Making Boxing Safer

Heavyweight Mago Abdusalamov suffered a stroke after a fight Saturday night.

The Russian heavyweight Mago Abdusalamov had knocked out all of his opponents going into Saturday night's fight against Cuban Mike Perez. But as I sat in the crowd at MSG and watched Perez dominate, I thought nothing of the heavy beating the Russian took. He looked like one of the toughest guys I had ever seen and I had little doubt he'd be back to fight another day.

But the next day I learned that after complaining about a headache, Mago had undergone tests at Roosevelt Hospital and was found to have a small blood clot in his head. He was placed in a coma by doctors to keep the swelling under control and underwent surgery. After surgery, he suffered a stroke.

It's a sad story, and everyone is praying that Mago recovers. There is no blame to be leveled for the tragedy; not even for the referees, who in retrospect should have stopped the fight earlier. Boxing is inherently a violent and dangerous sport. The only question is: are there any ways to make the sport safer but still competitive? Here are a few ideas:

• Softer boxing gloves - If the boxing gloves were softer, this would make the blows to the body and head less damaging. The punches will still hurt, but could potentially save a boxer's life.
• Fewer rounds - People want their money's worth when it comes to a fight. But if fights were much shorter, the boxers could potentially fight more often. 
• Points, not Knockouts: Everyone wants to see a knockout, but what if you couldn't win by knockout after the second round? What if the points for each round were determined by total punches landed, with no extra credit given for power shots? The fights would be more about the sweet science -- of dancing, ducking, and connecting -- than about killing your opponent. Ultimately, it's the tactics, not brute force, that make boxing so much fun to watch. 

In the meantime, if you would like to help Mago's family with its rising medical costs, you can donate via PayPal to 100bbb@mail.ru or send a check made out to Magomed Abusalamov to BakanayAbdusalamova, PO Box 90174, Brooklyn, NY 11209.

Opening the Marketplace: The Next Steps for Healthcare

Buying fruit is far simpler than choosing a doctor.
But as a patient, you still need to be an educated shopper.

Whether or not you believe in the new Health Insurance Exchange, it's hard to argue against the economic principle behind it: an open marketplace encourages competition, better products, and lower prices. The problem is that the the exchanges don't go far enough. The issue is not about how much you pay, but about how much others pay for the same service.

Most insurance plans only partially cover the price of a medical procedure and often, doctors will require patients to pay whatever their insurance doesn't cover. These extra costs can vary widely, and together with copayments and deductibles, leave many patients with medical bills they can't afford. We don't want to be cheap when it comes to our health, and asking for prices upfront somehow seems a little uncomfortable.

So how do we solve this problem? Obviously, there's no panacea. But here are two concepts that I think need to be part of the solution:

Reviews: Patients need to rely on more than just referrals to decide on their doctors. They need honest recommendations and facts. The website ZocDoc.com already provides physician reviews and allows patients to book appointments online; but to be effective, reviews need to be more widespread. There are privacy concerns for sure. Many patients don't want to talk about their medical struggles online. Still, to make healthcare more affordable, patients must be able to evaluate the quality of the doctors available.

Price Lists: Patients need to know the prices of procedures. Obviously, cost is not the only factor in deciding which doctor to see. But it is a factor and needs to be addressed. There are ways for people who can look up insurance and have a lot of time to research prices, but that is not practical for most patients. There are also websites that provide average rates for procedures by area, including Healthcare Blue Book and FAIR Health. But they don't tell you which doctor in your area has the best price. Customers need to be able to comparison shop and evaluate the quality of the available products to make educated decisions.

These are just a couple of ideas, and I would love to hear what you think. Feel free to comment below or on social media.