Facial Cuts and Gore Galore as Rio Boxers Fight Without Headgear

With athletes suffering severe cuts during bouts, the absence of head-guards during boxing in Rio is now a concern.

Referee stops the fight to have Russia’s Nikitin Vladimir’s cuts treated as Vladimir fights Vanuatu’s Boe Warawara during a men’s bantamweight 56-kg preliminary boxing match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo: AP)

Men are fighting without headgear for the first time in 36 years, making the sport probably less safe and undoubtedly more attractive to fans. But the most tangible consequence is gore: More than a dozen boxers at the Rio Games have already incurred significant facial cuts in the first six days of the tournament.

Boxing: The Bloody Game

Algerian middleweight Ilyas Abbadi was unsure how he got the 1 1/2-inch gash outside his left eye during his victory over Congo’s Mpi Ngamissengue on Tuesday, but blood trickled down his face during the bout. The cleaned-up wound still gaped to reveal bloody tissue afterward, and he could only hope his training staff could close it satisfactorily before his next fight on Friday.

Algeria’s Ilyas Abbadi pauses as he fights Congo’s Mpi Anauel Ngamissengue during a men’s middleweight 75 kg preliminary boxing match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo: AP)

Now I know the value of the headgear. I think for the amateurs, that would be better. I would prefer to fight with headgear, but this is how it is. 

Ilyas Abbadi, Boxer, Algeria

The Olympics are the amateur game’s biggest showcase by far, and the sport desperately hoped a major cut wouldn’t ruin a fighter’s hopes through medical disqualification. It happened for the first time on Thursday, when a 2-inch cut near Armenian welterweight Vladimir Margaryan’s right eye forced the stoppage of his bout with Cuban gold medalist Roniel Iglesias after just 87 seconds.

Armenia’s Vladimir Margaryan bleeds from a cut as he fights Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias during a men’s welterweight 69-kg preliminary boxing match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo: AP)

Margaryan’s coach, Karen Aghamalyan, said his fighter already had a cut from his first Olympic bout four days earlier. Ringside physicians couldn’t close the gash when it re-opened in the first minute against Iglesias, who was a heavy favourite.

Head-Guard a Necessity Now?

In pro boxing, the sight of blood on a fighter’s face and chest is common – and an undeniable part of the sport’s primal lure. But that visceral reminder of the sport’s inherent violence had been rare in the modern amateur game until the International Boxing Association (AIBA) removed headgear from its fighters in 2013, citing scientific studies claiming protective padding actually increases brain injury.

Although AIBA has worked to improve its boxers’ fighting styles to minimise head clashes, cuts have become a steady occurrence at major tournaments ever since, often when two skulls collide in an up-close exchange of punches.

Russia’s Adlan Abdurashidov and Algeria’s Reda Benbaziz both were cut Tuesday during their lightweight bout, which was stopped twice in the second round for Abdurashidov to receive medical attention. Blood dripped steadily from Benbaziz’s face in the third.

Russia’s Adlan Abdurashidov, left, fights Algeria’s Reda Benbaziz during a men’s light weight 60-kg preliminary boxing match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. (Photo: AP)

“The guy was using his head a lot, and he received a warning from the judge,” Benbaziz said after winning the decision despite a 2-inch cut through his right eyebrow, which was already swelling moments after the bout. “Yeah, it will affect my next fight, but we will have to fight with an injury. I wish I could be using the head-guard.”