“What would you do ?” used to figure on the cover of a boys’ comic called “Boys’ World”. This was a publication, obviously, aimed at boys, and first appeared on January 26th 1963. There were 89 issues before the comic was merged with Eagle in 1964. The last issue of “Boys’ World” came out on October 3rd 1964.
I used to buy “Boys’ World”, and this was mainly for the front cover which always featured a kind of puzzle. It was called “What would you do ?” and was based on somebody being in what Ned Flanders would call “A dilly of a pickle”. Here’s the situation:
And here is the yellow box enlarged:
And that answer on page 2 was:
“A referee is completely in charge of what is happening in the ring. No one else has the authority to stop a fight. A second may show his wish to have the bout brought to an end by throwing in the towel. But the referee need not take any notice of the gesture. In this case, the referee simply kicked the towel out of the ring—and Harry went on to win.”
So there you are. I wouldn’t have thought that such a fundamental rule of boxing has been changed in the last forty years, but perhaps somebody out there knows better……..
John Knifton 
I’m pleased I got close, John 🙂
You did very well, Derrick. I can’t imagine that many people in our era know the rules of boxing with any certainty.
I just ran this one past Jackie. Quick as a flash, she said “Kick the towel out” 🙂
Women are so smart, aren’t they? We just don’t stand a chance !
🙂
Okie-dokey!! I never would have come up with that. I thought the towel would end it.
Well, if it’s any consolation, so did I. I used to be very keen on watching boxing back in the 1970s, but it’s lost its magic somehow in recent years. I certainly couldn’t tell you who is the World Heavyweight Champion at the moment…there may even be more than one!
I lost interest as well. That was when I saw a man die in the ring and then a week later, another almost died because the ref wouldn’t stop the fight. The other boxer kept pleading with the ref to end it.
That was dreadful. Sport is definitely not on the list of things to die for.
I wonder how many times this has happened and the referee has ignored such actions.
Well, I would be quite surprised if it has happened in any recent big fights because the referee would be too afraid of a lawsuit if the boxer did go on to any permanent injury. In local boxing with youths, I would think that it’s more than the referee’s job is worth to ignore the towel. If the boxer then got badly injured, you would have every mother in the East Midlands stopping her son from boxing and it would wipe out the sport from the area.
I did wonder if the boxer himself has ever wanted to throw the towel in, but the trainer has refused to do so. They must surely have come close to that when Sonny Liston quit in such mysterious circumstances in the mid-sixties against Ali.
Reminds me of my Krav Maga on the mat exam to prove I earned my next belt. I received an elbow to my left temple, saw stars and the instructor pulled me off the mat, telling I was finished. I stood there, took a breath and stepped back on the mat. I turned to my instructor stating I am done when I win my belt. And I did. Oh yes I has a shiner for a couple of weeks and I was really lucky that elbow was not a direct temple blow or I may not be here writing this.
Thank goodness, most sporting incidents are not as serious as they often appear to be although there was a dreadful clash of heads in a big English soccer match last week.
The rule of thumb is : After a head injury, if you feel sleepy, go to the hospital, do not go to bed. If you feel sick, go to hospital. It somebody shines a light in you eye and your pupil does not react, go to hospital.
(That was one of the few training days as a teacher that I remember!).