SALT LAKE CITY — Eleven-year-old Jannon McShurley loves boxing.
“It just takes all the stress away and the anger,” he said.
Jannon has been boxing for two years now. But the American Academy of Pediatrics says boxing is not an appropriate sport for kids and teens.
In a seven-page statement released this week, it said boxing is bad news for young kids and teens, and even a one-two punch can be one too many.
“There is some inherent danger in boxing, but in amateur boxing, there’s a lot of safety built into it,” said Karey Law, owner of Muay Thai Institute and Fitness Center in Salt Lake.
Safety is a priority at the center. “I wear headgear. I have a mouthpiece, gloves because your hands, if you punch they will get really red and hurt,” McShurley said.
The headgear and mouth gear aren’t the only piece of safety equipment boxers have to use. Law said the gloves used in amateur boxing are very padded, and “the professionals, they use a very thin glove that’s meant to hurt someone.”
While the facility specializes in kick boxing, Law is an advocate of the sport. “It’s much safer than football, where your child can have 12 people jump on them of all kinds of weight.”
She sees boxing as a good outlet, an opportunity for a child to build confidence, discipline and focus. “It’s good exercise,” she said. “It’s mental, as well as physical.”
But it's the physical aspect of this sport that is most concerning to the American Academy of Pediatrics. In its new statement, released this week, it states, “Although boxing provides benefits for participants, including exercise, self-discipline and self-confidence, the sport of boxing encourages and rewards deliberate blows to the head and face."
It goes on to say, "Participants in boxing are at risk of head, face, and neck injuries, including chronic and even fatal neurologic injuries" including concussions.
Experiencing a concussion at a young age can have serious consequences, Dr. Colby Hansen with the University of Utah Health Care said. He said the statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics indicates safety equipment does not reduce the risk of head injuries.
“From a pure medical perspective, sure if we could ban intentional blows to the head in recreational activities it would make sense,” he said. “In the real world where there are other variables to consider, it's not such an easy jump.”
For Law, that’s not enough to throw in the towel. “No good coach is going to put a child in the ring that can’t handle it, that’s not prepared, that’s not physically fit.”
She added that children box other children of their same weight. They have the same ability level, so it’s more of a fair match.
Dr. Hansen said in the last 10 to 15 years, several other medical associations have suggested similar restrictions, and even bans, on boxing.
According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 38 million children participate in organized sports and 1 out of every 10 requires medical treatment for sports-related injury. NIH estimates that half of these injuries are preventable.
USA Boxing oversees amateur boxing across the country. The organization stresses headgear is always worn during amateur fights and that safety is its first priority.
E-mail: vvo-duc@ksl.com