WBC MEDICAL PIONEERS SPEARHEADING CUTTING EDGE INNOVATION

Practical advice, breakthroughs plus a stark warning about substantial weight gain following weigh ins, peppered the presentation of Dr Paul Wallace, who’s the Chairman of the World Boxing Council’s  Medical Advisory Board.

At the 55th annual Convention of the WBC, held in at the Fairmont Flame Towers Hotel, Baku, Azerbaijan,  Dr Wallace recommended a poster for gyms, outlining mild and moderate injuries, with guidelines of what to do. For example…heat or ice?

In stressing that vital importance of baseline MRI’s for WBC boxers, Dr Wallace also advised that even with a mild concussion, there needs to be a minimum thirty days rest from strenuous activities, for the spinal fluid to balance and return to normal.  Mild concussions from repeated blows tend to happen far more in the gym, than on fight night.

Dr Wallace explained  that complex and painstaking medical research  has revealed that for severe  brain injuries, the received wisdom of the past fifty years has been overturned, The key treatment involving administering glucose, has been superseded by lactose.

He condemned as cheating, the way some boxers manage to make the weight and then in the rehydration phase pile on the pounds,  to significantly outweigh opponents, so much so that they belong  in an entirely different division, advising that there must be a rule change to address this.

There’s also a proposal to introduce a fifteen days weigh in, to bridge the thirty day and seven days requirements, specifically designed and intended to safeguard the health, safety  and well being of the boxers.

A third WBC Medical Congress has been approved for the coming year.