Boxing Attacked In U.S., U.K.

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30471, 19 June 1964, Page 13

Boxing Attacked In U.S., U.K.

(NZPA.-Reuter— Copyright) NEW YORK June 18. The “New York Times” today advocated the abolition of boxing in the wake of the three ring fatalities this week in London, Sydney, and Manila. In an editorial headed. “This ‘Sport’ is Murder,” the newspaper said: “It is commonly argued in defence of boxing that all sports have their dangers—many die in football, for instance, and nobody demands abolition of the game. “But in prize-fighting the

intent is to damage the opponent, in order to win. The overriding aim, the maximum hope, is to knock the opponent unconscious, so he won’t be able to defend himself further.”

In London, Baroness Summerskill, a doctor who has for years been an outspoken critic of boxing, said she wanted to see it “prohibited altogether.” Baroness Summerskill said: “The death of the boxer, Cym James, is a tragic example of an innocent young man not knowing what the dangers are. I am terribly sorry for his wife and child.

“It is absurd to me that boxers are told not to hit below the belt, when it is far less dangerous to hit below the belt than it is to strike at the head." The British Socialist Medical Association expressed its sense of shock at recent boxers’ deaths and urged the Government to make professional fights illegal. The association made this plea “in view of the great danger to both life and limb and the debasing effect on the countless millions who watch them.” Ten days before James's fatal fight on Tuesday a doc-

tor refused to give him a certificate of fitness, the “Daily Mail” reported today. But before the fight he was examined and passed as fit. The doctor who refused the certificate said: “His symptoms indicated that he might have been suffering from brain damage. I felt he was not telling me the whole truth when he said that he felt fit.” About two years ago James was in a motor-cycle accident. He complained of head pains afterwards and was out of boxing for months.