Boxers urged to keep tabs on their health

Boxers urged to keep tabs on their health

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Professional Boxing Promoters
Association (Gaprotin) urged the Indonesian Boxing Commission
(KTI) to enforce the use of boxers' logbooks to keep track of
their health condition and boxing record.

"Promoters have agreed not to field any boxers without proper
documentation in their logbooks. Actually, it is not our duty to
question the documents," Gaprotin's chairman Tourino Tidar was
quoted as saying by Antara on Monday.

"It is only to show that we care and is part of our moral
obligation."

Tourino was speaking at a press conference over Muhammad
'Alfa' Alfaridzi's death last Monday due to severe brain injury,
following his fight on March 30 against Kongtawat Ora of
Thailand.

Also present at the conference were promoters Abraham Bisma of
RCTI private television station and Hery 'Aseng' Sugiharto.

"If KTI were doing its duty properly, Alfa would not be
allowed to fight as he suffered knockout defeats earlier. He was
supposed to rest for six months," said Tourino. "He had been
knocked out four times previously but had been allowed to
continue boxing."

Considering the current situation, Tourino also asked KTI to
speed up its plenary national meeting following the death.

"KTI's meeting is slated for August, but most promoters urged
the commission to move the meeting forward to evaluate Alfa's
case by the end of April at the latest," he said.

"We deeply regret the fact that KTI did not immediately
investigate Alfa's death. It's KTI's responsibility for allowing
boxers to fight."

The meeting will not only elect a new chairman, replacing
current chairman Anton Sihombing, but also draft better
protection for boxers.

"Not only will the meeting elect a new chairman, but more
importantly it will issue a Safety Code for the boxers," said
Tourino.

"The code can draw on existing codes issued by world and
regional professional boxing associations including WBA, WBC,
PABA and OPBF. Gaprotin members will also draft several
additional safety regulations to minimize risks for the boxers."

Meanwhile, Abraham said Alfa's death reflected KTI's and
promoters' ignorance of boxers' health condition.

"A promoter should know better how many times his boxers have
been knocked down. Injured boxers should be replaced with healthy
ones."

"To prevent similar case in the future, RCTI will scan all
knocked-out boxers to monitor the state of their brain before
fielding them in fights." (nvn)