RING deaths, their causes and how to prevent them are among the key issues to be addressed during the 45th World Boxing Council (WBC) Convention from November 11 to 17 in Manila.
According to Games and Amusement Board (GAB) chairman Eric Buhain, the growing number of untimely deaths in the sport has alarmed the WBC that it decided to make it the top agenda of the convention which the Philippines is hosting for the first time in 32 years.
?The alarming growth of ring death cases is a serious issue that has to be addressed. It?s causing a stigma to the sport,? said Buhain. ?The WBC wants to find ways not just to minimize but to totally eradicate ring deaths, and that it will ask the participants for help in crafting a fool-proof formula.?
Buhain proposed to the WBC that the issue be tackled thoroughly in the convention which would gather hundreds of boxing luminaries from the 199 WBC member-countries. WBC president Jose Sulaiman agreed to Buhain?s proposal during their meeting recently.
Buhain said the incident involving Filipino fighter Lito Sisnorio prompted him to lobby harder for the issue to be a top priority.
?We?re glad that Don Jose [Sulaiman] agreed to our proposal. We at the GAB are happy that it would be given attention as we also want that no more Filipino boxer will experience the tragedy that befell Sisnorio,? said the former swimming sensation who is now also the Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) vice president.
Buhain stressed that the absence of a clear policy on the ?intercountry travel? of professional boxers is just one of the reasons why such tragedies occur.
?There are rules but its not properly implemented. We?re trying to rectify it now. We look at this convention as the proper forum to discuss ways to eliminate illegal fights that cause untimely deaths to boxers,? he said.
He said that all world boxing federation, organization and associations are united in the fight against illegal boxing promotions and human trafficking and the WBC wants to spearhead reforms in the sport.
He added that the WBC is already coordinating with the other boxing federation to come up with a uniform measure.
