BOXING / CHRIS DUFRESNE : How Can They Make a Brutal Sport Safer?

Gerald McClellan’s mantra in the ring was Do unto others . He was arguably the hardest hitter in boxing, his punches having been compared to “mule kicks.”

Twenty of McClellan’s 29 knockouts came in the first round. His fights averaged 2.3 rounds.

He knew boxing was dangerous. He was dangerous, as fierce as the four pit bulls he raised as pets. He made no bones about trying to put other guys in the hospital.

Before his World Boxing Council super-middleweight title fight last Saturday against Nigel Benn in London, McClellan said, “I can’t see anything less than a vicious knockout.”

McClellan was a vicious fighter. He never imagined himself on the receiving side of viciousness. This time, though, after failing to finish off Benn in the first round, McClellan was emersed in a battle he would lose.

In the 10th round, he dropped to a knee after absorbing a strong right from Benn. When McClellan got up, Benn walloped him again with an uppercut. McClellan dropped to a knee, waited for French referee Alfred Azaro to count him out, stood up, walked to his corner and sat down, not bothering to wait for his stool.

Then, he leaned his head back on a ring post and slumped into unconsciousness.

Doctors later removed a six-inch blood clot from McClellan’s brain, and he lay close to death for days before showing marginal signs of improvement late in the week.

The aftermath has produced the expected outcry from those who believe boxing should be banished, as though that were plausible. Can you imagine the death rate if boxing were ushered to the black market and the back alleys, right next to cockfights?

When and if McClellan recovers, one suspects he will say what happened was part of the game, the risk he took and, more often, the risk his opponents took against him.

By most accounts, there were no signs of ringside negligence in London.

In fact, quick action by attending physicians probably saved McClellan’s life. The ringside medical team included an anesthetist, four doctors, two sets of paramedics and two ambulances.

Dr. Robert Karns, a member of the California State Commission’s medical advisory board, watched the fight from home in Los Angeles on television.

“This looks like one of those I could not think of doing anything differently,” Karns said of the medical’s team reaction.

Last year, Miguel Mercedes suffered a brain hemorrhage in a fight at the Forum. Karns rushed the boxer to the hospital in his own car and escorted Mercedes immediately into surgery. A boxing career ended that night, but a life was saved.

“This is a brutal sport,” Karns acknowledged. “We’re beating people on the head.”

Then, Karns jumped to boxing’s defense.

“But we’re concerned with the athletes. Unlike football, you’re not going to get a concussion and go back in in the third quarter. It’s not going to happen.”

In times such as these, boxing defenders rally together, citing claims that auto racing produces far more deaths per capita.

According to the California State Commission, which oversees boxing, the last ring-related death in the state occurred in August of 1988, when Rico Velasquez died of a brain hemorrhage in San Jose.

Since, the state has sanctioned roughly 3,600 bouts in which no one has died.

The argument about McClellan should not be about whether boxing should be banned, but rather how the sport might be made safer. It’s likely nothing could have been done to protect McClellan, but his injury should at least refocus the issue.

“You can’t prevent it,” said Richard DeCuir, executive director of the California State Commission. “The best you can do is to take the best-known precautions.”

The California commission is one of the few governing bodies nationally that require boxers to undergo annual neurological testing as a precondition for being licensed.

DeCuir said his commission errs on the side of caution. Last year, junior-welterweight Zack Padilla was found to have a small blood clot in his brain after suffering dizzy spells during a sparring session.

One neurosurgeon later cleared Padilla to fight again, but Karns said he called the doctor back and asked him to reconsider. After a review of Padilla’s file, the neurosurgeon changed his mind.

Padilla remains on indefinite medical suspension.

“The likelihood of his ever fighting again is nil,” DeCuir said.

One problem is that the sport can’t even agree on how to make boxing safer.

Heavyweight champion George Foreman this week urged the use of headgear.

“Boxers should not wear headgear,” Karns countered. “It’s the most dangerous thing to do. The headgear carries perspiration and the weight--even in those three-round Olympic fights--when you hit them in the head, the weight acts like a fulcrum, twisting and distorting the neck.”

Padilla said he is in favor of stricter enforcement of the rules.

“The refs need to be more cautious,” he said. “And even the guys in the corner. When they see their fighter’s hurt, they should throw in the towel.”

What else can be done?

In 1992, the California commission reviewed the possibility of instituting a standing eight-count--which some believe would prevent some ring injuries--but the merits for using it were not conclusive enough for enactment.

But, in light of McClellan, no safety stone should be unturned.

“Believe me,” DeCuir said of the eight-count issue, “it will come up for review again. Our verdict was not unanimous.”

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Boxing Notes

Mike Hernandez Sr., an adviser for boxer Oscar De La Hoya, said the fighter owes Shelly Finkel nothing but has offered the manager $28,000 to settle a legal dispute. Finkel recently filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in New York, claiming De La Hoya owes him $97,000 for money spent before De La Hoya won his 1992 Olympic gold medal in Barcelona. Finkel had hoped to sign De La Hoya afterward, but the boxer chose different representation. Hernandez said De La Hoya never signed a contract with Finkel. “Legally, he (Finkel) will never get nothing in a court of law,” Hernandez said. “Because what he did for Oscar was for an interest.”

Rafael Ruelas and De La Hoya will be the two highest-paid lightweights in boxing history when they enter the ring against each other May 6 at Caesars Palace. Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters, said De La Hoya will make a minimum of $1.75 million; Ruelas has been guaranteed at least $1 million.

Long Beach heavyweight Jeremy Williams (20-1, 17 knockouts) faces Philadelphia’s Jesse Ferguson (20-13, 14 KOs) tonight at the Palm Springs Riviera.