Boxers and Beards

Everybody’s a critic.

Boxing promoter Frank Warren recently published an article in which he rallied in support of boxers going beardless. He says that boxing Board rules state that facial hair isn’t altogether prohibited, but that the fighter’s jawline must be visible, and complains that this rule has been relaxed a fair amount lately with numerous boxers showing up in the ring with quite epic beards on display.

Warren says the reasoning for banning the beard in the ring is really twofold; if stubble rubs into a cut on a fighter’s face, it could exacerbate the wound. And beards are thought to be bushy enough to potentially cushion blows.

In fact, not so long ago boxer Tyson Fury was actually forced to shave his beard before a fight by the British Boxing Board of Control.

While Warren is only upholding the rules, there is no denying that beards are taking over, from corporate environments to the boxing ring. Even the MMA world is saturated with beards, which has also drawn a lot of criticism for the same reason Warren points out in his piece.

The moral of the story though is that as long as guys can grow beards, they’re going to. Whether the rule book agrees with them or not.