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Handbook of WMA Policies
World Medical Association ½ S-1983-01-2005
WMA STATEMENT
ON
BOXING
Adopted by the 35th
World Medical Assembly, Venice, Italy, October 1983
and editorially revised by the 170th
WMA Council Session, Divonne-les-Bains, France,
May 2005
Boxing is a dangerous sport. Unlike most other sports, its basic intent is to produce bodily
harm in the opponent. Boxing can result in death and produces an alarming incidence of
chronic brain injury. For this reason, the World Medical Association recommends that
boxing be banned.
Until that goal is achieved, the following recommendations should be implemented:
1. National Medical Associations (NMAs) should encourage the establishment of a
national registry of boxers for all amateur and professional boxers, including “spar-
ring mates”, in their country. The proposed functions of the registry would be to
record the results of all licensed bouts, including technical knockouts, knockouts, and
other boxing injuries, and to compile injury and win/lose records for individual boxers.
2. NMAs should consider whether to plan and conduct conferences with interested
members of the medical profession, medical representatives of various government
boxing commissions, and representatives of organized professional and amateur box-
ing organizations to review criteria for the neurological and physical examination of
boxers, to determine other comprehensive medical measures necessary for the preven-
tion of brain injury in the sport, and to develop specific criteria for the discontinu-ance
of a bout for medical reasons.
3. All boxing jurisdictions should ensure that the ring physician should be authorized to
stop any bout in progress, at any time, to examine a contestant and, when indicated, to
terminate a bout that might, in his/her opinion, result in serious injury for either con-
testant.
4. Boxing jurisdictions should conduct frequent medical training seminars for all ring
personnel.
5. All boxing jurisdictions should ensure that no amateur or professional boxing bout is
permitted unless:
a. the contest is held in an area where adequate neurosurgical facilities are imme-
diately available for skilled emergency treatment of an injured boxer;
S-1983-01-2005½ Divonne-les-Bains
Boxing
b. a portable resuscitator with oxygen equipment and appropriate endotracheal tubes
are available at ringside; and
c. a comprehensive evacuation plan for the removal of any seriously injured boxer
to hospital facilities is ready.
6. Boxing jurisdictions should be informed that unsupervised boxing competition be-
tween unlicensed boxers is a most dangerous practice that may result in serious in-jury
or death to contestants, and should be condemned.
7. All boxing jurisdictions should be urged to mandate the use of safety equipment such
as plastic safety mats and padded cornerposts and to encourage continued develop-
ment of safety equipment.
8. All boxing jurisdictions should be urged to extend all safety measures to sparring
partners.
9. All boxing jurisdictions should be urged to upgrade, standardize, and strictly enforce
medical evaluations for boxers.