Before I make general comments on interclubs, I'll make a comment on Martin's interclub first. Although I arrived late and had only fairly experienced lads on it for a spar, from what I experienced it was well organised (particularly given it had to be rearranged last minute) and the refereeing was good. Although I don't usually attend interclubs, I have been to a number over the years and Martin's was as well organised as any I have been to previously. The injury Dean sustained in his spar with Tim's was an accident and was just unfortunate.

I understand why interclubs can be very useful for gyms, for new fighters and for those who want a 'fight like' experience but are never going to to fight. However, I generally tend not to take students to interclubs, generally preferring just to put fighters straight into proper fights. I only have a few people training at the gym and most fight, but if I had a commercial gym with ore students I would use them.

One of the problems with interclubs (and this has been the case at everyone I have been to) is not only getting fighters determine an appropriate level of contact, as this varies from bout to bout, but also decide what are acceptable techniques. For example, in sparring the rule at my gym are 1) no straight knees with the point of the knee, instead using the thigh (same unwritten rule in the gyms I have trained at in Thailand), 2) no hacking legs with strong low kicks but only controlled leg kicks that aren't going to injure legs (same unwritten rule in the gyms I have trained at in Thailand), 3) no elbowing the legs (when people are being nice and kneeing with their thighs) or kneeing the head (although they can pull an opponent's head down and demonstrate they could have kneed the face), 4) if someone gets staggered with a punch or hurt in any way, the boxer stops attacking. Different gyms have different norms for sparring and are likely to do what they normally do in sparring. When your norms are different to those of your opponent, perceptions can be that your opponent is not 'playing fair' and what was a controlled interclub bout escalates into something more excessive.

Maybe these things can be addressed by clearly outlining what is acceptable and what is not before bouts start and sent out to instructors. If these are contravened in the bout the referee warns the boxer or stops the bout. Having different categories within interclubs is perhaps also an answer. Good refereeing where the referee has real control is essential. Interclubs involving excited novices can be harder to contol than actual fights.