Boxing, Paternalism, and Legal Moralism

Abstract

The article discusses various issues related to the effects of boxing on boxers. Many studies show that prohibiting boxing restricts people's actions, not their access to ideas. The most obvious rationale for restricting boxing is to protect boxers from harm. A study finds that most boxers will suffer from irreversible brain damage, and brain damage is the most direct way to reduce a person's autonomy. The study also shows that boxers' ignorance of the full extent of the dangers of prizefighting will not persuade the liberal to support prohibition.