They call boxing "The Sweet Science." And to say that a fighter, a real fighter, thinks about death or injury before a match just proves that you don't understand the mentality of the sport.

Fighters are the modern day warriors, the Ronin of their time. To go into a fight thinking about injury or defeat is to give away the mental advantage. Sure boxing is a extremely physical sport, but to win you must be able to out-think you're opponent, make adjustments in style, and exploit the weaknesses you discover.

Logically, any sport where the object and desired goal is to knock-out your adversary by striking him in the head can open Pandora's box and injury can be the result. But real fighters don't envision that their rival will end up permanently damaged or dead.

Boxing is not tennis, or bowling, but is an excessively physical confrontational sport of aggression. It's not a team sport! It's one on one, with the victor the one that's still standing when the bell rings.

I think that many pioneers of the sport have made many leaps and bounds when it comes to safety issues in boxing. We are light-years beyond the bare-knuckled brawls of the turn on the century.

Fighters are required to have a license to box, this requires a physical to ensure that they have no injuries or medical problems that may cause them to be hurt needlessly.

And they are drug tested to ensure they are not taking substances that would give them an unfair advantage in the contest.

Many referees have been criticized when stopping fights too soon, but I applaud these guardians for the role they play in protecting the fighters from themselves.

A true warrior of the "Squared Circle" will fight on even when their bodies are failing and common sense is overshadowed by the desire to win.

Even though I believe that many important steps have been taken to ensure the safety of the fighters, I believe there are several more that have yet to be acted on. Such as a national unified set of rules that would not be negotiable, and that every boxing commission in every state would have to abide by.

Also I believe that in all sports their exists a certain amount of corruption, and I believe the governing bodies of the boxing federations are inept and shady and I think they should be accountable just like the CEO of a corporation would be accountable.

I think if a few of these bribe-taking, mismatch promoting , ego maniacs were fined or even jailed, that you would see an immediate improvement in the ratings and match-ups.

Another things I have always believed is that thumb-less gloves would also help with the safety concerns when it comes to eye injuries. And I believe that heavier pads should be worn below the belt to further protect the fighters, although this would slightly hinder the movements of the fighters it would ultimately prevent those types of fouls.

I believe changing the maximum rounds to 12 instead of 15 was a good decision and I believe that it has probably prevented many serious injuries caused by over-fatigued fighters pushing their bodies beyond reasonable endurance.

It's been suggested that head-gear like they use in the amateurs be required, but I'm not sure that I would endorse that idea. I believe that fighters who wear head-gear would suffer from limited peripheral vision, and every boxing enthusiast knows that the blows that really devastate are the one's you don't see.

In conclusion, I am not naïve enough to believe that boxing is completely safe, and even though many steps have been taken in the direction of safety, there are several more important one's that have been left unfulfilled because of the arrogance and squabbling between the major boxing organizations.

The only real way that these important innovations will ever be implemented is through intervention by law makers requiring compliance to federally mandated regulations.

So far, egotism and power struggles within the governing bodies of boxing have left fighters susceptible to harm and when they all finally decide to put their differences aside and really respect the sport of boxing, this sport will truly be "The Sport Of Kings."