IBA KNOCKOUT RULE FLOUTED IN GUINEA AFRICA TOURNAMENT

International Boxing Association (IBA) knockout rule has been flouted in the ongoing Africa Youth Boxing Championships in Conakry, Guinea.

A Guinean boxer, Mammadou Dialo, was KO’d by Tunisia’s Hamza Khakri in the opening day session on May 20.

Hardly had the KO’d Guinean boxer rested, he was back in action the following day to face Ghana’s Desmond Pappoe.

And on Thursday, May 22, the same Guinean boxer Mammadou Dialo is in the ring again to face South Africa’s Sangoni Mighty.

Whichever way we look at it, this is gross misconduct on the part of the organisers.

An influential R&J, commenting on the issue, said a rest is a must after a boxer is knocked out because that’s a general IBA guideline for a boxer to have sufficient recovery period before resuming action. The rest can be for weeks or a month depending on the severity of the knockout and the boxer’s overall health as determined by a medical professional.

“My understanding most KOs come from heavy blows,” said the R&J, and went on: “Remember these are youth boxers not elite. If we damage them when still young it’s a shame. Even the round-robit format being applied because of low entry is not good health wise for the young boxers. Long back we used to have a decision of TKO which was removed to allow RSC because of the probation periods or rest period that’s why you see most results are RSC but if it’s a KO a rest period is needed even it can be days or a week but a rest is needed.”

IBA’s rule on a KO states: When the result of a bout is a KO or RSC, the Ringside Doctor must fill out and sign a Medical Bout Report.
1) The Ringside Doctor delivers the medical report to the Technical Delegate with a recommendation on how many days are prescribed and/or the protective sanitary measurers to be taken.
2) The Ringside Doctor must send a copy of the report to the IBA Head Office to upload the document in the IBA Database and sends it to the National Federation concerned.

The aforementioned IBA rule was not observed in the case of the Guinean boxer who was KO’d.

It will be interesting to see how the IBA reacts to this violation on the KO rule by the organisers of the eight-nation Africa Youth Boxing Championships in Conakry, Guinea