Concussions in Boxing; More needs to be done

[caldo2025]

After watching Mike Alvarado last night, it became clear to me that this isn't the same guy that I started rooting for 3 years ago after his heroic victory against Prescott. I began thinking about the beatings that this guy has taken the last 3 years. No one can go through those kinds of beatings without having any residual brain trauma. The Provodnikov beating alone could have done it but there were the two battles with Rios and a lopsided beat down by JMM as well. Leading up to the fight last night, I noticed that Alvarado had a hard time putting sentences together during interviews. Then there were the head scratching legal troubles. Sound familiar? Jermain Taylor is a pretty similar story. Both guys will still have active boxing licenses come Monday morning and be able to make their promoters and managers more money when they get out of jail.

Boxing clearly has to do more to protect these fighters from themselves. They obviously can't leave it up to managers and promoters when there's money in the mix. Right now, boxing only steps in if a boxer was knocked out cold. What about the guys like Mike Alvarado? He's never been knocked out cold but has taken one beating after another. Which is worse? The NFL is doing more in the ways of testing and precaution when it comes to concussions and brain trauma than boxing. I love my sport of boxing but something needs to be done to save these warriors from themselves. What would you suggest?

[ReggieDiggs]

It sounds like Al Haymon's NBC deal or maybe his whole PBC deal will be doing brain testing on fighters which is a good move for the fighters & public relations wise for PBC. I think all the big promoters making money should be investing in studies like these or making some forward movement on helping fighters. I think commissions should be requiring more brain testing before a license is given/renewed (I've always thought it should be harder to get a license than it has been & is, we should be seeing far fewer professional fighters). I know they tend to do that in higher profile cases, but few are seeing the damage guys could be taking in training/sparring over years & years or just the year to year changes in brain scans which can be telling.

The thing is I believe that any fixes to these concussion concerns drastically change the sport (bigger gloves/headgear/quicker stoppages). Or else all you can really do is put a level of damage on fighters that will no longer be able to get them licensed to fight if they reach to keep the sport as it is.

Also I think we all should have the ability to choose if we wanna risk doing something that could hurt us & despite us learning every day more about how concussions can negatively affect a person, I kinda think this is some common sense sh!t already. I mean getting hit in the f#cking head over & over just seems kinda dangerous, don't it?

[expe]

It sounds like Al Haymon's NBC deal or maybe his whole PBC deal will be doing brain testing on fighters which is a good move for the fighters & public relations wise for PBC. I think all the big promoters making money should be investing in studies like these or making some forward movement on helping fighters. I think commissions should be requiring more brain testing before a license is given/renewed (I've always thought it should be harder to get a license than it has been & is, we should be seeing far fewer professional fighters). I know they tend to do that in higher profile cases, but few are seeing the damage guys could be taking in training/sparring over years & years or just the year to year changes in brain scans which can be telling.

The thing is I believe that any fixes to these concussion concerns drastically change the sport (bigger gloves/headgear/quicker stoppages). Or else all you can really do is put a level of damage on fighters that will no longer be able to get them licensed to fight if they reach to keep the sport as it is.

Also I think we all should have the ability to choose if we wanna risk doing something that could hurt us & despite us learning every day more about how concussions can negatively affect a person, I kinda think this is some common sense sh!t already. I mean getting hit in the f#cking head over & over just seems kinda dangerous, don't it?

Do they not already do brain scans on fighters in the US?

[ReggieDiggs]

I think what Al signed on for is a step further. Its going to be a longer term thing. I think commissions require testing, but I don't think the standards are the highest & I don't think their are comparisons made with older tests either. I mean they are still collecting piss in a cup when its known by everyone & their grand maamy that blood is gonna catch more people doing bad things.

[zojo]

Has his history of massive weight cutting made him more susceptible to concussions?

[Ilya Muromets]

You'd think that after the Abdusalamov tragedy they'd be doing more.

[dempseyfire]

Alvarado's management should be shot. He needed several fights vs soft touches after the beating he took vs Provodnikov, but he got thrown in with the best counter-puncher in the game in Hall of Famer Marquez and then a 3rd supposed to be slugfest with Rios. Add in the two wars with Rios and his fights with Presscot and Herrera. Guy has taken WAY too many punches in his career and in much too short a timeframe. Barring a genetic miracle he's probably practically guaranteed early dementia. Didn't have to be like this.

[Gimp Mask]

With all the hoopla with football players and their brain injuries, I'm surprised that boxing has pretty much been ignored in this regard.

