British boxer and Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan on Friday demanded that headguards be reinstated into amateur boxing to protect exhausted fighters from possible injury.
The Englishman, a former two-time world champion, believes boxers fighting up to five times a week at international competition are more at risk of being seriously hurt.
“I would say headguards need to come back, especially when you’ve got fighters who are fighting nearly five times a week,” said the 27-year-old, speaking on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Games.
“You might get cut in the first day, on first day you might just get a head clash, you might be the favourite to win the tournament,” he said.
PROTECTION
Khan said that boxers can still get facial cuts wearing headguards and be knocked out, but they help with overall protection of the fighters.
“I don’t think knock-outs happen as much anyway in amateur boxing, especially at the high level because you’re fighting the best of the best. I think they should come back, it’s more safe for the fighters,” Khan said.
CALLS
Earlier at the Games, Australian boxer Daniel Lewis had called for headguards to be restored for amateur fighters after he failed a medical check and was ruled out of the welterweight quarter-finals.
The International Boxing Association, which discarded head protection in the amateur ranks last year, said it would assess the new rule and number of head cuts and injuries at the end of the Commonwealth Games at an extraordinary meeting that is yet to be called.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite