Written by Carla Tooma originally on mygc

Danny Green is on a mission to eliminate the coward punch from society and save lives in the process.

Chatting to 1029 Hot Tomato’s Galey, Emily Jade & Christo this morning for Stop the Coward Punch Week, the boxing legend revealed some surprising new research.

Findings from a world-first Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) study show while the number of fatal coward punch attacks has declined in recent years, they were increasingly happening in domestic settings.

“We’ve just done a groundbreaking piece of research. It was eye-opening and surprising,” he told the 1029 Hot Tomato breakfast hosts.

“Most people identify these situations and incidents with nightclubs, bars and entertainment precincts, but it can happen at the local service station, it can happen walking down the street, it can happen anywhere.”

Since 2000, 172 Australians have lost their lives to coward punches, and hundreds more have been left severely injured.

Mr Green said he started the Coward Punch Campaign in 2012 to raise awareness of the devastating impact one punch can have.

“With the coward punch campaign, we are focusing on trying to educate, particularly the younger generation, on the dangers,” he said.

“It is not just the deaths that are horrific, it’s the amount of people that are severely permanently injured for the rest of their lives.

“This new piece of research has highlighted so many different things that I wasn’t aware of, that we all weren’t aware of.

“It helps us delve into the perpetrators and the victims and then work out strategies to try and educate both sides, and to try and arm the community with as much education and information as we can.”