Title: 
Another Controversial Decision for

Word Count:
537

Summary:
Boxing is undoubtedly a very popular 

yet controversial sport that has a    

  worldwide following.  This article 

talks about other issues encountered 

by     boxers  such as prohibited 

drugs for pain relief. The latest 

controversy      involves the just 

recent fight between Mayweather and 

Hatton.


Keywords:
pain relief 


Article Body:
Gnarled knuckles. Mangled fingers. 

Lame handshakes. Sore and swollen 

wrists. They are the signatures of 

battle commonly found on the hands of 

boxers and Floyd Mayweather knows the 

pain all too well. Mayweather, a fast 

and explosive boxer dances and 

pounces at the boxing ring better 

than most top caliber fighters in the 

ring. As the owner of the Junior 

Welterweight title, Mayweather has 

most pundits calling him, pound for 

pound, 2005's best boxer.

Born on February 24, 1977, in Grand 

Rapids, Michigan, Floyd Jr. has 

boxing in his blood. His father, 

Floyd Sr., fought Sugar Ray Leonard 

in the late '70s, while his uncle 

Roger was a Junior Lightweight and 

Super Lightweight champion. It was no 

surprise then, that Floyd Jr. showed 

an aptitude for boxing from a very 

young age.

When he had received enough training 

from his dad and uncle, Floyd entered 

the world of amateur boxing as an 

adolescent. Fighting at 126 pounds, 

Mayweather put together an amazing 

84-6 record as an amateur, winning 

Golden Gloves championships in 1993, 

1994, and 1996. Mayweather made the 

Olympic team in 1996 and at the 

Atlanta Olympics, he beat boxers from 

Kazakhstan, Armenia and Cuba before 

falling to a Bulgarian in a highly 

controversial semi-final bout. 

Mayweather had to settle for the 

bronze medal.

Last December 9, Mayweather Jr. 

defeated Great Britain's Ricky Hatton 

in the 10th round of their World 

Boxing Council welterweight title 

fight in Las Vegas.

During pre-bout interviews, 

Mayweather has repeatedly denied that 

his hands might cause him a problem. 

Hatton himself is concerned that 

Mayweather may use his hands as an 

excuse if he loses his title.   

However, his camp agreed that the 

priority was to prevent the American 

from any illegal advantage using the 

controversial pain relief medication. 

The Hattons maintained their focus on 

this issue at another prebout meeting 

when they wanted to ensure that 

Mayweather would not be able to 

protect his hands with an unfair use 

of tape and lidocaine.

However, the Mayweathers are unhappy 

that lidocaine has been specifically 

identified as a drug that cannot be 

used. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic 

(numbing medication). It produces 

pain relief by blocking the signals 

at the nerve endings in the skin. 

Lidocaine topical systems are used 

for pain relief and for managing 

discomfort associated with herpes 

zoster virus infection of the skin 

(shingles).

Mayweather’s hand problems have been 

long documented but they resurfaced 

in an edition of a television 

documentary that showed the boxer 

having a wax paraffin treatment and 

quietly acknowledging the issue. 

However, with all the controversy and 

trash talks that surrounded their 

title bout, Mayweather still managed 

to beat his opponent.

Fight veterans such as Mayweather and 

Hatton, have struggled over the years 

to keep their hands healthy, a 

problem that is shared by many 

boxers. Some of those fighters are 

resorting to expensive pain relief 

drugs and, if necessary, undergo an 

intricate surgical procedure to 

restore the strength of their hands.  

While the boxers try to explore all 

options to remove pain from their 

bread-winning hands and knuckles, 

boxing officials are still in hot 

debate about whether existing rules 

should be changed regarding the use 

of anesthetics in a sport that has 

been hounded by drug and steroid 

scandals for many years.