Latest news with #CombatSportsCommission
CBC
2 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
Wrongful death lawsuit filed in Edmonton boxing death settled as calls for reform continue
A $5.3-million wrongful death lawsuit launched in the wake of a fatal boxing match in Edmonton in 2017 was quietly settled with the fighter's family four years after it was filed, CBC News has learned. The family of fighter Tim Hague filed the lawsuit in 2019, alleging that the authorities responsible for his safety failed to protect him. The suit was formally dismissed in the Court of King's Bench in September 2023. Hague, 34, suffered a fatal knockout on June 16, 2017, during a boxing match licensed by the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission. He walked from the ring but lapsed into a coma and was taken off life support two days later. Hague had suffered a brain bleed and a subdural hematoma. After his death, he was diagnosed with early stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative disease caused by repetitive head trauma. Hague's death renewed calls for Alberta to establish a centralized combat commission with sweeping recommendations for regulatory reform continue to reverberate throughout the fight community. Court documents obtained by CBC News shed light on the legal battle that attempted to hold someone accountable for his death. The lawsuit alleged gross negligence and named 11 parties, including the City of Edmonton and its combative sports commission. The allegations of negligence contained in the suit had been contested by all parties. Court records from the settlement proceedings show the Hague estate was awarded just over $116,000. After legal fees, Hague's surviving parents and his only child were left with just shy of $65,000. The family and their lawyer, Ari Schacter of Assiff Law, declined to comment. Erik Magraken, a personal injury and combat sports regulatory lawyer in B.C., said with the case now settled, it's time for action. An independent review into Hague's death, along with a public fatality inquiry, recommended the formation of a provincial commission to regulate all fights, but the provincial government has yet to move forward. "The time for finger pointing is now over," Magraken said. "The real thing to focus on is, have lessons been learned so that tragedies like this are less likely? "I'm just hoping lessons can be learned from Mr. Hague's tragedy because that's all that's left to do." A settlement reached A sworn affidavit from Ian Hague, Tim Hague's brother, said the family opted to settle due, in part, to concerns over the financial strain of legal costs if the lawsuit was to fail at trial. According to court documents, there were concerns about how an alleged injury Hague may have suffered days before the bout could impact the family's claims of gross negligence. "Evidence has come to light in the course of questioning that the deceased was not truthful in respect of his completion of the statutory declaration," Ian Hague's sworn affidavit reads. "If Mr. Hague was knocked out leading up to the event and did sustain a concussion, that may have made him susceptible to far more severe consequences than he would have ordinarily suffered, including death." The settlement provided $20,000 to Hague's parents. Another portion of nearly $44,000 was placed into a trust for his son, who was eight at the time of Hague's death. "I am not in a position to afford adverse court cost consequences, nor is any other member of the family," the affidavit reads. "My family and I would like to move on from this tragic event." Hague, who took the fight on short notice, had a history of knockouts and concussions. His most recent medical suspension had expired days before his fight. Court documents show Hague had signed a statutory declaration form confirming to fight organizers that he had not sustained a concussion or a knockout within the past 30 days. Hague also signed a full waiver and medical release form. Alleged knockout According to two additional sworn affidavits in the court file, details of the alleged knockout he suffered during training were revealed during a conversation among Hague's friends — members of the combat community — who had gathered to pay their final respects. According to the court documents, one of the friends visiting the hospital suggested that Hague had been "knocked out" in training in the week leading up to the match, but decided to fight anyway. Magraken said the details of the case demonstrate the need for careful tracking of each fighter's medical history and for commissions to act as diligent watchdogs for the potentially catastrophic risks of chronic head trauma. It's not uncommon for fighters, eager to maintain their livelihoods, to remain silent about their health issues or injuries, he said. "Everybody involved should take a harder look at the realities of cumulative brain damage and make sure that injury is being treated with the gravity it deserves." 'Eight years of inaction' Shara Vigeant, who once trained Hague, remains frustrated with the pace of reform and questions Alberta's commitment to fighter safety. An Edmonton-based MMA trainer and former fighter, Vigeant said Hague's death should have prompted swift and sweeping regulatory reforms. Since then, another fighter has died. Trokon Dousuah, 33, succumbed to injuries sustained in his first amateur mixed martial arts fight in late 2024. The time has come to "clean house" and implement province-wide oversight with stricter policies focused on fighter safety, she said. "It's been eight years since Tim's death — eight years of inaction," Vigeant said. "And still, Alberta remains the only province in Canada without a provincial commission.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Debate ignites over the sport of bare-knuckle boxing
Western Australia's Combat Sports Commission board has knocked back an application to stage a bare-knuckle boxing championship next month. Promoters now have their signs set on other Australian cities. A warning, this story from Rhiannon Shine contains some graphic footage.
