{"id":14583,"date":"2025-07-22T23:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T23:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/14583\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T23:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T23:32:09","slug":"coroner-wants-tougher-controls-on-boxing-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/14583\/","title":{"rendered":"Coroner wants tougher controls on boxing events"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Adam Burns\u00a0of RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n

A coroner is calling for legislation to control corporate boxing events after a Christchurch man\u00a0died\u00a0after receiving 30 blows to the head in a charity bout.<\/p>\n

Coroner Heather McKenzie’s findings and recommendations following Kain Parson’s death comes as the government considers repealing law governing the sport.<\/p>\n

The coroner’s 140-page report, released today, is almost seven years after the death in 2018 as a result of severe head injuries sustained during the Fight for Christchurch event.<\/p>\n

Parsons’ family had previously\u00a0called for corporate boxing to be banned\u00a0and, while their view has not changed, they largely support the coroner’s recommendations for tougher controls.<\/p>\n

McKenzie recommended a review of legislative controls around corporate boxing, including the need for a specialist body to govern such events, as well as a review of certain rules of the sport itself.<\/p>\n

In November 2018, Parsons took part in the charity boxing event at Wolfbrook Arena, then known as Horncastle Arena.<\/p>\n

In the first round, he was given three standing eight counts. Less than a minute into the second round, he was knocked to the canvas and the bout was called off.<\/p>\n

Parsons was taken to hospital, but died four days later.<\/p>\n

His widow, Alana Parsons, described her husband as someone willing to give anything a go.<\/p>\n

“Family was everything to him,” she said.<\/p>\n

“He was a guy who would drop his hat and do anything for anyone. He was always willing to give a hand to anyone out there.<\/p>\n

“He loved to give anything a go. He enjoyed his outdoor sports – freediving and mountain biking.”<\/p>\n

The coroner found Parsons sustained almost 30 blows to the head in less than three minutes.<\/p>\n

‘Living in a dark age’<\/p>\n

A boxing expert told the inquiry the fight should have been called off earlier – a view echoed by Parsons’ father-in-law Pete Benny.<\/p>\n

Dr Benny told RNZ his son-in-law was let down by an “old-fashioned and outdated” corporate boxing culture.<\/p>\n

“Each of those 29 or 30 punches would’ve been enough to pull someone out of a rugby match for a head injury assessment,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re living in a dark age if we continue corporate boxing as it is now.”<\/p>\n

Coroner McKenzie found there was insufficient evidence as to whether referee Kevin Pyne should have called the fight off earlier, or whether he was right to allow it to continue.<\/p>\n

“I have made a finding that Mr Pyne could have taken further, more focused available steps to assess Mr Parsons’ ability to continue the match after the third standing eight count.”<\/p>\n

However, she recommended the standing eight count test undergo a review as to whether it was fit for purpose.<\/p>\n

Alana Parsons said participants needed to be provided with better information about the risks.<\/p>\n

“They signed a waiver at the beginning before any of the training occurred. It lists it, but it’s a piece of paper given to anyone really. It’s not informed enough,” she said.<\/p>\n

The coroner held a similar view and suggested more accessible education for participants and consent waivers be signed closer to scheduled fights – similar to rules for pre-fight medical assessments.<\/p>\n

When preparing for the fight, Parsons took a two-week break from training, partly due to a possible concussion during sparring.<\/p>\n

Benny said his son-in-law was not sure of who to report that to.<\/p>\n

“He was asymptomatic at the time, but he didn’t report that because he didn’t think he needed to. There were no rules and regulations to do that.”<\/p>\n

McKenzie suggested an agreed process for the reporting of actual and suspected head injuries.<\/p>\n

The charity boxing event was officiated under the rules and regulations of the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association (NZPBA).<\/p>\n

Interim president Jo Gallagher said the association welcomed the coroner’s recommendations and its rules and regulations were under review.<\/p>\n

“We’ve made headgear compulsory on all corporate boxing events, this is not a consistent rule across other sanctioning bodies,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We have a notice of motion on the table for our upcoming AGM about pre-fight medicals the day before a event. We’re looking at what that looks like going forward.”<\/p>\n

This could include mandatory consultations with GPs when participants are training, Gallagher said.<\/p>\n

The NZPBA has also asked both participants and trainers to disclose any possible concussions during sparring.<\/p>\n

Proposal to repeal ‘outdated’ Boxing and Wrestling Act\u00a0<\/p>\n

The government has proposed repealing the Boxing and Wresting Act.<\/p>\n

Coroner McKenzie recommended a review of the legislation to specifically consider how corporate boxing was regulated, including whether a single central body was needed.<\/p>\n

“The specific context of corporate boxing includes relatively novice fighters participating in a specialised sport generally known to carry inherent risks and as such subject to a legislative regime.”<\/p>\n

Under the act, there were 32 organisations registered under the Department of Internal Affairs to run corporate boxing events.<\/p>\n

Gallagher endorsed repealing the act.<\/p>\n

“There needs to be clearer expectation, processing and reporting protocols in all areas of our sport, not just in the sanctioning and officiating. There absolutely needs to be an overhaul.”<\/p>\n

Kain Parsons’ family felt potential changes to the law were critical, but would ultimately be too late.<\/p>\n

“I hope everyone pulls together collaboratively to give the best rules and protections of the fighters,” Benny said.<\/p>\n

“I hope corporate boxing is seen as a separate element because it’s so different, and they’re able to define the duty of care to each fighter and put in sanctions if that duty of care is not fulfilled.”<\/p>\n

In a statement, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said any death from combat sports was an “avoidable tragedy that nobody wants to see happen in New Zealand”.<\/p>\n

“My thoughts are with Mr Parsons’ family and friends during this difficult time.”<\/p>\n

The act stipulated amateur and professional fights required a police permit, but did not cover other combat sports including mixed martial arts.<\/p>\n

The proposal to repeal the 44-year-old legislation was because it was outdated and too narrow, van Velden said.<\/p>\n

“It is preferable to have one clear and modern legislative framework for all combat sports.<\/p>\n

“Sport New Zealand are the lead co-ordinating agency considering current issues with combat sports including a potential government response, and DIA was supporting them with this along with other relevant agencies.”<\/p>\n

The repeal of the act will proceed to select committee later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By\u00a0Adam Burns\u00a0of RNZ A coroner is calling for legislation to control corporate boxing events after a Christchurch man\u00a0died\u00a0after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-14583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}