Why headgear in olympic boxing

Facebook RingTV. Official Product. Contact Us P. London Roberto Cammarelle of Italy in red vs. But why would wearing headgear increase the rate of likely concussions? Or perhaps headgear creates a false sense of safety and boxers take more risks. This is I think the scary part. I have raised the issue and many of the coaches are in favour of it.

But there is a long process to be followed to bring it back. Nieva said he has counted around 39 cuts during the competition. Head clashes are not good for the boxers. It is impossible to avoid head clashes.

Italy coach Emanuele Renzini agreed. You see this in every competition. We have to discuss this issue with the AIBA technical committee. Too many cuts and bruises and head butts that increase concussion risk mean they will be better off with the protective gear.

While observers might wonder why officials who govern a violent sport known to produce concussions would remove protective gear, research conducted on amateur bouts following the rule change by the AIBA concluded that boxers who competed without headgear were less likely to experience acute brain injury than those who wore head protection. The research examined two scenarios.

First, researchers examined fight stoppages due to head blows from the first three years of World Series Boxing WSB bouts in which headgear is not worn and compared it to AIBA competitions with headgear during the same period.

Second, the researchers looked at stoppages during three world championship tournaments, and with head guards and without head protection.

It was hypothesized that head guards, by increasing the diameter and surface area of the head, led to increased rotational force and subsequent stoppages. Furthermore, head guards were considered to increase the risk of blows to the head because the padding around the eyes limited the boxer's vision. However, the most convincing hypothesis was head guards give a false sense of safety , so boxers engage in more high-risk behaviors than they would were they not wearing a head guard.

In conclusion, the study reported that removing head guards from AIBA competition boxers seemed to reduce the rate of stoppages due to blows to the head, a surrogate for cerebral concussion. However, it was a curiously split decision. The IOC still requires female boxers to wear headgear.