The Age
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
Bare knuckle boxing group breaks silence over Perth fight rejection
The organisation behind the push to bring the Bare Knuckle Boxing Championship to Perth has accused the Combat Sports Commission of blindsiding it after it rejected the event application earlier this month. On June 5, the commission rejected an application by Knuckle Up Australia on behalf of BKFC to stage Australia's first-ever bare knuckle boxing event on July 19 at RAC Arena over concerns it 'had not met the required criteria.' Knuckle Up Australia released a statement on Monday afternoon saying the decision had blindsided them and that the commission had been vague in the reasons for its rejection. 'We were blindsided by the outcome, given the 15 months of work between our team and the Commission to establish the sport's rule set and secure recognition as a sanctioned body,' event organiser Suanne Giles said. The statement said the commission had rejected the event because of medical advice that suggested the likelihood of facial and hand injuries was higher than in gloved boxing and had raised concerns that fighters on the card did not have the right level of experience in the sport. Loading 'We provided medical data and international precedent that addressed the concerns; however, the commission maintains reservations regarding injury risk and raised issues with a bout card that was not finalised and assessed in part 2 of the permit, which was due 21 days before the contest,' Knuckle Up said. 'While our submissions and discussions addressed the commission's are now seeking clarity on what it vaguely referred to as 'amongst other things'. 'We are seeking clarification on the ruling and will evaluate whether to appeal or modify the proposal.'
West Australian
11-06-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Basil Zempilas: Questions still linger after bare-knuckle boxing rejected
1. Despite the best efforts of the Premier and the Deputy Premier to make a case for bare-knuckle boxing to be allowed into Western Australia, late last week the Combat Sports Commission reached a different conclusion. We don't know why they said no, only that 'the board were not satisfied the event met the required criteria.' Hallelujah. Thank goodness the Commission could see what our two most senior politicians couldn't. It was a gold standard cop out, but we got there in the end. It's a pity the decision on Rita's racetrack can't be deferred to the Combat Sports Commission. 2. The ultimate result left us with more questions than answers, among them, will the minutes of the CSC meeting where common sense finally prevailed be released so can better understand the decision? We'd also like to know; 3. Why did the Sports Minister not exercise her power to make the decision instead of abrogating that responsibility? 4. What communications were there between the Minister, her office and/or the Department and the Combat Sports Commission in the lead-up to the decision being made? 5 . Can the Minister assure us the Combat Sports Commission reached this decision independently and without any political pressure? 6. Getting straight answers out of this government is proving a challenge. In the interests of making sure as many eligible families as possible receive the benefit they are entitled to, Shadow Education Minister Liam Staltari asked for a school-by-school breakdown on claim rates for the Student Assistant Payment of up to $250 a child. The State Government refused. 7. Conveniently, or otherwise, the Premier has been more forthcoming on the prospect of another public holiday for West Australians. Straight out of the playbook, it's always good to get people talking about 'other stuff'. On the list of things that would be nice to have but which aren't needed and can't be justified, a 12th public holiday for WA would be close to the top. 8. It's men's health week and the stats are sobering. Fifty Aussie men die every day from preventable health issues and one in five men don't reach the age of 65. This week we're being reminded to get regular check-ups and being asked to start conversations with our mates. Sometimes a little nudge from a friend could make all the difference. 9. What a mighty effort from the Socceroos. After waiting 32 years to return to football's biggest stage, our national team is on its way to a sixth consecutive World Cup. That's an achievement we should all be proud of. 10. At the other end of the skill and experience scale — but not far off in terms of unbridled enthusiasm, my seven-year-old Anthony and his Kicking Koalas teammates scored a historic and long-awaited breakthrough win in Saturday afternoon Joey Soccer. The boys were delighted, the coach (Anthony's dad) was relieved.
