The safety of amateur boxing has been well documented. The 1998 National Safety Council ranked 71st in sports injuries, well below mainstream sports like wrestling, football, baseball, soccer and even bowling. Most of the negative publicity about the sport is centered around professional boxing, which in fact is much different than amateur boxing.
No other amateur sport takes more precautions in regards to safety than amateur boxing. Amateur boxers must recieve a physical examination before and after each competion and special protective equipment is mandatory for eacg competion. The primary objective of all amateur referees is the safety of the boxers. In addition, all competion gloves and headgear contain an exact combination of shock-absorbent foams to reduce the impact of the blow. Every possible precaution is taken to make amateur boxing safe.
Amateur boxing is a sport that rewards technical proficiency and the use of athleticism rather than the power of administering pain. For instance, the focus of amateur boxing is established on a point system where each technically correct punch is worth one point. Knockdowns are also worth just one point. The goal of each boxer is to score as many cumulative punches as possible, not take unnecessary punches in order to deliver one hard punch.

Amateur boxing is not about knocking your opponent out, in fact less than one percent of all amateur boxing contests end in that fashion.

The safety guidlines in amateur boxing compared to other sports makes amateur boxing seem rather tame. Over 20% of all highscholl players suffer at least one concussion per season. This represents over 450,000 concussions annually and usually 10 - 15 deaths in the sport of highschool football alone. Baseball is not far behind in that it has the distinction of having the highest fatality rate among all sports for children aged 5 - 14.

In a four-year period from 1986 - 1990, 16 baseball and softball deaths were reported by the US Consumer Products Safety Commision and over 325,000 baseball and softball-related injuries are reported by youths under the age of 15 every year. Soccer is not much better. According to the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, each year more than 207,000 soccer-related injuries to youths under the age of 15 require medical attention. This comes at a cost of more than $3,000,000.

The American Accademy of Orthopedic Surgeons also reported that girls' gymnastics has one of the highest injury rates with more than 79,000 gymnastics-related injuries to occur every year under the age of 15.

This same organization reports more than 78,000 hockey-related injuries to youths every year. Basketball accumulates over 565,000 injuries to youths under the age of 15, in-line skating over 103,000 injuries a year, and last, but not least, there are over 600,000 bicycle-related injuries every year in this country.

There are inevitable risks involved in any sport or activity, especially if the proper safety precautions are not established and adhered to. That is why amateur boxing's amateur governing body, USA Boxing, places such an ordinate amount of importance on following strict guidelines for saftey in training and competion.

For example, in tracking eight years of amateur boxing competion in the National Silver Gloves program for ages 8 - 15, which involved over 2,700 youngsters who boxed over 2,000 bouts and competed for nearly 6,000 rounds, not one significant injury was reported or required emergency medical care. That translates to eight years and no injuries. Compare that statistic to one season of highschool football and it is surprising to say the least.