Medical and public health aspects of boxing.

In recent years, an extensive medical literature has accumulated regarding the health hazards associated with boxing. As the evidence that boxing produces irreversible brain damage in boxers has become more compelling, physicians have begun to consider the larger issue of whether the sport is acceptable in its present form. This has resulted in a number of proclamations concerning boxing by various representatives of the medical community, which have both added information to and fueled the public debate over boxing. This article seeks to review the relevant medical literature concerning the health effects of boxing; to look at the contributions made in the last few years by the medical community to the public debate over boxing; and to suggest ways in which the objectives of the medical professional concerning boxing can best be achieved.