The impact of concussion and head injuries has become an increasingly important topic in recent years.

Yet amateur boxing has gone down a different route by removing headgear for the AIBA World Championships.

The competition is edging towards the semi-final stage, but many fights have already been stopped because of cuts.

Ken Egan spoke to Off The Ball last night and he thinks that the lack of headgear is a dangerous precedent.

"Is it called amateur boxing anymore? It's cut upon cut upon cut. Many fight have been stopped because of cuts. The referees have had to step many times when they see a drop of blood. Clashes of heads are the main reason for cuts. It's not really punches that are doing the damage. 

"As I said about Paddy Barnes on Twitter, to have six fights in ten days without a headguard is a recipe for disaster."

Indeed, Paddy Barnes suffered a knock to the head from his opponents knee during yesterday's scrappy quarter-final defeat. It left him dazed and played a part in his eventual loss.

"He started off very well in the first round. He fell over and he actually hit his head off his opponent's knee. That's what caused the cut on the right hand side of his head. I could see he was lightheaded on the stool. His opponent was a spoiler and the referee was the worst I've seen in a long time," said Egan. 

©INPHO/Cathal Noonan