West Australian
07-06-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
BEN HARVEY: Why Rita Saffioti's the human punchline
Rita Saffioti, you are weak as p***. The writing was on the wall that bare-knuckle boxing was politically poisonous but you didn't have the guts to use your power as Sports Minister to veto it. Instead, you let the Combat Sports Commission do your dirty work by putting a last-minute kybosh on the Bare Knuckle Boxing Championship event. You were the only person who wanted this thing to happen, Rita. For weeks you failed to read the room, insisting community concern was a storm in a teacup that would blow over when West Australians realised just how much fun it was watching two people bash each other the way nature intended. You knew best. Perhaps it was because eight years ago you stared down those opposed to cage fighting. Perhaps it was because, having represented the good burghers of West Swan for so long, you know a thing or two about punch-ups. You refused to intervene even when it emerged that a former bikie who went to jail for bashing a police informant was being considered for the card. His opponent? A British reality TV 'star' called Aaron Chalmers who, presumably, decided that having his head punched in was worth it because it gave him the requisite brain damage for another season on Geordie Shore. 'The advice to me is that with very strict protocols and criteria that the event, if the organiser were to meet that, that it could be conducted in WA,' you said. In making it clear you were a woman not for turning you made the entire Cabinet look like hapless idiots. Why buy tickets to Cirque du Soleil when you can watch Meredith Hammat contorting herself while dodging questions about how a health minister could endorse what the Australian Medical Association was calling a blood sport. If it was up to the AMA the most dangerous sport in WA would be Ring a Ring o' Roses (perhaps accompanied by someone playing the lute) so we don't want to be led by the nose by medicos, but still. Your government, which adhered slavishly to medical advice during COVID, was very quick to discount the opinion of doctors on this one. I hope you apologised to Meredith for making her look such a fool. You owe Paul Papalia a beer as well. He didn't hesitate in going over the top for you, making out that bare-knuckle boxing was something the Famous Five might indulge in, refreshing themselves with lashings of ginger beer between bouts. At least Paul sounded like he believed what he was saying. Perhaps his performance was compelling because he was a navy clearance diver before politics. Let's face it, anyone who swims towards the bomb has a unique appreciation of risk. Rita, so terrified are ministers of your wrath in Budget expenditure review committee meetings, they would have built a Thunderdome in your honour. Two men enter, one man leaves, they would have chanted, had you asked. You took advantage of their pathetic weakness and insisted they back your absurd rationale that the Combat Sports Commission could never be questioned. It's not the bloody Roman Senate, Rita; it's sports administration. 'I can't stop one and then not stop others,' you said, hinting that your ministerial override risked the fall of the Westminster system. It was only when the July 19 card was confirmed that you appeared to have realised there might be a political problem. It turns out there is something as bad as a former bikie who bashed a police informant being the star of the show. Alex 'Godly Strong' is a 140kg, 195cm meat-axe who went to prison for bashing a drug dealer during an aggravated home invasion. It was a bridge too far. Labor had ceded the moral high ground to Basil Zempilas and was enjoying what must have been a novel view. Everyone knew the wound needed to be cauterised. But still you refused to act. And now you're asking us to believe that at the last minute the Combat Sports Commission 'independently' arrived at the conclusion that this show could not go on. The same commission whose chair, Bob Kucera, had been so enthusiastic about this event he was practically humming Eye of the Tiger. This was a contest between 'superb athletes', Bob told us a couple of weeks ago. Strict medical conditions had to be met before anyone could step in the ring, he said. And it was best to have these kind of events held out in the open, otherwise bare-knuckle fighting might go underground, the former cop warned ominously. Bob even managed to keep a straight face when he said that last one. I was waiting for him to gush, 'I would like to thank the Academy' at the end of each interview. He was so convincing the promoters started selling tickets to the fight! Bob had your back, Rita. And you hung him out to dry. You made him look like a stooge. Does anyone believe that there was no political pressure here? That nobody in the executive arm of government had a quiet word to the commission about the need to somehow get the shit back in the horse? That there were no phone calls asking that the commission take one for the team? Bull****. I can't imagine what the atmosphere was like in the State Solicitor's Office when the commission knocked back the event application. Did someone at least give them the heads-up that we were about to pick a legal fight with Conor McGregor, the man who owns Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship? Rita, do you have any idea how wealthy this bloke is? He earnt $US130 million in one fight against Floyd Mayweather, for the love of God. The only people richer than Conor are his lawyers. We were worried about Clive Palmer's lawsuit bankrupting us; wait for this costs order! Rita, I know that you didn't initiate this mess. That was your predecessor, David Templeman. David should never have recognised bare-knuckle fighting as a sport when the application was made prior to the last State election. He should have understood the politics but was probably distracted by the excitement of delivering his last end-of-year serenade to the Legislative Assembly. You, on the other hand, Rita, should have known better. You're no political fool. There's no excuse for allowing this public policy absurdity to run for so long.
