Japanese boxing officials said on Tuesday they would introduce urine tests, stricter rules on weight loss to prevent dehydration and improve medical cover at bouts following the deaths of two fighters.
The new measures were adopted during an emergency meeting of the Japan Pro Boxing Association (JPBA), the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) and gym owners on Tuesday.
It was convened after super featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, died days after brain surgery on injuries they sustained in separate bouts at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on August 2.
The exact cause of the boxers’ deaths is to be determined, but dehydration caused by cutting weight rapidly is regarded as a factor in making the brain more susceptible to bleeding, according to the World Boxing Asso