On October 22nd, 2015 we attended the Club Regent Casino's Event Centre for a sold out evening of boxing billed as “High Stakes Havoc 2”. Organized by King John Promotions, the evening featured a mix of men's and women's fights with the feature being a title fight between Winnipeg's Olivia Gerula and Cleveland's Carla Torres.
The boxing matches at the Event Centre were loud enough to send you home with the post rock concert hearing hangover - a dulled sense of hearing.
We found the best view of the fight from the top-level of the theatre style seating located 20+ meters away and up another 5-6 meters up off the main floor. After 3 hours of cheering during the fights and taking in the music between rounds, a few mild headaches were mentioned with the consensus being was that we all felt that our hearing was "dulled" post event.
The fourth fight was a lightweight category fight pitting Winnipeg native Kyle Oliviera vs Toronto's Stephen Zea. We had been warned to keep our attention on the fight due to the speed of Oliviera's punches and he did not disappoint with his lightning quick punches and jabs. The fight ended in round two with Kyle Oliviera knocking out Stephen Zea with a left.
During the fight we recorded a peak of 89 dB for only a split second with the range between 84 dB and 87 dB.
The final match was a women's featherweight category fight between Cleveland’s Carla Torres and Winnipeg's Olivia "The Predator" Gerula.
The results were reported as:
"Gerula Loses via Unanimous Decision, Upset Train Keeps Rolling for Torres - CANADIAN BOXIANA
Well, Carla Torres (5-3-0) has done it again. The Cleveland featherweight came into Olivia Gerula’s (16-15-2, 3KOs) hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, as a big underdog, but left town victorious. After ten rounds of fighting, Torres was crowned the new WIBA International featherweight champion..." By GM Ross
Overall the evening was a good time and we would definitely attend another similar event, albeit with earplugs! While not as loud as some of the events we have attended, the nature of the sound seemed to have a strong effect on our hearing. Our usual first test of sound levels and audio quality is to notice how easy is it to speak to the person next you without shouting. As soon as the even started it was immediately a shouting matched to talk clearly. We suspect the location we sat in, back and up towards the ceiling may well have contributed to the effect on our hearing.
It's true that one single loud event can affect your hearing negatively. When in doubt we always recommend that you do indeed bring ear protection. Sustained sound levels above 85 decibel can cause hearing loss and even a short-term high sound level can cause temporary hearing loss and potentially permanently damage to your hearing. The undeniable fact is that once you have sustained permanent hearing loss, there is no current rehabilitation available.
Don't take chances with your hearing because "permanent hearing loss" is just that - permanent.
Questions? Post a comment or call us at (204) 788 1083.
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