NZ Boxing Coach Slams Dan Hooker's Fight Event
The head of New Zealand's Boxing Coaches Association has labeled a tournament featuring 32 amateur pugilists competing against each other for a $50,000 prize as nothing but "brutality."
The competition known as "King of the Streets" is being championed by professional mixed martial artist Dan "Hangman" Hooker and has received support from UFC competitor Israel Adesanya.
The promotion for the event states that there are no professional participants and no weight restrictions, with contestants engaging in one-minute "brawls" using mixed martial arts gloves.
President of the association, Billy Meehan, stated Checkpoint It’s not actually boxing, despite what they’re calling it, and there are concerns that somebody could get severely injured.
Dan Hooker's 32-fighter bout described as 'pure brutality.' (7 min 51 sec)
The tournament appears to be linked to a social media influencer and links to an online gambling site.
On May 14th, Hooker uploaded a clip onto social media With MMA fighter and ex-UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya backing the event and urging folks to come with their whānau.
"Invite your family, invite your whānau, gather everybody, come watch, you might get stunned or stun someone completely," Adesanya stated.
In an additional clip uploaded on May 17th, Hooker mentioned that numerous combatants signed up, stating, "So if all of you want to bring your packages down, that'd be awesome. Hit me up then."
President of the NZ Boxing Coaches Association Billy Meehan told Checkpoint the event is a street scrap and should not be classified as boxing.
"The rules are a lot different, for starters we don't do one-minute rounds. You're saying to the guy in the corner get out and start smashing the other guy as best you can. Boxing is an art form; it's a sport and this is straight-out thuggery."
In professional Olympic-style boxing, competitors wear 10- or 12-ounce gloves, as opposed to the four-ounce gloves used in MMA, he explained.
What you have there is simply rough individuals causing chaos, literally pummelling one another. We might witness someone sustaining severe injuries, possibly even death.
To advertise a boxing event, organizers require a police permit, he stated.
There needs to be approval from an authorizing organization. They aren’t even promoting where this event is taking place, so clearly the authorities aren’t aware.
He mentioned that there is a set of rules outlined in the Boxing and Wrestling Act.
Various other rules and regulations include weight limits, weigh-ins, comprehensive medical examinations, blood tests, and the list continues.
Individuals capable of organizing boxing tournaments are indeed registered under the Wrestling and Boxing Act. Dan Hooker isn’t listed on the Wrestling and Boxing Act.
He mentioned that without weight classes for the bout, there's a significant risk of serious injury.
If you have a 70kg boxer facing off against a 120kg opponent, there’s quite a disparity in their weight. Someone could end up seriously injured.
What they're really telling both sides is to go out there and crash headlong into each other.
At an officially sanctioned Olympic-style boxing event, each participant needs to undergo a complete medical examination prior to competing, and medical professionals will be present at the venue, he mentioned.
We maintain a registration book where all details are logged. This includes your weight, personal records, and experiences. When you compete, matches are made based on comparable experience levels, with different weight classes as well.
He mentioned that these kinds of conflicts have been appearing across New Zealand.
A significant amount of this is beginning to occur. Others I'm aware of see it as an easy way to make money. Right now, we have another project kicking off; they're calling it Semi-pro. However, there isn’t really anything like that.
It’s simply barbaric; the main problem is that often the individuals stepping into the ring aren’t adequately prepared for it, nor are they properly paired up.
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