The law(s) of the rings: boxing and the law.

To threaten harm is to assault and to realise that threat is to batter. To do so intentionally for the purpose of producing injury amounts to causing harm with intent and one cannot consent to be the victim of such violence. Despite these clearly enunciated legal principles, such conduct is routinely practised in the name of sport. Boxing is widely accepted as a highly paid professional sporting activity in which the ultimate goal is to inflict a concussive head injury upon an opponent or at least cause sufficient damage to render an opponent incapable of further self-defence. Spectators pay to watch the anticipated systematic abuse of one human being by another in much the same way they delighted in gladiators who were forced to fight for the pleasure of others. This article reviews these concepts and challenges the legal ethics of authorised violence associated with these activities undertaken in the name of sport.

Neuropsychological consequences of boxing and recommendations to improve safety: a National Academy of Neuropsychology education paper.

Boxing has held appeal for many athletes and audiences for centuries, and injuries have been part of boxing since its inception. Although permanent and irreversible neurologic dysfunction does not occur in the majority of participants, an association has been reported between the number of bouts fought and the development of neurologic, psychiatric, or histopathological signs and symptoms of encephalopathy in boxers. The purpose of this paper is to (i) provide clinical neuropsychologists, other health-care professionals, and the general public with information about the potential neuropsychological consequences of boxing, and (ii) provide recommendations to improve safety standards for those who participate in the sport.

Entre a academia de boxe e o boxe da academia: um estudo etnográfico / Entre el gimnasio de boxe y el boxe del gimnasio: un estudio etnográfico / Between the boxing gym and gym's boxing: an ethnographic study

Este trabalho traz elementos para a discussão sobre a diversidade dos significados das práticas "esportivas" por pessoas comuns, no cotidiano das cidades. Faz isso a partir de um estudo etnográfico da prática de boxe no contexto de uma academia de fitness da cidade de Porto Alegre, em vista de como esta articula os sentidos do boxe dos boxeadores e do fitness dos alunos, e se isto implica numa lógica de desesportivização. Após a análise e a interpretação do material empírico produzido, pudemos concluir que a prática estudada tem um aspecto híbrido, no sentido de que se caracteriza pela inserção (muito dinâmica, tensa, disputada) de elementos e significados da "academia de boxe" e do "boxe da academia". Nesse sentido, não seria estranho referirmos a simultaneidade da "desesportivização do boxe" e "esportivização do fitness".

This work brings elements for the discussion on the diversity of meanings of "sportive" practices by ordinary people in the everyday of the cities. It does that from an ethnographic study of the boxing practice in the context of a fitness center in the city of Porto Alegre, observing the way it articulates the meanings of "boxer's boxing" and students' fitness, and if it implicates on a logic of unesportiveness. After the analysis and interpretation of the empiric material produced, we can conclude that the practice studied has a hybrid aspect, in the sense that it is characterized by insertion (very dynamic, tense and disputed) of elements and meanings of "boxing gym" and "gym's boxing". In this sense, it would not be strange to refer to the simultaneity of the "unesportivization of boxing" and the "sportivization of fitness".

Este trabajo trae elementos para a discusión sobre la diversidad de los significados de las prácticas "deportivas" por personas comunes, en el cotidiano de las ciudades. Hacemos eso a partir de un estudio etnográfico de la práctica de boxe en el contexto de un gimnasio de fitness de la ciudad de Porto Alegre, en vista de como esta articula los sentidos del boxe de los boxeadores y del fitness de los alumnos, y si esto implica en una lógica de desesportivización. Después del análisis y la interpretación del material empírico producido, pudimos concluir que la práctica estudiada tiene un aspecto híbrido, en el sentido de que se caracteriza por la inserción (muy dinámica, tensa, disputada) de elementos y significados del "gimnasio de boxe" y del "boxe del gimnasio". En ese sentido, no seria extraño referirnos a la simultaneidad de la "desesportivização del boxe" y "esportivização delfitness".