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震撼擂台夢：8年4起傷亡意外，民間拳擊賽安全防線怎麼守護？

As recreational boxing events proliferate in Taiwan, the sport’s growing appeal has outpaced consistent safety standards, leaving the prevention of avoidable injury dependent on organizers’ rigor, medical safeguards, and fighters’ honesty about their own risks.

The Reporter · By 藍婉甄 · 5 July 2026 · read the original in Chinese →

隨著台灣國手在國際拳擊賽上拿下好成績，國內娛樂性質的格鬥賽事掀起熱潮，拳擊運動成為許多人的新選擇，渴望一圓擂台夢。然而，今年（2026）5月的一起比賽事故──台北市一名拳擊新手參與賽事後，頭暈不適，就醫後身亡──讓拳擊運動的潛在風險再次受到關注。

As Taiwan’s national boxers have achieved strong results in international competition, entertainment-oriented combat-sport events at home have surged in popularity. Boxing has become a new choice for many people eager to fulfill a dream of stepping into the ring. Yet a competition accident this May, in which a novice boxer in Taipei felt dizzy and unwell after taking part in a bout and later died after seeking medical care, has again drawn attention to the sport’s latent risks.

不同於單項協會主辦的賽事受運動部監管，如雨後春筍頻繁舉辦的民間賽事並沒有統一、法定安全規範；各主辦單位在賽前及賽後體檢、醫療配置、選手保險等做法不一。在制度缺乏一致標準的情況下，賽事安全只能高度仰賴主辦單位自律，以及選手切勿抱持僥倖心態隱瞞傷病史，別讓可避免的風險演變成無法挽回的悲劇。

Unlike competitions organized by single-sport associations, which are overseen by the Ministry of Sports, the private events now springing up everywhere have no unified, legally mandated safety standards. Organizers vary in their practices on pre- and post-fight medical checks, medical staffing, and athlete insurance. In the absence of consistent institutional standards, event safety depends heavily on organizers’ self-discipline, and on fighters not taking chances by concealing injury or illness histories, lest avoidable risks become irreversible tragedies.

A square ring is enclosed by ropes. At ringside, fighters warm up dynamically, shadowbox, and hit heavy bags; staff announcements mingle with the chatter of spectators. Competitors wait to climb up from the red and blue corners they represent, put in their mouthguards, and, at the referee’s call of “Box!”, the bout begins. On a weekend in late June, two events, the National Elite Boxing League and “Rise of the Boxing Soul: Battle of Evolution,” took place at the same time, with more than 60 sets of fighters competing in Taichung and Taipei.

The current flourishing of boxing matches is also possible because any venue or organization can hold a competition, using it to raise the venue’s profile while giving students of all levels a place to compete. They are no longer limited to formal competitions run by single-sport associations, which are only for top athletes; widely held competitions can increase motivation to learn.

UFC GYM coach Yang Meng-yen believes that the strong performances of Taiwan’s national boxing team in international events in recent years have also driven a rapid increase in the number of learners. “Starting in 2021, when Huang Hsiao-wen won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, and especially after Lin Yu-ting’s gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, boxing drew more attention. In the past, morning group classes had only about four or five students. Now there are almost always more than ten.”

Yet as more and more people enter boxing gyms and grow eager to test themselves in the ring, the risks of boxing have again come under scrutiny: are all these rapidly multiplying boxing events truly prepared to protect their fighters? How can accidental injury and death be prevented?

Twenty-seven-year-old Yang Min-hung took part in the first competition of his life two years ago, entering the novice division of the kickboxing category at the MPF Muay Thai Elite Tournament. At the time, he had been studying combat sports such as Muay Thai and kickboxing for about two years, and despite being busy with work and raising a child, he still trained three to five days a week.

“He looked very big,” Yang Min-hung said of his opponent, recalling that he was inevitably nervous. “I told myself to focus on the fight.” He remembers that at the weigh-in the day before the bout, he had kept his actual weight below the limit for his division in order to qualify. His opponent, however, appeared to have made weight through severe dehydration, so that by the time they formally entered the ring the next day, the opponent’s weight had already rebounded and he was clearly heavier than Yang.

