Boxer Paul Ingle in coma

It happens every time.

A boxer gets serious hurt in the ring, and out from under every conceivable rock comes the predictable cry “Let’s Ban Boxing”.

On Saturday night, December 16, at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield England, IBF featherweight champ Paul Ingle collapsed in the ring after being knocked out 20 seconds into the 12th and final round.

Ingle was floored late in the 11th round by three vicious left hooks. His brave trainer, Steve Pollard, admitted it was a mistake to let Ingle fight the 12th round.

"In hindsight he should have been pulled out at the end of the 11th. But we haven't got that gift," Pollard said. "He came and sat down and I asked him if he was OK and he said he was. I told him he was losing the fight and he said I'm going to go out and stop him. He was totally coherent and understood everything that was going on. I had no trepidation in sending him back out."

Yeah right. A guy who had just taken a beating for 11 rounds was “totally coherent” and “understood everything that was going on.” But more on that later.

Seconds into the 12th and final round, Ingle was floored by a vicious left uppercut. Referee Dave Parris immediately waved his hands over his head, stopping the fight. Ingle was surrounded by his cornermen and appeared to be regaining his senses. Then he then lost consciousness and had to be attended to by three paramedics at ringside, where he was given oxygen, then taken to the Northern General Hospital. Ingle was later transferred to Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital for a two–an–a–half–hour operation to remove a blood clot on the brain.

As of this writing, Ingle has opened his eyes and seems to be making improvement. But he certainly will never fight again.

Then the cockroaches stating crawling out of the corners. The first was the British Medical Association.

A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association said: "There are many sporting activities that carry a danger but what's unique about boxing is that the whole point of the sport is to render your opponent unconscious and that leads to brain damage.The BMA finds it impossible to justify deliberately causing damage to the brain and the eye. The effects are cumulative so the more often you fight the more chance you have of being injured.”

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