Boxing safety here as good as it gets

Given the tragic circumstances surrounding the Paul Ingle bout in Sheffield last weekend, it is somewhat reassuring that Ireland's procedures for injured boxers are second to none.

According to Mel Christle, president of the Boxing Union of Ireland (BUI), Prof Jack Phillips organises for the Beaumont Hospital neurosurgical unit to be on standby an hour before any Dublin promotion begins and a hour after it finishes. He or another doctor is also at ringside with two ambulances available outside the venue.

"Short of bringing the neurological unit to the stadium, there is little else we can do," says Christle. Incidentally, Ireland had their medical procedures in place before the British Boxing Board of Control adopted the same measures. There has never been a serious accident similar to that of Ingle or Michael Watson in Ireland.