LAS VEGAS – Eddie Mustafa Muhammad is one of boxing's great trainers. The former light heavyweight champion is also a strong and outspoken advocate for boxers. He's long supported the formation of a union to protect the interests of boxers who don't have a voice and have frequently been exploited.

Muhammad has an interesting philosophy about his career that he shares with every fighter who hires him as a trainer: fire me.

He's one of the trainers who is willing to lose his job in order to save his fighters. Muhammad will stop a fight whenever he thinks his boxer is in trouble, regardless of what the fighter and/or his family might say.

"Things happen in this sport, but my job as a trainer is to protect my fighter and to do whatever I can do to reduce the risk of him getting hurt," Muhammad said.

Mexican boxer Frankie Leal died Oct. 22 from head injuries he suffered in a bout with Raul Hirales on Oct. 19 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. On Saturday, heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov suffered a blood clot in his brain and underwent surgery following a loss on HBO to Mike Perez in New York. He remains in stable condition.

And in Hermosillo, Mexico, Hernan "Tyson" Marquez was taken from the ring on a stretcher on Saturday after his bout with Giovani Segura. Marquez didn't need surgery and promoters said later he was simply dehydrated.

The incidents are isolated, but they point out the necessity of vigilance from all those involved with a fighter's career in order to promote safety.

Boxing is a violent sport, and there is a risk of injury any time anyone is hit in the head. But the risk can be lessened by knowing when enough is enough and knowing some history about the fighters.

Referees have to be willing to stop a fight, no matter how significant or meaningful it might be, if one of the fighters is taking too many blows to the head.

"Everybody in a fighter's corner is always so damn brave, but they forget sometimes that it's the fighters who are taking the punishment," longtime elite referee Richard Steele said. "It's easy to be brave and to be tough when you're not the one getting hit in the head. My number one duty as a referee when I got into that ring, no question about it, was to think about the safety of the fighters.

"As a referee, I know I can't please everyone, and so I don't worry about that. Fighters are taught since they were kids to never give up and keep going. That's where I came in as the referee. I sometimes have to protect the fighter from himself. As an official, I want to stop a fight if a guy is in trouble so he can come back another day if he wants."

But referees only have control of a fighter for a short period of time. Many times, a fighter may be hurt during sparring sessions in the gym.

Muhammad said it is critical for trainers to be with their fighters as much as possible and to communicate extensively with them to understand as best as possible their level of risk.

"Some of these gym wars are brutal and sometimes they're worse than the actual fight," Muhammad said. "A guy gets hit in the head, maybe knocked down or knocked out, and he's back to do it again the next day. You can't let that happen. When you get that kind of head trauma that you're getting knocked out, you need to get away from the gym and take time to let yourself recover and heal.

"I've seen guys in these wars in the gym and then they go fight four or five days later and get killed. I've seen that happen. It shouldn't happen, but it does."

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