Patching up the gladiators

Interesting profile in today's NY Times on the men who keep boxers going:

He works furiously in the 60 seconds between rounds to repair the damage a boxer absorbs. A good cut man can stop any bleeding and have his fighter ready to return to the ring when the bell sounds. If the cut man cannot stop the bleeding, the referee may stop the fight.

Few cut men are as good at getting fighters ready to go at the bell as Al Gavin. "Al Gavin is the best cut man in the business," said John Beninati, a boxing matchmaker . . . "I've seen fights stopped on cuts that Al could have taken care of." Gavin has worked with fighters like De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis and Micky Ward, but he is still relatively unknown outside boxing circles. . .

All cut men use coagulants like thrombin and avitene to stem blood flow. They will coat a fighter's face in Vaseline to prevent abrasions and use Q-tips, gauze, ice bags and a flat rectangular tool called an enswell to reduce swelling.

But the great cut men watch a fight closely and can tell what kinds of cuts are coming their way. They must calm a fighter in the corner to reduce his heart rate and the flow of blood. And, most important, they must know how and where to apply pressure to a cut to stop the bleeding.

Posted by David on June 16, 2003 10:16 PM