IBF, WBA, WBC To Adopt Common Medical Plans/Actions

‘For Safer and Better Boxing Environment’

By ALEX P. VIDAL

In pushing for a “better and safer boxing environment”, three world boxing governing bodies have agreed to adopt common medical plans and actions that will be practiced in all boxing activities—title and non-title fights—all over the world effective this year.
The “future medial improvements” were earlier agreed upon by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Association (WBA), and World Boxing Council (WBC) during the Second World Boxing Medical Congress in Cancun, Mexico in April this year. This was confirmed in the recently concluded 45th WBC convention in Manila.
Three world boxing bigwigs—IBF chief Marian Muhammad, WBC boss Gilberto Mendoza, and WBC head Jose Sulaiman Chagnon—have gathered their heads together along with 300 doctors from 89 countries to support the following measures:

1. Confirmation of the official weigh-in to be held one day before the fight from 24 to 30 hours, as the most important rule of safety;
2. Confirmation of the mandatory 30 and 7-day weigh-ins as a priority to avoid dramatic weight loss;
3. Ratification of the proposal to allow portable oxygen to be used by the fighters during the resting periods;
4. Mandatory simula-crum before every boxing card for the paramedics and ring doctors to practice emergency solutions;
5. Develop specific medical examinations and criteria to evaluate boxers over 40 years of age;
6. Creation of a committee to implement different criteria to classify boxers into levels of competition with the purpose to eliminate dangerous mismatches when fighters of very superior caliber fight fighters of different levels;
7. The mandatory availability of two ambulances in boxing cards where two or more championship fights take place;
8. Confirmation of one-pound tolerance for female fighters over the official weight;
9. Establishment of a special committee to create technical, technological and certification guidelines for boxing gloves to evaluate brands, weight, color, etc.;
10. Creation of a medical manual and protocol for ring doctors with pictures procedure, diagrams, etc’;
11. Updating the anti-doping substances to test as well as EPO test. Reinforce the electrolyte program throughout the world;
12. Evaluation of the percentages of ideal weight limits 30 and 7 days before the fight, with a proposal of change from 10 percent to 7 percent and 5 percent to 3 percent;
13. Eliminating EEG test from the forms and will not be required anymore. A campaign to have boxers around the world receive hepatitis B immunization treatment to avoid contagion; and
14. To continue the project of creating the medical database with clinical history of boxers for the world.

More Pinoy Boxers To Fight For Championships

Good news for Filipino boxers. Games and Amusement Board (GAB) commissioner Angel Bautista disclosed recently that more Filipino boxers will be given opportunity to fight for Asia-Pacific and even world championships under the auspices of the World Boxing Organization starting next year.
“In fact, more Filipinos are rated in the WBO and chances are, they will fight for the regional and world titles in 2008,” said Bautista.
He said WBO is “very much active in Asia especially in the Philippines.” Bautista credited WBO Asia-Pacific Vice President Leon Panoncillo, Jr., a Hawaiian who speaks fluent Cebuano, for the resurgence of boxing championships in this part of the world saying “Panoncillo deserves all the awards and accolades he is reaping from boxing commissions in Asia, including the WBO which cited him for his big contribution in the promotion of boxing in our zone during the WBO convention in Puerto Rico (held last Oct. 30-Nov. 2).”
The Games and Amusement Board also awarded Panoncillo with Plaque of Recognition on Sept. 30 in Cebu City presented by Bautista.
The Philippines already has two WBO champions—bantamweight Gerry Penalosa and minimumweight Donnie Nietes.
Popular Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista also holds the Asia-Pacific belt in the superbantam weight division.
“There will be a lot of WBO championship fights in 2008. We are expanding in China and we are now in Macau,” Panoncillo confirmed. /MP