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How do you protect athletes in a sport that is dangerous by design?

It’s an uncomfortable question at the forefront of boxing after the death of two boxers in two days. On July 23, Maxim Dadashev, a 28-year-old Russian boxer, died four days after sustaining brain injuries in a light welterweight fight. Hugo Alfredo Santillán, a 23-year-old Argentine, died on July 25, five days after collapsing at the end of a lightweight fight.

Days later, at a gathering of the directors of state and tribal boxing commissions, our reporter, Scott Cacciola, said conversation topics ranged from concussion protocols to social media decorum. “But the discussions kept returning to a basic idea: Boxing is inherently dangerous, and fighters depend on the rules to prevent the worst possible injuries,” Cacciola wrote.

But rules can vary, as many fights are managed locally.

The responsibility falls on the organizers of the sport to protect the boxers in the ring, Mauricio Sulaiman, the president of the World Boxing Council, said in a speech at the meeting.