[ReggieDiggs]

With all the hoopla with football players and their brain injuries, I'm surprised that boxing has pretty much been ignored in this regard.

Well the NFL is out in the open & the Super Bowl is the biggest event in the US. Boxing has been well hidden for the last few decades in the US. I think thats why Al Haymon has got some special brain testing/monitoring deal with his NBC deal cuz a lot of people that haven't seen boxing in awhile will being seeing boxing & it'll only be a matter of time before the concussion/boxing connection gets brought up.

[Gimp Mask]

Right, but if football players are getting theirs brains damaged from tackling, can you imagine what's being done to the brains of boxers? In boxing, you are intentionally trying to cause a brain injury. It's crazy when you think about it.

[caldo2025]

Did you see Alvarado's trainer telling him that he wanted to see one more round after Alvarado asked out of the fight in the corner the other night. That guy, right there, is the problem. If the ref and the doctor weren't in the corner at the time, that idiot would have send his boxer out for more of a beating. That guy should lose his boxing license too.

[littlekinny]

Chris Nowinski of previous WWE fame now works as a spokesman regarding brain injuries and awareness. Dont know if hes involved in boxing but he was arranging for hockey (and maybe NFL) players to donate brain tissue for research when they die. Its pretty interesting (and damn well worrying) stuff that I had no idea about previously. Hopefully more research in other sports will raise awareness but I have no idea what the ideal solution would be.

[littlekinny]

And totally agree with the trainer in regards to the post about Alvardo. Reminds me of that cap wearing douche who worked McLellans corner.

[saad muhammad]

Alvarado's condition wasn't to do with previous fights guys, it was a fact that he hadn't trained an inch
for this fight, legs were gone in the first round.
If he had any kind of fitness he would of been able to move for a few rounds at least before Rios caught up
with him, + do you think the cops got lucky on just a one night coincidence that Alvarado was out till 4am, how many other nights was there !!

[Puncher7]

I agree with everything you are saying.
But in Alvarado's case I personally believe drugs and/or other issues we are may not be aware of contributed more to Alvarado's performance last weekend than just taking previous punishment.

He's defnitely taken a lot of punches in recent fights and that should be looked at regarding his health and future

[ClivePatrickLyons]

This needs to be policed more by the boxing commission's/official's just about every contact sport in the world has.

[victor-romeo]

Alvarado's condition wasn't to do with previous fights guys, it was a fact that he hadn't trained an inch
for this fight, legs were gone in the first round.
If he had any kind of fitness he would of been able to move for a few rounds at least before Rios caught up
with him, + do you think the cops got lucky on just a one night coincidence that Alvarado was out till 4am, how many other nights was there !!

Alvarado definitely was having problems outside the ring that seriously impinged on his performance, he wasn't in shape to compete in this fight.

[Blodhemn]

Alvarado's management should be shot. He needed several fights vs soft touches after the beating he took vs Provodnikov, but he got thrown in with the best counter-puncher in the game in Hall of Famer Marquez and then a 3rd supposed to be slugfest with Rios. Add in the two wars with Rios and his fights with Presscot and Herrera. Guy has taken WAY too many punches in his career and in much too short a timeframe. Barring a genetic miracle he's probably practically guaranteed early dementia. Didn't have to be like this.

Honestly, Alvarado probably would've been shot dead in the drug trade already if it weren't for boxing. The guy has had all kinds of trouble, before and during all of these fights, which are just making matters worse. I wouldn't use Alvarado as an example... he's probably more wasted from drugs than boxing. Same goes for Jermain Taylor. But it's the internet, and apparently 99% of internet users are currently on some kind of drug fix, so it's excused.

[caldo2025]

I'm saying that the brain damage from these beatings in the ring is leading Alvarado to these indiscretions outside of it. The Mike Alvarado that showed up to the fight on Saturday Night was sad to see. Flabby, unshaven, clearly not in shape. Yes, he had a history of non violent crimes, mostly traffic violations. But now you trickle in guns? Driving cars into lakes? My point is that the brain damage is the cause of this behavior. Same with Jermaine Taylor. These two guys were good guys. Charitable, marketable and humble. It all comes down to horrible decisions made by people without their wits about them. Alvarado's post fight interview with Lampley was sad. Studdering and non sensical. This was a pretty articulate boxer at one point not too long ago.

