BBBC must recover from all-time low

The British Boxing Board of Control faces a long haul to pick itself up from the lowest point in its 70-year history following the announcement that it has gone into administration.

The British Boxing Board of Control faces a long haul to pick itself up from the lowest point in its 70-year history following the announcement that it has gone into administration.

The BBBC has overseen the toughest of professions since 1929. But yesterday the news was broken that it had found itself placed into administration on the very day secretary John Morris retired after nearly 14 years in office.

The road back to health will obviously be a tortuous one, but the BBBC must hope it starts here.

The non profit-making board was forced on to the ropes by the Michael Watson judgment in September, in which the boxer won an historic claim for compensation which - it is believed - could amount to £1million, while costs from the case may settle at least £300,000.

The BBBC has an appeal in place against the court's ruling, but the administrators' "primary purpose" is to "achieve the survival of the board as the regulatory body in professional boxing in Great Britain".

It would appear to be a precautionary measure should the appeal fail, and the board will continue business as normal at least for the meantime.

Even if the appeal fails it is impossible to imagine boxing will not be similarly controlled afterwards.

Should the board lose its biggest fight, it surely would be revived with all the same regulations which are one of the strictest sets of rules in the world. Boxing simply must have an overlord.

Since Watson won his case, the board has been sitting on this particular time-bomb.

He suffered brain damage during his WBO super-middleweight title fight against Chris Eubank at White Hart Lane in September 1991.

Watson was stopped in the final round of a titanic fight and collapsed in his corner, and it was revealed in the High Court case that there was a 28-minute delay before he received treatment - 14 minutes before being stretchered out of the ring and 14 minutes before he received resuscitation at the North Middlesex Hospital.

Mr Justice Ian Kennedy ruled that the board was liable for the fighter's brain damage and that Watson would have made a good recovery if an on-the-spot doctor skilled in specialist emergency treatment had been at ringside.

Afterwards, the board overhauled its safety procedures, including the presence of an ambulance and paramedics at fight venues and the availability of full resuscitation equipment at ringside with fully trained personnel.

The board - to be represented in administration by national accountancy group Hacker Young and Partners - is recognised throughout the world and by all Government departments in Britain, even though it has received no charter and is a self-appointed body.

The control of boxing in this country began with the formation of the National Sporting Club in 1891.

In May 1928, a special meeting authorised the board to be formed on January 1 1929, and the complete jurisdiction was firmly established. By 1933, the NSC ceased to exist as a controlling body.

The board, run by eight area councils, has received praise from federations and commissions in many countries on the way the sport is administered in Britain.