American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians (AAPRP)
(http://aaprp.org/) issued a statement Thursday, June 18, calling for
the June 20 heavyweight title boxing match between Wladimir Klitschko
and Ruslan Chagaev to be postponed "due to medical safety issues".
Wladimir Klitschko
The reason is clear and simple, as the May 30 WBA title fight between
Ruslan Chagaev and Nikolai Valuev was cancelled because Chagaev had
tested positive for the hepatitis B antigen. That fight was scheduled
to take place in Helsinki, Finland, and most places around the world
which host major boxing events do not permit fighters with this
dangerous and infectious disease to compete.
The Klitschko-Chagaev fight, however, is scheduled to take place in
Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, and the authorities in
charge of this fight have far less comprehensive medical requirements
for fighters than those in North America, the UK, and much of the rest
of the world do.
The AAPRP statement refutes what they say has been some of the
misinformation widely circulated in the media about the dangers of
hepatitis B, and what is being proposed for the safety measures for
this fight.
While this fight is being held in Germany, boxing is an international
sport, and the fight will be telecast in the US on ESPN Classic. It is
also for a series of heavyweight belts, including that of the American-
based The Ring magazine, whose parent company, Sports and
Entertainment Publications, LLC, is a subsidiary of Golden Boy
Enterprises, whose president is the famed boxer and now promoter,
Oscar De La Hoya. So there is much interest in this fight in America,
and especially in an organization like AAPRP.
We also discussed this issue at length on my podcast, No Holds Barred,
with Dr. Joseph Estwanik, who serves on the AAPRP Board of Directors.
You can play or download that edition of No Holds Barred at
http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2009-06-16T14_28_53-07_00. You can
also download that edition of No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?dtanmmchmyg.
The AAPRP web site is at http://aaprp.org . Here is the full text of
their statement:
As it has been reported that Mr. Ruslan Chagaev has tested positive
for the Hepatitis B Virus, the American Association of Professional
Ringside Physicians (the “AAPRP”) is recommending that the proposed
contest between Mr. Ruslan Chagaev and Mr. Vladimir Klitschko be
postponed due to medical safety issues. The AAPRP also recommends that
this fight not take place and suggests that Mr. Chagaev not be
permitted to fight (anyone) until, and unless, he can demonstrate a
"negative hepatitis status.
In several recent media accounts, it has been stated that Mr. Chagaev
has a “low hepatitis B viral load” and therefore poses “no risk” of
transmitting this dangerous virus. The AAPRP disagrees with this
assertion. Although the risk of transmission of the Hepatitis B Virus
may be minimal, the risk is not zero. Additionally, given the fact
that Hepatitis B is a very virulent virus and easily transmitted, it
is even more important to be prudent in order to not only protect Mr.
Chagaev’s opponent, but also the referee, judges, sanctioning body
officials, cornermen, ringside physicians and ringside observers who
may be at risk of contracting this dangerous virus. As boxing is
obviously considered a “blood sport”, it is very common for blood to
splatter on the individuals immediately adjacent at ringside. The
conjunctiva (eye) route of transfer for this virus is well
documented....so any person seated at ringside, who is not immunized,
may be at risk.
Furthermore, statistics suggest that if Mr. Chagaev were to share
needles with another individual, the transmission rate of Hepatitis B
could be as high as 30%. If blood from a cut on Mr. Chagaev were to
come into direct contact with a cut on another fighter, the
transmission rate could be as high as 10%. Should blood squirt from
Mr. Chagaev and hit another individual in the eye (i.e. Judge,
referee, cornerman or media) the transmission rate could be as high as
5%. Therefore, the risk is obviously greater than zero and could put
others at ringside (beside his opponent) at risk for acquiring this
virus.
Unless everyone at ringside (Judges, referees, ringside physicians,
commission members, sanctioning body officials, trainers, cornermen,
media reporters, ring girls, television technicians, spectators and of
course the fighters opponent) has documented immunity to Hepatitis B
(a three shot hepatitis immunity vaccination series given over a 6
month period with a subsequent documented blood test confirming
immunity), protection against exposure to this dangerous virus cannot
be guaranteed. Finally, if bleeding does occur, the individuals
responsible for cleaning the ring as well as those handling the gloves
must also be immune to minimize the risk as well.
The American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians considers
safety our number one priority and will work with local and
international commissions to insure that all precautions are taken to
protect all individuals involved in professional boxing.
For more information, please contact the AAPRP.
See you at the Fights.
Thanks for your time.
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©®™2007, 2008 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick Morrisey for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved
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