After the fight, Yang Min-hung vaguely felt unwell. A medical examination found a fracture in a rib on his left side.

Injuries of this kind are not uncommon in combat-sport events, but usually only severe injuries or deaths make the news. From 2019 to 2026, as boxing competitions boomed, Taiwan saw at least four major boxing-event accidents. Most of the injured or deceased fighters were in their twenties or thirties, and most were beginners.

After the boxing accident involving a Tamkang University student, the Chinese Taipei Boxing Association issued a statement saying that all events organized by the association insure athletes with at least NT$3 million in public accident coverage, NT$1 million to NT$2 million in travel accident insurance, and at least NT$1 million in specific-activity insurance, and that qualified referees, physicians, nurses, and others are always assigned to events.

But with so many boxing events now being held, do all of them follow the same standards?

In 2022, after a fighter died following his participation in the “Big Fist Boxing Friendly Match,” prosecutors charged the organizer, surnamed Ting, with negligent homicide. According to the second-instance judgment, Ting argued that he operated a private boxing club and was not affiliated with the International Boxing Association or the Chinese Taipei Boxing Association, and therefore did not need to follow international boxing rules. The event had prepared more protective helmets and gloves, required fighters to provide statements on their physical condition, and assigned an A-level referee; as the organizer, he argued, he had provided sufficient alternative safety measures.

Ting said that the fighter surnamed Hu had suffered a subdural hemorrhage from an old injury sustained during practice two weeks before the competition, and that there had been no abnormality by the day of the fight. Even if a ringside physician had been present to conduct a pre-fight physical examination, the injury might not necessarily have been detected, and the physician might still have allowed the fighter to compete. Moreover, a ringside physician can only handle obvious external injuries; if a fighter has intracranial bleeding or impaired consciousness, the only option remains emergency transport to a hospital. In that accident, an ambulance was called about five minutes after the victim left the ring, so the absence of a ringside physician did not cause a delay.

The judgment also stated that even if a physician judged that the fighter had no obvious symptoms and cleared him to compete, a ringside physician, aware of the fighter’s medical history, would have closely watched the entire bout and checked his condition during the breaks between rounds, creating a chance to prevent the fighter’s death. Ting was therefore sentenced to six months in prison.

KOBA analyzes that most boxing gyms and private events are not large in scale and can hardly recoup costs through ticket sales. To avoid dampening fighters’ willingness to enter, only limited costs can be passed on through registration fees. For organizers, after deducting venue, labor, equipment, and administrative expenses, the benefit of holding a competition often amounts to little more than brand exposure.

But higher-grade safety measures entail enormous costs in money and time. He gives an example: even without an ambulance on site, most competitions can still be held as usual; with an ambulance, costs may be five times higher. In addition, boxing is often listed by insurers as an exclusion from coverage. If organizers want to raise the level of insurance, premiums can differ by more than tenfold. “I’ve even encountered refusals to insure. Then I can only look for another company. If none of them will insure it, I definitely won’t hold the competition,” KOBA said.

Chang Chien-kai believes that besides an event’s safety mechanisms, referee experience is also crucial to protecting fighters.

“If a referee is relatively inexperienced, sometimes they may not even be able to identify fouls,” Chang said. Referee experience does affect risk judgment. When he officiates, especially with beginners, he applies a more conservative standard. Some novice fighters are afraid to throw punches or close their eyes. “We pretty much know in our hearts that we need to protect them.” If a fighter suffers two heavy blows in succession and cannot defend effectively, Chang will usually stop the bout early to prevent the harm from worsening.

Under the International Boxing Association’s rules on “protective measures and suspension periods,” when a boxer is knocked out (KO) or the referee stops the contest because of heavy blows to the head (RSC), the fighter must enter a mandatory suspension period to protect physical and brain health. During the suspension period, the fighter is prohibited from punching movements or sparring, must comply with the Graduated Return to Boxing Programme (GRTP), and may return to the ring only after a physician’s examination and certificate.

