|
Video Shows Fatal Toughman Fight
POSTED: 12:26 p.m. EDT June 25, 2003
UPDATED: 5:37 p.m. EDT June 27, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A woman who died after entering a Toughman boxing match was hit repeatedly in the head even after she walked on wobbly legs to her corner to end the match, a videotape of the match shows.
The tape shows Stacy Young, a 30-year-old mother of two, taking several blows to the head and being unable to defend herself, the St. Petersburg Times reported in Wednesday's editions. The tape includes shouts from the crowd for the fight to stop.
Sarasota Police are investigating the fatal June 14 match. Young was declared brain dead two days after the match, which she'd entered on a whim and was the first time she'd ever boxed.
The Times reported the tape shows Young heading to the safety of her corner. Her opponent, 20-year-old Sarah Kobie, follows Young and throws three punches to Young's head.
Young collapsed and suffered a seizure in the ring, while her family -- including her young daughters -- watched from the audience.
Such a move wouldn't be allowed in a sanctioned amateur boxing match, but Toughman competitions play by their own rules. The matches are supposed to be illegal in Florida, but Toughman promoter Art Dore has continued to stage them because of loopholes in the state law.
Dore was the announcer at the Sarasota match, at one point calling the bout "a real cat fight," the videotape shows.
"Nasty women. Nasty women," Dore yelled over the public address system.
Dore did not return a call for comment Wednesday from his Bay City, Mich., headquarters.
The Times did not identify the source of the videotape, but reported that Sarasota police also have a copy.
Young was clearly outmatched from the opening bell, the newspaper reported. She tried to fight back, but her punches either fell short or failed to ward off Kobie. Toward the end of the third round, Young could no longer keep her hands up, the videotape shows.
Young was the fourth person to die in a Toughman bout in the last nine months. She is the first woman to be killed in the 24-year history of the competitions.
Kobie, who has an unlisted telephone number, could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Sarasota County commissioners voted Tuesday night to draft an ordinance to ban Toughman contests. The Toughman competition had been held in publicly owned Robarts Arena at the county fairgrounds.
"I think we ought to lead the way on this thing," said Commissioner David Mills. "I think a lot of people are looking to us to fix it."
A state lawmaker has also introduced legislation to close the loopholes that allowed Toughman competitions to be staged without meeting the same strict standards for referees and ringside doctors as amateur boxing matches. Lawmakers, however, are not likely to vote on that measure -- which would make it a felony to violate Florida's boxing laws -- soon.
Wednesday, the American College of Sports Medicine called on state and national lawmakers to demand safety standards and reform for Toughman-type boxing contests.
Robert C. Cantu, a head and neck injury specialist and chairman of the group's task force on boxing safety, said many who participate in Toughman events simply aren't trained to properly defend themselves against potentially fatal punches.
That situation is further exasperated by Toughman putting fighters with some experiences in the ring with novices and allowing untrained or inexperienced referees and fight doctors to monitor the match.
"Allowing mismatched people off the street to fight with no such safeguards we feel is deplorable," Cantu said. "Boxing is not something to be entered into lightly under any circumstances."
The doctors group said if Toughman competitions are to exist, they should be governed by the same rules of amateur boxing and include such safeguards as extensive medical exams for fighters and training standards for referees and fight doctors.
|