The face is cut and bruised by direct impacts, but damage to the brain is caused largely by rotational acceleration of the cerebral cortex around the much smaller midbrain and spinal cord. (newscientist.com)
Not surprisingly, the 9 - 12 year old players in the current study were found to experience linear acceleration magnitudes between those found in 7 - 8 year old players [2] and high school players, although, for rotational acceleration, the 95th percentile magnitude found in this study was less than that found previously in younger players. (MomsTeam.com)
This damage may be aggravated by boxing gloves since they add weight and thus energy to punches, causing more rotational acceleration. (newscientist.com)