Standards for suspension determinations:停賽判定標準：

- Single KO or RSC: If a fighter is knocked down by a heavy blow to the head, or is diagnosed by the ringside physician with a concussion, the fighter must be suspended for 30 days.

- Two KOs or RSCs: If a fighter is knocked down twice within three months because of heavy blows to the head, or has the bout stopped by the referee (RSC), or is diagnosed by a physician with a concussion, the fighter may not compete for 30 days after the second knockdown.

- Three KOs or RSCs: If a fighter is knocked down three times within 12 months because of heavy blows to the head, or has the bout stopped by the referee (RSC), or is diagnosed by a physician with a concussion, the fighter may not compete for one year after the third knockdown.

- If a boxer is knocked down by a heavy blow to the head, or the bout is stopped by the referee, but the ringside physician diagnoses “no” concussion, then even if the ringside physician believes a suspension is necessary, the boxer may refuse to accept it.

The Graduated Return to Boxing Programme, taking a 30-day suspension period as an example: - Stage 0: complete rest, 24 to 48 hours.

- Stage 1: return to school, work, and other daily activities that do not trigger symptoms.- 第 1 階段：回到學校或工作崗位等，不引發症狀的日常活動

- Stage 2: light aerobic exercise, such as jogging or stationary cycling, with maximum heart rate below 70%; muscular endurance training is prohibited.

- Stage 3: boxing-specific exercise, such as shadowboxing, jump rope, and interval running.

- Stage 4: non-contact skill training, such as heavy-bag work and pad work.

- Stage 5: contact training may begin only after examination and assessment by a physician.

- Stage 6: return to competition, no earlier than the 35th day after injury.

At each stage, the fighter must remain symptom-free for 24 hours before advancing to the next stage; if discomfort appears, the fighter must return to the previous stage and start again.

Even with a ringside physician present, however, it is difficult to immediately detect old injuries such as concussion. Lin Hsing-ching explains that most private events currently ask fighters before competition to confirm whether they have chronic illnesses, whether they are pregnant, and to have their blood pressure measured, among other things. Concussion also cannot be ruled out by a single test or image. If fighters do not honestly disclose their injury and illness histories, physicians can only use the SCAT-6 scale to assess risk; but constrained by procedural pressure and cost, it is very difficult to implement in practice at the event site.

On the other hand, symptoms of concussion or brain injury do not necessarily appear immediately and have no typical presentation. They may also overlap with discomfort caused by overtraining, dieting, and weight cutting. Lin Hsing-ching said:另一方面，腦震盪或腦傷症狀不一定會立即出現，也沒有典型表現，還可能與選手過度訓練、節食減重等不適感重疊。林杏青說：

“I once heard a fighter share that a teammate from the gym suddenly became very high after leaving the ring. There was no dizziness, no headache. But later, after examination, there really was a concussion.”「曾聽選手分享，拳館的隊友下場後突然間變得很嗨，沒有頭暈，也沒有頭痛。結果後來檢查，真的有腦震盪。」

Lin Hsing-ching adds that dazedness, confusion, repeated questioning, slower responses, restlessness, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to noise, and even emotional changes may all be signs of concussion. The companionship and observation of people around the fighter are crucial.

“Through all kinds of educational channels, fighters must be made to understand that concealing cardiovascular or neurocranial disease carries risks.”「必須透過各種不同的教育管道讓選手知道，隱藏自己的心血管、腦神經疾病會有風險。」

But under the current situation, which relies on fighters to self-report their injury histories and training experience, Lin Hsing-ching admits, “Many people sign up for a competition because they want to fight. Fighters may face pressure from coaches, peers, and organizers... Most people probably just think, ‘It won’t be that bad, right?’” Some fighters, after losing, are so emotional that they refuse to cooperate with post-fight examinations.

Chang Chien-kai has officiated in-house competitions at boxing gyms where not only the referee roster and medical team were upgraded to a high standard, but registration fees were waived to prevent fighters from feeling pressure to compete. Yet when a fighter’s pulse was too fast and the organizer required temporary observation, warning that otherwise the fighter could not enter the ring, the fighter reacted unhappily and said that he was “fine.” Chang said bluntly: “It is not about whether you can. If something happens, who is responsible?”

