by Ricky Town

26.08 - Oh no, not again. Not another casual bleeding heart liberal trying to harm and hurt our pugilistic sport. The idea of pro boxers using heard gear is an outraged.

Actually I am a hardcore, die-hard boxing fan. I have witnessed this sport since the days of Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali.

Boxing has and will always be a sport of blood and gore. The object of the game is to render your opponent's inability to continue fighting. Reaching a decision has been considered by many to be a bore.

In our lust for blood and mayhem, the men and now women who risk their lives for a pay day, a crown, or a belt are being asked to give more than any other professional athlete.

I enjoy the knockouts of a Mike Tyson, the counter-punching of an Evander Holyfield, the pumping of the left jab and powerful right hand of a Lenox Lewis. All of this makes boxing such a crowd pleasing sport.

Let's forget about the shady deals of some promoters, the greed of network executives, let's focus on the heart of my concern. How many boxers continue to risk their lives because of accidental head butts?

I watch a talented fighter named Gerald McClellan, destined for greatness, was in my opinion truly the Pound for Pound best fighter in the world only to have his career ended due to repeated head butts in his last fight. (Gerald is now blind and partially paralyzed.)

Evander Holyfield, a truly gifted fighter but fights with a style that guarantees damaging results. Not with his fist, but with his head.

The result of the Tyson I and II and Rahman fights proves my point. Taking away points will not solve this problem. Disqualifying a fighter is not the solution. The only way we are going to solve this ongoing life threatening problem, we've got to strongly consider head gear.

I watched the Showtime boxing card this past Saturday night, Derrick Gainer vs Daniel Seda and Nelson Dieppa vs John Molina. Both fights ended in the second round because of accidental head butts. These could have been prevented with mandatory head gear.

The head butt suffered by Dieppa was so severe that I was screaming at the television set, "Stop the fight", "Stop the fight".

I know what you are saying, "What a wimp". No, I'm not a wimp; I'm a die-hard boxing fan who loves my fighters, care about their health and long to see the survival of this sport.