Mike Towell tragedy puts boxing in bad light, says Spencer Oliver
Sunday 2 October 2016 08:24, UK
Spencer Oliver has reflected on his own career-ending injury and the changes in safety measures as boxing mourns Mike Towell.
Former European super-bantamweight champion Oliver suffered a life-threatening brain clot in 1998 after being halted by Serhiy Divakov at the Royal Albert Hall and recovered but was forced to retire from the sport.
He said in the wake of Towell's death: "There are inherent risks involved. Boxing comes into the spotlight because two guys come into the ring and one man is inflicting damage on another man but if you look down the history of sports - and I'm defending boxing here - it would come right at the bottom in terms of deaths in this country.
"You've got motor racing, rugby and horse riding. They'd all rank above boxing. Boxing comes into the spotlight because of what's happened and it's a shame.
"If you look back in time to what happened to Michael Watson, which was seven years prior to what happened to me, he got injured in the ring and they took him to hospital. He wasn't seen to in the ring and the British Boxing Board of Control noted that.
"When I boxed, they'd moved forward with the medical procedures and what they did for me was amazing. They're improving on it all the time. They can only do what they can do.
"We've got dietitians and nutritionists involved in the sport. There are weight checks six weeks prior, four weeks prior and two weeks prior to make sure kids are on weight. They're doing everything they can to make it as safe as possible.
"Every now and again, these things come up and it's a shame that these things happen because they put boxing in a bad light, but people are going to get injured."
