepted by the fighters and a substantial amount of people were present to witness the action. However, the occurrence of deaths in the boxing ring was prevalent long before the official prizefighting started in United ...