YES: ...says Dr Vivienne Nathanson head of health policy research, science and ethics at the British Medical Association.

NO: ...says Tommy Johnson, former boxer and Paul Ingle's first trainer.

PAUL Ingle has become the latest casualty to suffer a critical injury in the boxing ring. Others, including the professional Steve Watts, have died as a result of boxing injuries.

Since 1984, the British Medical Association has campaigned for the abolition of both amateur and professional boxing, not on moral grounds but on medical evidence.

In addition to causing some major injuries, boxing creates the chronic problem of repeated trauma. Every time someone is hit on the head they sustain a minor degree of brain injury.

Blows received during boxing cause the brain to move within the skull, damaging blood vessels, nerves and brain tissue. Acute brain haemorrhage is the leading cause of boxing deaths. Once damaged, the brain is increasingly susceptible to further damage. Boxing also damages the eyes, ear and nose - in some cases there may be permanent sight or hearing loss.

Some argue that boxing has a lower death rate per year from acute injury than other sports. But these figures do not take the effect of repeated minor brain damage into account, a fact that is relevant in few other sports.

Neither does this reflect the fact that there are fewer boxers than, say, rugby players, and that boxers only compete in a few fights each year.

Once these factors are considered, it can be seen boxers face a far greater chance of death or debilitating injury each time they enter the ring than does the rugby player when he steps on to the pitch.

Regardless of such statistics, an overriding point is that damage to the brain in sporting activities is incidental; in boxing, such injury is deliberate. Indeed, the clearest deciding factor in boxing is the knock-out which necessarily results in significant neurological injury.

Doctors are gravely concerned about the risk of serious impairment to those who survive a career in boxing. These are the post-traumatic brain diseases which can result in a progressive failure of brain function. This health hazard is almost unique to boxing.

Children boxing is sometimes defended on the grounds that they learn to work through their aggression with discipline. The BMA believes there are many other sports, such as athletics, swimming, judo and football, which require discipline but do not pose the same threat of brain injury.

While young boxers do not have as powerful a punch as mature boxers, some studies have found that young boxers exhibit early evidence of brain damage. This danger was highlighted in 1987 by the death of 15-year-old amateur boxer Joseph Strickland, due to brain damage.

Supporters of boxing claim that if it were outlawed there would be more injuries caused by illegal boxing, undertaken without strict medical controls. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that in countries where boxing has been banned, such as Sweden, Iceland and Norway, this has not been the case.

Acute and chronic brain and eye injuries continue to occur in boxing and so it cannot be justified on health and safety grounds as an appropriate or legitimate 'sport'.

I HAVE known Paul Ingle for almost 20 years. We met on the day he first entered the Scarborough Amateur Boxing Club, close to the tough Edgehill estate where Paul grew up. I run the club to this day.

Paul and I became very good friends. I feel privileged to help such a talented sportsman on the path to becoming a world champion.

His injury devastated me and everyone who knows Paul. All my prayers are with him and his family.

But the calls after the fight for a ban on boxing angered me. Paul would not want the sport he loved to be banned, and neither would the many millions of people who enjoy boxing as a participant or a fan.

To outlaw boxing would be a denial of freedom of choice. If somebody wants to take up boxing, then I believe it's their right.

Those who want to stop boxing say it is a dangerous sport. Yet far more injuries are sustained in other sports such as football, rugby, horse-jumping. These pursuits do not attract the same venom as boxing.

I was reading about deaths in three-day eventing, but there's no outcry over that.

Boxing is safer than it's ever been. In the amateur game, you have to undergo a strict medical before you get your medical card.

Before you go into the ring you have got to have a medical examination. If you have a cold sore on your lip, or a days-old bruise from a sparring match, you can't box.

A doctor is always at the fight and he can't leave until the show is over. The St John Ambulance are on duty, and sometimes an ambulance with a paramedic. In professional boxing, medical expertise is ringside.

A ban would deny youngsters the privilege of learning to box. Boxing develops character. You only have to look at Paul.

He came from a rough estate in Scarborough, but boxing gave him something to work for, something to aim for. It has given him pride and it has given him dignity. He is a big name in Scarborough and he always will be because of what he has done in and out of the ring.

Boxing gave him that chance and I don't think anyone should be able to take that privilege away.

Many boxers are from rough backgrounds, and the sport gives them a chance to earn money and better themselves. When they come into clubs like mine, they learn discipline.

I came from a rough background. It did me well. It gave me something to look forward to and made me the character I am today. Without it, I may have got into trouble.

I have been training youngsters for more than 35 years since I retired from the fight game. Whether or not they progress in the sport, it helps build character that will serve them throughout their life.

Boxing helps with discipline and character and should not be banned.