Mike Towell

[Pete]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37526636

Scottish boxer Mike Towell passes away after a fight in Glasgow.

Don't know much about the boxer himself or the incident but are there questions to be answered, procedures that can be changed or is this just one of these things and a risk all boxers take?

I can only imagine how his opponent, Dale Evans must be feeling.

[Betty Boop]

Boxing should be banned, glamourising violence and offering a quick and easy route to riches, all in the name of 'sport'.

[Dinkydoo]

Boxing should be banned, glamourising violence and offering a quick and easy route to riches, all in the name of 'sport'.
I'll address the points here separately but overall, that's a massively ignorant statement you've made about a sport that you don't understand.

1) Boxing glorifies violence

In what way? It's obvious you have neither trained in nor been around combat sports in order to really form that opinion with anything other than prejudice on your part.

Athlete's competing in combat sports treat each other with high levels of respect, out with the media circus, and there's been recent high profile cases where fighter's have fallen out with the referee because they felt the bout should have been stopped sooner, to protect their opponent.

Concern for one's opponent....that doesn't sound like an act of violence to me, fights are all about controlled aggression.

2) Fighter health

I'd say that people training in any full contact sport will be well aware of the risks they're taking. If we're going to start banning sports using this as the criteria then I guess American Football will be next:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/12/40-percent-of-former-nfl-players-suffer-from-brain-damage-new-study-shows/

3) Quick and easy route to riches

Pushing yourself to your mental and physical limits, twice per day, 6 times a week in addition to a full time job is easy? I don't think so.

Muay thai, mma and boxing, out with the top level, doesn't pay nearly enough for fighters to support themselves so most people have other fulltime jobs to juggle on top of training.

[lord bunberry]

Boxing should be banned, glamourising violence and offering a quick and easy route to riches, all in the name of 'sport'.
That's a spectacularly ignorant post.
RIP big man.

[heretoday]

Well if you make a living bashing other guys on the head you have to accept the risks.

[Betty Boop]

I'll address the points here separately but overall, that's a massively ignorant statement you've made about a sport that you don't understand.

1) Boxing glorifies violence

In what way? It's obvious you have neither trained in nor been around combat sports in order to really form that opinion with anything other than prejudice on your part.

Athlete's competing in combat sports treat each other with high levels of respect, out with the media circus, and there's been recent high profile cases where fighter's have fallen out with the referee because they felt the bout should have been stopped sooner, to protect their opponent.

Concern for one's opponent....that doesn't sound like an act of violence to me, fights are all about controlled aggression.

2) Fighter health

I'd say that people training in any full contact sport will be well aware of the risks they're taking. If we're going to start banning sports using this as the criteria then I guess American Football will be next:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/12/40-percent-of-former-nfl-players-suffer-from-brain-damage-new-study-shows/

3) Quick and easy route to riches

Pushing yourself to your mental and physical limits, twice per day, 6 times a week in addition to a full time job is easy? I don't think so.

Muay thai, mma and boxing, out with the top level, doesn't pay nearly enough for fighters to support themselves so most people have other fulltime jobs to juggle on top of training.
A sport where the ultimate goal is to knock your opponent out ? Human cockfighting, not for me thanks.

[Scouse Hibee]

Well if you make a living bashing other guys on the head you have to accept the risks.

Well!

You would have been better saying nothing.

[Pretty Boy]

Very sad news. Know a few guys who know him and he leaves behind a partner and young child.

I'll leave the squabbling about the merits of boxing to others.

[The Gorf]

Well said PB

[lucky]

Sad news. The ref needs looked at. He also allowed the Eubank Jnr fight go to long. Eubank Snr was going to stop his son from hurting his opponent anymore.

[calumhibee1]

Sad news. The ref needs looked at. He also allowed the Eubank Jnr fight go to long. Eubank Snr was going to stop his son from hurting his opponent anymore.

That was the bit that stuck out for me. He surely can't ref again.

[Pretty Boy]

That was the bit that stuck out for me. He surely can't ref again.

Speaking to a few people in attendance they have said Victor Loughlin wasn't to blame, I believe Mikes family and trainer have said the same. By all accounts he was absolutely distraught in the dressing room post fight.

There was a knockdown in the first, the fight was pretty even after that point and then a knockdown in the fifth with the fight stopped in that round.

I questioned him letting the Blackwell fight go as long as it did but based on the,admittedly second hand, knowledge I have regarding this fight I think the ref has acted in pretty much the right way.

[oconnors_strip]

It's really sad news. But the worrying question is why did he not tell his team about the migraines and sore heads he had been suffering from for a good number of weeks before the fight? Would the fight have been postponed if they had known about it?

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

There needs to be tighter controls in place running up to fight. IMO if a boxer fails the weigh in then the fight should be conceded. The migraines and headaches which have gone unreported until it was too late have to be followed up. Heart breaking for those left behind.

[The_Exile]

The events of the past week have made me question my love for the sport, it's not just that though, it's a lot of other things about boxing that are seriously pissing me off right now, mainly the business side of things. I want to see big fights but they're just not happening, Khan - Brook should've happened by now, Stevenson - Kovalev should've happened by now, Anthony Joshua is a world champion but he's never stepped into the ring with anyone remotely on his level after 17 fights, he's been hit once by Dillian Whyte in his entire career. The whole business stinks at the moment. There's a massive PED problem too, and the consequences for fighters and their families could be grave, but where's the consequences for these guys? How are fighters like Kid Galahad and Lamont Peterson still able to earn a living from the sport after being caught red handed? I have no interest in watching "prospects" batter some poor Latvian road sweepers unconscious a couple of dozen times before they actually get put into a proper fight where their ability is matched to their opponent and it's not a shock if they lose.

Anyway, getting back to Towell, feel for his partner and wee one, by all accounts he was a good lad with his whole life in front of him and now his wee man is left without his dad. Puts things into perspective really. I watched the fight live on STV Edinburgh and the ref done nothing wrong, the stoppage was at the right time and I feel for him having experienced this type of situation twice now, if Towell had migranes which prevented him from sparring he shouldn't have been fighting.