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Headgear and larger gloves are little more than superficial protection. The purpose of headgear is to prevent cuts and abrasions usually caused by unintentional headbutts, not to prevent brain trauma. It does little to prevent the whiplash and sloshing of the brain that can lead to brain damage; Johns Hopkins University did a study on amateur boxers several years ago and they could measure noticeable mental deficiencies after a year of amateur fighting.
Nonetheless, it's still a voluntary sport that no one is forced into. It's up to each state to decide whether or not to sanction events that involve deliberate brain and spinal damage. Although I like boxing, the comparisions to potential injury in football and hockey are ridiculous. In neither of these sports is the goal to deliberately deal damage to one's opponent. The entire allure of boxing is its brutality and the understanding of the boxer that he may die or be impaired for life. While I would in no way call this heroism, it does make for one of the most exciting sports (and oldest) in the history of man. My only wish is that athletic commissions will stop fighters (i.e. Meldrick Taylor) from fighting regardless of what positive, but incomprehensive, medical exams tell them.
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