In his debut loss, Tuck was carried out on a stretcher and hospitalised after his opponent landed an uppercut in the fourth round and knocked him out.

Last week, Cantu gave evidence to the Coroner’s Court of Victoria, via video link, about potential rules in Australian rules football which could help reduce brain trauma, suggesting adopting some US football rules reducing full-contact training was an option.

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This week, his testimony focused on boxing.

Cantu said he thought children under 18 should not box and take repeated blows to the head, at the very least suggesting informed parental consent be required and encouraging youths training without a punch-throwing opponent instead.

But within Victorian professional boxing matches, Cantu commended the state for allowing the ringside doctor the authority to stop fights at any time when a boxer was at-risk of serious injury – a practice broader than other jurisdictions.

Cantu also found Victorian boxing’s governors encouraging fighters to donate their brains to science “meritorious”, but added: “But the fact there was no ongoing research directly with regard to CTE ... that’s not adequate.”

Government barrister Liam Brown, representing Victoria’s Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions which houses the state’s boxing board, suggested to Cantu that the board’s commitment to implementing recent Sports Medicine Australia recommendations and creating a medical advisory subcommittee demonstrated it was trying to make boxing safer.

“It would suggest that, yes,” Cantu responded. “It’s certainly making advances in the right direction, without question, from those reports.”

The inquest continues.

With Erin Pearson

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