KOBA says that in events he plans, if a fighter’s pre-fight blood pressure is elevated, the organizers make a special note of it and instruct the referee to enforce the rules strictly and stop the bout when appropriate. “The fighter may protest or get angry. That’s fine. A refund is fine too.”

Lin Hsing-ching has both medical expertise and ten years of jiu-jitsu competition experience. He believes that, given the combined limits of practice and medicine, educating fighters and coaches to raise risk awareness is more useful than arranging rigorous screening:

“Usually the person who observes a fighter most is the coach. If there is any change in the fighter’s personality, temper, or cognition, the coach will notice first. If the coach can recognize that ‘it’s better not to force the fight; the career ahead will be longer,’ the fighter is more likely to listen to the coach.”

Coach Yang Meng-yen began boxing in the first year of junior high school and has now been in the sport for more than 20 years. He was once a youth national boxer and a sparring partner on the training squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He won three consecutive University Cup titles and placed multiple times at the National Games. After shoulder surgery in 2021, he retired. He now teaches at a fitness center, leads adult fighters into competition, and serves as an external coach at Taipei Municipal Bailing High School.

In Yang Meng-yen’s experience, managing adult fighters is very different from managing student fighters.

Student fighters attend classes and train at school during the week, allowing coaches to observe their physical condition and training performance over the long term. Students are also more likely to confide in coaches, so training content can be adjusted in a timely way. Adult students each have family, work, and life pressures. They may be able to train only one to three times a week, and their diet and schedule are harder to control. Thus, beyond technical training, coaches need even more interaction with adult students to understand their ordinary living conditions and prevent sports injuries from accumulating.

A student’s mentality is also important. “If a student has poor emotional control, is unwilling to accept instruction, or even turns boxing into fighting, it is easy to injure themselves or others,” Yang Meng-yen said. If he has such a student, then even if the student badly wants to compete, he will clearly explain the reason and dissuade them from entering.

For this reason, when some adult students train at several boxing gyms at the same time, or train at an irregular frequency, and then ask him to serve as their corner coach, Yang Meng-yen will choose to decline, despite the pressure of personal relationships, because he cannot fully grasp the person’s health and training condition.

Judging from several major boxing accidents in recent years, are beginners more prone to accidents?

KOBA agrees that novice fighters generally do not know how to control their force and often “charge in foolishly.” But “no one starts out as a veteran,” and beginners are usually more willing and enthusiastic about competing than experienced fighters. “This issue has to come back to the organizers. If you want to popularize combat sports, you have to put in more work.” He notes, for example, that office workers may have hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, or chronic illnesses, making them more fragile than teenagers. Under Japanese amateur-event rules, competitors aged 35 and above are treated the same as adolescents: as people who particularly need protection.

Fighters must also recognize that every sport carries risks. “If you play ball or run a marathon today, you might suffer heat exhaustion. Can you bear that risk?” KOBA said.

After suffering a rib fracture in his first competition, Yang Min-hung returned to the ring only five months later, then won his second and third bouts in succession. In fact, after gaining the advantage and noticing that his opponent was clearly exhausted, he chose “not to pursue” in order to protect the other fighter.

Yang Min-hung said that after being injured in his first fight, he reexamined his training methods and sports safety, then pursued further study and obtained a coaching certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He believes that for beginners, beyond technical training, improving physical conditioning is also extremely important. “Technical training tells you how to defend, but in reality, can your body withstand your opponent’s attacks?”

“If you lose once or twice, you still have a chance to win again. But if you suffer all kinds of injuries, there may be no next time,” Yang Min-hung wrote in a recent post reflecting on the latest boxing accident, drawing considerable resonance. He stressed that many amateur combat-sport enthusiasts compete in order to “prove their ability,” but protecting one’s own safety is far more important than pursuing a title. There is no shame in admitting defeat or withdrawing when physically unwell: “A person’s judgment about whether they can continue a competition is absolutely more worthy of pride than winning or maiming an opponent.” Seeking truth in depth, walking together with many voices.

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