Fighters are being “hurt, exploited or forgotten” in a failing system, says former boxer Paul Smith, who has criticised the lack of support for athletes in combat sports. Smith is now part of a team set up to represent fighters and safeguard their futures.
Paul Smith (Credits: Martin Rose / Bongarts / Getty Images)
The group, called the Global Fighters’ Association (GFA), is aiming to launch what it describes as the “biggest ever inquiry into health and safety in combat sport.” The inquiry would examine safety, governance and the treatment of combat sports participants at all levels, from grassroots to professional.
Paul Smith and the Global Fighters’ Association Inquiry
Smith challenged three times for a super-middleweight world title before retiring in 2017, and he is one of the key people behind the initiative. The GFA was set up last year with the aim of creating a union to safeguard fighters’ futures.
“Every week, somewhere in this sport, a fighter is hurt, exploited or forgotten, and the only safety net is whatever the boxing community can scrape together after the fact,” Smith said. “That’s not a system. That’s a failing.”
He pointed to public fundraisers in recent months that have helped fighters such as Lee Reeves pay for emergency care after serious injuries. Smith argued it is a failing of the system when fighters have to raise money themselves to pay for recovery.
The GFA says it has secured respected barrister Jonathan Caplan KC to lead the inquiry process. He will be tasked with producing a report based on the evidence and testimonies gathered.
What the GFA Wants to Change for Fighters
The association wants to campaign for fair contracts and better pay, insurance and pensions, proper health and safety standards, and a place where fighters can report problems through an official channel.
Chair designate Simon Bazalgette said professional sports such as rugby, football and horse racing have raised their game on participant welfare over the past decade. Combat sport, he argued, remains one of the last workplaces with no professional representation for its workers — meaning little protection, no minimum health and safety standard, no independent pension scheme, no insurance floor, and no single body a fighter can turn to when something goes wrong.
The GFA is a non-profit organisation and is aiming to raise £500,000 to fund the inquiry through a crowdfunding campaign. Its longer-term ambition is to become what it calls “the new umbrella organisation for all combat sport,” giving fighters the same kind of support athletes in other sports already receive.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
