Fighters Use New Protection for Low Blows

(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Low blows have proven to be detrimental to fighters both inside and outside of the ring. However, some have argued that low blows should not even be deemed fouls.

Those in support of low blows have cited fight winning low blows such as Roberto Duran’s over Ken Buchanan in 1972. Nevertheless, the support against the decriminalization of low blows is overwhelming with some fighters alleging temporary impotence after repeated low blows.

Injuries like these have sparked interest in new more effective ways for groin protection. For decades, the conventional practice was to protect a fighter’s groin using some type of shield that basically just fits around the area to be protected.

However, during my recent trip to Central America I visited several gyms and discovered a new trend.

The new trend is referred to as “Bendada de Verga” and can be translated as “Cock Wrappings.” Apparently, in a manner similar to hand wrapping, the trainer wraps the groin of the fighter immediately after performing the well-known nude grease down technique for focus and relaxation.

For this piece I interviewed two trainers, Nivaldo Carrizo and Olmedo Saenz, whom both claim to have invented “Cock Wrapping” and are currently in a patent dispute.

Nivaldo Carrizo:  “I have been training fighters for 23 years and have been wrapping the fighters groin areas for the past 13 years. I invented this because my country, the Republic of Nicaragua, does not invest money in sports programs and especially not boxing.

"I have many young boys that wish to train but we do not have all necessary equipment. Because of the lack of the resources, I have my boys share things like the mouthpiece, the jockstrap, and other things.

"When you have a lack of resources, you have to be inventive. About 13 years ago, I had a fighter named Dionisio Prado. He was a very poor boy from Managua and he wanted to train. One day he wanted to spar even though he was only 13 years old and didn’t have a groin cup.

"I have a rule against letting my fighters fight without the groin protection, so I just started to wrap his hands and think of what I could do. At that point I had the idea and took Prado to the back room. I started wrapping his groin in the very professional manner and used several layers of gauze until the protection was adequate.

"Ever since then, I do this with all my fighters and I have noticed great results. I do not practice the nude grease down technique because I find it a bit taboo and somewhat disturbing. The groin wrap technique should not be considered taboo because the fighter should be standing up and you must be at eye level with the fighter’s groin.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?