10 round fights? Protective head gear?
IMO when you walk into that ring you should know you might not walk out. That is what your getting paid for. I am not a boxing historian like yourself...but I have always followed the sport. I don't think it has been the same since they knocked it down to 12 rounds from 15...
It is a brutal sport and if you find yourself in a hospital or dead well...that was the chance you took.