« Content wanted | Home | Ultimate Fight Night live 4/6 card line-up »
Did weight-cutting contribute to boxer’s death?
By Zach Arnold | March 22, 2006
By Zach Arnold
The Indianapolis Star (via the Associated Press) has an article talking about a panel investigation into the death of 34-year old boxer Kevin Payne. In the article, trainers claim that they had noticed some troubling signs about Payne’s health a month before the fight. Specifically, dehydration due to weight cutting to make weight for the boxing fight. However, a coroner says that a broken neck was likely what caused the death.
Vanderburgh County Coroner Don Erk said Payne suffered a broken neck and likely died from “subdural bleeding” caused by blows to the head. An autopsy had not yet been performed.
On an unrelated boxing sidenote, it appears that boxing still has its fans. Really loyal fans.
Topics: All Topics, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
There’s some debate in the fight community that weight cutting can lead to increased odds of suffeirng subdural bleeding. The reason for this is that the brain is held in place in the scull by fluid that acts to absorb shocks and keep the brain from sliding around and hitting the skull. The brain hitting the skull is what leads to concussions and swelling. These lower weight fighters some are going from 155 or 160 lbs down to 135 or 140. A 160 lb guy who loses 20 pounds is losing 1/8th of his overall mass. This is terribly unhealthy. The strongest proof for this theory is that there has never been a death at any of the higher weight classes. That seems counter-intuitive because guys at Heavyweight, Cruiserweight and Light Heavyweight hit much harder than Light Weight and Welterweight fighters. But those heavier fighters aren’t cutting off as much weight.
If I were in charge of boxing and MMA here are the regulatory changes I would make to protect fighters from these types of injuries. First eliminate several weight classes. Boxing has 130, 135, 140, 147, 154, 160, 168, 175 champions. It should be 135, 145, 155, 165, 180, 205, HW. This means less guys will be trying to sneak off an extra 5 pounds and will be forced to fight closer to their natural bodyweight. Secondly instead of weighing fighters the day before a fight and encouraging them to become anorexic in the weeks leading to the fight, fighters will be weighed throughout the year. They will still weigh in the day before, but they will also be weighed the day the fight is signed, on the press tour, in the gym and randomly when they show up to be in the crowd for other fights. All of these weighins will result in the fighters Median Weight (the average of all the weighins). Fighters will then only be allowed to compete at 8 pounds below their median weight for fighters below 155 lbs and 10 pounds below their median weight for fighters above 155 lbs.
The reason most boxers die is from excessive blows to head. Since in this case, an autopsy had not yet been performed, it seems premature to guess.
Also, the idea that the weight classes should be 135, 145, 155, 165, 180, 205, and HW is stupid. This is fewer classes than wrestling or any other comparable combat sport. No one is going to fight at their natural weight when that means being the smaller fighter.
[…] However, as predicted by the entire Fight Opinion staff (on the radio show this week), last week’s death of local boxer Kevin Payne has put the spotlight on MMA’s track record for safety. Read the Courier Press article to get a better sense of what we are talking about. […]