AS John Westgarth led the tributes to his son Scott, who tragically died following a boxing fight last month, a debate that has raged for decades was reignited.

Boxing is known as the Sweet Science, but the death of Prudhoe boxer Scott has raised serious questions about the safety of the sport.

Scott (31) died after defeating Dec Spelmann on a points decision.

The light heavyweight was chasing an English title fight, but took ill after the bout and died in hospital.

Since then, the sport of boxing has faced renewed criticism and calls to make it safer.

Almost all sports have a degree of danger – Italian motorbike racer Marco Simoncelli died in a crash on the track during a Moto GP race in 2011.

Before that, F1 star Ayrton Senna made headlines worldwide when he died on May 1,1994, after his car crashed into a concrete barrier while he was leading the San Marino Grand Prix.

Closer to the North-East, former Newcastle United footballer Cheick Tiote collapsed and died during a training session last year, after suffering a cardiac arrest.

The difference is that these cases represent freak accidents, and in the case of motorsport, changes were made to make the sports safer.

In boxing, the very aim of the sport is to hit your opponent in the head, and knockouts are celebrated – making it almost impossible to make the sport safer without changing its character.

While supporters of the sport maintain that participants know the risks, some opponents, including the brain injury charity Headway, have even called for it to be banned.

Chief Executive of Headway Peter McCabe said: “It is shameful that yet another young man has died taking part in this so-called sport.

“Too many boxers have died or sustained devastating brain injuries for this sport to be allowed to continue.

“Boxing is a senseless waste of life and the time has come for it to be banned.”

Scott is the third British boxer to die following a bout in the last five years – Scottish fighter Mike Towell died in 2016 after fighting Dale Evans in Glasgow and in 2013; Michael Norgrove died several days after collapsing in the ring during a fight against Tom Bowen in London..

His death was the first death in British boxing since 1995.

However, supporters of the sport have hit back, claiming that British boxing is leading the world in terms of boxer safety.

John Jarrett, Northern Area secretary for the British Board of Boxing Control (BBOfC), said: “You can’t ban boxing; people will always fight.

“It’s very sad what happened, but it’s just one of those things. You can’t do anything more than we do now.

“The British board leads the world in medical terms; all the fighters have regular brain scans.

“You don’t force people to fight – some people fight when they shouldn’t, when they’re past it, but that wasn’t Scott. Scott was on his way up, he was 31 and in a title eliminator.”

However, Peter McCabe refuted these claims.

He said: “Pleas that boxers know and understand the risk, or that such tragedies are unpredictable are simply not credible. Young boxers are not making an informed choice.

“Serious questions need to be asked about the medical provision that was available for Scott’s fight.

“There is simply no way to make boxing safe and to allow more lives to be lost in this way is unacceptable and completely irresponsible.

“Scott Westgarth and many others before him should not have been allowed to lose their lives or sustain needless brain injuries through sanctioned acts of deliberate violence.”

A seemingly obvious way to improve safety in the sport would be to to bring in head guards for fighters.

However the headgear was banned for the 2014 Commonwealth Games following a comprehensive study by a former president of USA Boxing.

Retired cardiac surgeon Dr Charles Butler examined around 28,000 fights, both with and without headgear.

Surprisingly, it was found that boxers wearing headgear were more likely to suffer concussion and other head injuries.

Despite a dispute over Dr Butler’s findings, there are plans to ban headgear in amateur boxing later this year.

At the end of the day, those involved in the debate will always fall on one side or the other.

Because of the difficulties in making the sport safer, it should either be banned completely or accepted that young men and women know the risks as they step into the ring and have decided the potential prize is worth those risks.