[saad muhammad]

I agree certain fighters should be monitored, but the nature of the game is what is,boxing is a brutal sport
i'ts you hit me I hit you, me or you.
Boxing is safer now than ever, fighters fight less than they used to 12 rounds instead of 15.
I grew up watching boxing at the beginning of the 80s, within the space of 3 weeks you had the Mancini/ Kim, tragedy, Arguello needing oxygen in the ring after the 1st Pryor fight & then Holmes brutalising Randy cobb for 15 rds
imploring hall of fame ABC commentator to walk away from the sport.
If it bothers you that much don't watch it !

[Datsue]

Same goes for Jermain Taylor. But it's the internet, and apparently 99% of internet users are currently on some kind of drug fix, so it's excused.

So... Jermain Taylor's drug issues are more likely to explain his aberrant behaviour than the fact he's suffered a documented brain bleed, in your world? & anyone who disagrees is immediately "on some kind of drug fix"?

Sigh.

[Blodhemn]

Same goes for Jermain Taylor. But it's the internet, and apparently 99% of internet users are currently on some kind of drug fix, so it's excused.

So... Jermain Taylor's drug issues are more likely to explain his aberrant behaviour than the fact he's suffered a documented brain bleed, in your world? & anyone who disagrees is immediately "on some kind of drug fix"?

Sigh.

How does someone with brain damage win a world title? Even if Soliman did blow his knee out, Taylor was making him look bad before then. Something isn't right with Taylor and he shouldn't be fighting, like Alvarado shouldn't have fought this past weekend. Both of these guys have a history of questionable choices before the accumulation of beatings. Taylor's history has been kept in the dark, but if you've been living in Arkansas you would've known he wasn't the good ole boy HBO made him out to be. It could be an accumulation of all kinds of crap. Neither guy is too bright though, and whatever crap they're putting into their bodies only makes them worse.

[Datsue]

So... Jermain Taylor's drug issues are more likely to explain his aberrant behaviour than the fact he's suffered a documented brain bleed, in your world? & anyone who disagrees is immediately "on some kind of drug fix"?

Sigh.

How does someone with brain damage win a world title? Even if Soliman did blow his knee out, Taylor was making him look bad before then. Something isn't right with Taylor and he shouldn't be fighting, like Alvarado shouldn't have fought this past weekend. Both of these guys have a history of questionable choices before the accumulation of beatings. Taylor's history has been kept in the dark, but if you've been living in Arkansas you would've known he wasn't the good ole boy HBO made him out to be. It could be an accumulation of all kinds of crap. Neither guy is too bright though, and whatever crap they're putting into their bodies only makes them worse.

Someone with brain damage won a world title 'cos he was fighting a shot, 40-something Sam Soliman (without his favourite cocktail). However, I appreciate Jermain has a personal history to which his HBO hype-persona of a decade ago bears little relation.

However, the man has suffered massive head trauma, & has continued to get punched in the head since (I shudder to think what's been done to him in sparring).

Weighing those two things, I cannot help but favour the latter as the most likely cause, particularly as he rarely made the headlines for kerrayzeeeeeeee shite like the bath video & shooting his cousin before they had to slice his head open & let the blood that was coming out of his brain out before he turned into a vegetable. Having something like that occur does little, I believe, for one's continuing mental wellness.

[BAD INTENTIONS]

Most people don't understand drug issues. To the normal person, they're just people who "like to get high". It's much easier to think that way because 100% of the blame is on the individual.

I'm personally sick of seeing boxing being run in way that ensures brain damage and athletes left in the gutter. Harmon's league seems to be saying all the right things. I hope they follow thru.

Unfortunately, because boxing fans (people) are prone to irrational emotion dictating their logic, we are going to see more hate towards Haymon for doing what EVERYONE else was doing instead of fan support.

[caldo2025]

There are scan tests available that can reveal brain health. I'm all for wars in the ring and that is really what the sport is about but no one won last Saturday Night with what Alvarado brought in the ring. Colorado boo'd their hero out of the arena. HBO basically had to apologize to viewers for showing it. Fans were excited for a great battle to end the trilogy but instead go jobbed. The biggest loser in this scenerio was Rios. He showed up ready and looked FANTASTIC but now the boxing world has to question whether Rios was really THAT good or was Alvarado THAT unprepared and out of shape or what probably is the answer. A little of both.

Alvarado has now quit on his stool in two out of his last three fights. Instead of matchmaking, take em to the damn clinic and see if this guy is healthy enough to get in the ring. That's all that i'm saying.