The sweet science of keeping boxers safe

By Oscar Pick

THE tragic news that Sherif Lawal was pronounced dead after making his professional debut sent shock waves across the boxing world.

Paramedics tended to the 29-year-old as he collapsed in the ring at Harrow Leisure Centre, London, before being taken to hospital, where the much loved and widely supported middleweight ultimately lost his life.

โ€œItโ€™s someoneโ€™s son, so your thoughts are immediately with their family; theyโ€™ve just lost someone in a boxing ring,โ€ said Daryl Spalter, who was in Lawalโ€™s corner on May 12.

โ€œIt was horrible; I didnโ€™t go to another boxing show for the next two to three weeks, just so I could get away and clear my head.โ€

During these moments, when we are reminded of the catastrophic risks that come with boxing, there is a genuine sense of compassion expressed by those who are closest to the action, the ones who truly know this unforgiving sport inside out.

A fighterโ€™s safety is paramount, and protecting them is a non-negotiable duty shared by every cornerman.

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The weight of this responsibility is immense, and yet, in less than 60 seconds, these individuals are able to perform remarkable feats, carrying out their work with incredible speed and precision.

In a typical corner, the head trainer will lead a small team of seconds โ€“ never more than three in a British ring โ€“ who patch up cuts, reduce any swelling and, most importantly, ensure that their fighter is in a fit state to enter the next round.ย 

As a British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) secondโ€™s licence holder, Spalter suspects that he has made over 1,000 corner appearances and now looks to educate the next crop of cornermen coming through.ย 

โ€œIโ€™m setting up a team of cornermen to teach courses,โ€ he revealed. โ€œBecause I saw that, at a lot of these [small hall] shows, the seconds didnโ€™t know what they were doing.

โ€œSome of the boys were just standing there with a bucket, not doing anything. If someone collapses in the corner, half of them wouldnโ€™t even know what to do.

โ€œIโ€™m speaking with [the BBBofC] to try and get it regulated.โ€

All seconds must complete a BBBofC training course โ€“ providing them with a First Aid qualification โ€“ before they can be granted a licence.

However, due to the sheer volume of shows taking place every weekend, the demand for skilled cornermen remains tremendously high; yet, as Spalter suggests, there is not enough sufficient knowledge or experience to go around.

This can lead to small hall promoters hiring unlicenced seconds, representing a major concern for fighters โ€“ particularly those in the away corner โ€“ who will often arrive at a venue with just one cornerman.ย 

โ€œA lot of the trainers come over with just a towel and a bottle of water,โ€ Spalter said. โ€œAnd all they do is pour water over their fighterโ€™s head.ย 

โ€œIt baffles me because, having been a fighter myself, I wouldnโ€™t want someone pouring water over my head.โ€

This lack of preparation became strikingly evident at Selhurst Park, where Spalter was in the corner of an away fighter on the Chris Billam-Smith vs Richard Riakporhe undercard in June.

โ€œ[Edwin Mosquera, who fought Deevorn Miller] turned up late because his team had taken him to a different ground by mistake,โ€ Spalter continued.

โ€œThen, as I started warming him up on the pads, the sole of his boxing boot came off. We were on in two minutes and, because I couldnโ€™t tape his boot up, he had to wear a pair of trainers instead.โ€

In truth, a second should be prepared for every possible scenario, including when a fighter returns to their corner having sustained a cut.

There are times when a cutman is, rather astonishingly, able to patch up a laceration that had previously obscured their fighterโ€™s vision, with blood unrelentingly pouring out from the wound.

This intricate, delicate procedure must be completed in less than a minute, leaving no room for error.

โ€œThe trick is to stay calm,โ€ Spalter added.

โ€œWhen a fighter is cut, the first thing you need to do is put a bag of ice on their neck โ€“ this cools down the blood circulation in their head.ย 

โ€œThen, you have to put the cotton swab โ€“ soaked in adrenaline [made into a 1-1000 aqueous solution] โ€“ deep inside the cut, and squeeze to constrict the blood vessels, before, when the referee says โ€˜seconds outโ€™, patching it up with Vaseline.โ€

With so much to learn, the emergence of more cutman courses can only improve the overall standard of seconds in the UK.

Veteran cornermen Jon Pegg and Anthony Hull currently hold regular cutman courses โ€“ credited by the BBBofC โ€“ at the D&A Boxing School of Excellence, Birmingham.ย 

โ€œI took part in [Peggโ€™s] course a few months ago, because you have to do it every [three years] to renew your licence,โ€ Spalter said.

โ€œHe set up a mannequin with red marks on its face to show where the cuts were. Some of the people tried wiping the cut, which you should never do.ย 

โ€œWhen it was my turn, I put a cloth over the swab to keep the adrenaline in the cut. That just comes from experience โ€“ you canโ€™t learn it from a book.โ€

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While Pegg and Hull continue their phenomenal work in the Midlands, there is, at least from Spalterโ€™s perspective, an opportunity to establish similar training courses in the South.

With comprehensive instructions on how to prevent and treat cuts, swellings and nose bleeds, these courses are set to equip cornermen with the necessary skills that can, in some cases, save lives.

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