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QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA: Little Lords Of The Ring PAUL WESTON 09nov03 CHILDREN as young as four are signing up for boxing classes, with the sport enjoying a revival despite the pounding it has taken from critics. Five years ago Queensland Health Minister Wendy Edmond tried unsuccessfully to ban under-age boxing, branding it "stupid and senseless". Her campaign was backed by the Australian Medical Association which said the sport may cause Parkinson's disease. But youngsters such as the Gold Coast's Kaha Rosenbaum, rated one of the sport's rising stars, are typical of a new generation who argue it is safer and makes you fitter than rugby league. "Boxing is tough because you have to do the fitness. Rugby league gives you more injuries," Kaha told The Sunday Mail. The quietly spoken nine-year-old began training with his father, former South Australian lightweight champion Jay, when he was three and recently joined the Burleigh Heads Boxing Association where he trains with Greg Walker. Kaha is listed on the card at the November 15 Big Fight Night and Bali fundraiser at the Surfers Paradise RSL, which is expected to attract 900 fans. Mr Walker said boxers younger than 10 could be booked only for exhibition fights, and until they turn 16 he limits their competition fights to five a year. In NSW, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 14 to box. Mr Walker, 38, admits he is surprised by the age of some of the children knocking on the door of his gym. "I've got two kids here, they're four and five years of age. They come in one day a week for a no-contact session," Mr Walker said. "I'm not really happy about it. It becomes a baby-sitting service. But I don't turn any kid away, because it could mean keeping them off the street." Of boxing's critics, he said: "People aren't knucklehead pugs who want to fight. The sport is highly technical, it's a brain sport." "It's like chess. You're not going into the ring and smacking each other." At Burleigh's gymnasium, the youngsters wear head gear, are not allowed to be hit by older boxers (in the ring, the older one can only block) and the female members put on breast plates. "The girls are picking up the sport. I'm one for equal rights. I actually train a girl," Mr Walker said. "As long as they're matched equally, they're OK. They have much less impact than a man." Boxers wear mouth guards and at the slightest sign of a nose bleed, Mr Walker would stop a competition fight. Sport shops have told The Sunday Mail boxing, along with martial arts, has enjoyed an unprecedented boom in six months. Danny Hattersley, a salesman with the Fight Club, which is one of Queensland's biggest shops for boxing and martial arts sporting gear, said sales had gone "through the roof". SOURCE: Queensland Sunday Mail, Australia http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,7807561,00.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn