Brain trauma and boxing - Your thoughts?

[margaret thatcher]

I think there will be a lot of fighters who are affected but you just won’t hear about it as they weren’t household names or are private and don’t want it being known by the general public. Plus of course it’s not something the organisations or fighters are going to shine a light on.

true. and even for the house hold names, a lot of it will come on more noticably when theyre already out of the spot light. and not everyone does some crazy cte homicide like chris benoit that will get headlines, far more often the little things of life they have trouble with, and we're less likely to hear about those cases

[Cyclops]

As an older bloke, even having mates the same age chomping at the bit to get back in the ring, I wouldn't put my brain through multiple concussions again. I've got a lot of life left to live and want to be happy with all my faculties.

Brave from early boxing training, I got bounced off the concrete by a tougher kid as a teenager and felt like I'd left a little bit of myself on the pavement even back then. I still messed around with combat sports for years after, but I do still wonder how much damage had already been done. I was very reckless after, got into trouble and suffered with depression in a way I hadn't before.

I've got a niece who really wants to box, and although I'll move about with her and show her things for fun, I've always discouraged her from doing it for real.

[Glass Joe]

See Hatton had CTE according to today's hearing

[Controversial]

I can’t say I’m too surprised

[Spud MK2]

I am absolutely convinced that fighting brought on my Parkinsons

And being sh@t at it didn't help

[SeanBrennan]

I am absolutely convinced that fighting brought on my Parkinsons

And being sh@t at it didn't help

that second sentence made me chuckle, not laughing at you. Least you got in the ring Spud. Hope you're well.

[Old bones Ian]

Slightly looking at it a different way , life expectancy is higher nowadays does that give brain injury more time to appear.

[Spud MK2]

Its not just boxing ... a lotmore can
Be done for Parkinson's, dementia, MND & alzeimhers...

I will
Contradict myself now ... the problem is
if more research went into the effects of rugby and boxing it would give the do gooders more fuel
To ban us.

The brain is proper complex ...

Gambling ... i can be sat in the bookies and lose a fortune and since i have had Parkinsons when that happens i seriously dont give a f. Ck .. now thsts bad.

I coukd go on but wint bore you

[Old bones Ian]

Its not just boxing ... a lotmore can
Be done for Parkinson's, dementia, MND & alzeimhers...

I will
Contradict myself now ... the problem is
if more research went into the effects of rugby and boxing it would give the do gooders more fuel
To ban us.

The brain is proper complex ...

Gambling ... i can be sat in the bookies and lose a fortune and since i have had Parkinsons when that happens i seriously dont give a f. Ck .. now thsts bad.

I coukd go on but wint bore you

My friend has MND , absolutely awful condition.
He played a lot of football right into his late forties and he thinks the development of MND might be something to do with pesticides that are sprayed onto playing fields , leading to a disproportionate number of field sports players development MND.
You'd think MND would be high in boxers due to head punches , but I can't think of any boxer that has developed MND , and thinking about it they aren't exposed to outside training that much especially in fields or pitches.

[mickey1975]

Its not just boxing ... a lotmore can
Be done for Parkinson's, dementia, MND & alzeimhers...

I will
Contradict myself now ... the problem is
if more research went into the effects of rugby and boxing it would give the do gooders more fuel
To ban us.

The brain is proper complex ...

Gambling ... i can be sat in the bookies and lose a fortune and since i have had Parkinsons when that happens i seriously dont give a f. Ck .. now thsts bad.

I coukd go on but wint bore you

My friend has MND , absolutely awful condition.
He played a lot of football right into his late forties and he thinks the development of MND might be something to do with pesticides that are sprayed onto playing fields , leading to a disproportionate number of field sports players development MND.
You'd think MND would be high in boxers due to head punches , but I can't think of any boxer that has developed MND , and thinking about it they aren't exposed to outside training that much especially in fields or pitches.

I've just lost my dad to it. He was a high performing athlete, race walking, distance running and triathlons. He was super fit his whole life. He didn't play on fields but ran thousands of miles in the countryside.

[Controversial]

Its not just boxing ... a lotmore can
Be done for Parkinson's, dementia, MND & alzeimhers...

I will
Contradict myself now ... the problem is
if more research went into the effects of rugby and boxing it would give the do gooders more fuel
To ban us.

The brain is proper complex ...

Gambling ... i can be sat in the bookies and lose a fortune and since i have had Parkinsons when that happens i seriously dont give a f. Ck .. now thsts bad.

I coukd go on but wint bore you

My friend has MND , absolutely awful condition.
He played a lot of football right into his late forties and he thinks the development of MND might be something to do with pesticides that are sprayed onto playing fields , leading to a disproportionate number of field sports players development MND.
You'd think MND would be high in boxers due to head punches , but I can't think of any boxer that has developed MND , and thinking about it they aren't exposed to outside training that much especially in fields or pitches.

Ezzard Charles is the only one I can think of, he had ALS which is a form of MND. Interesting about field sports, I wonder if they’ve ever studied this theory?

[tonyevs]

Its not just boxing ... a lotmore can
Be done for Parkinson's, dementia, MND & alzeimhers...

I will
Contradict myself now ... the problem is
if more research went into the effects of rugby and boxing it would give the do gooders more fuel
To ban us.

The brain is proper complex ...

Gambling ... i can be sat in the bookies and lose a fortune and since i have had Parkinsons when that happens i seriously dont give a f. Ck .. now thsts bad.

I coukd go on but wint bore you

My friend has MND , absolutely awful condition.
He played a lot of football right into his late forties and he thinks the development of MND might be something to do with pesticides that are sprayed onto playing fields , leading to a disproportionate number of field sports players development MND.
You'd think MND would be high in boxers due to head punches , but I can't think of any boxer that has developed MND , and thinking about it they aren't exposed to outside training that much especially in fields or pitches.

Recent research has identified (as summarised by Ai)

Regular, intense, or strenuous exercise may increase the risk of developing Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in individuals who are already genetically predisposed

It being identified that Hatton had mild CTE raises the question if those boxers making what appear to have been unwise decisions to have comeback fights were really doing so from an capacious position. CTE is typically identified within the frontal lobes which have big impact on the executive functioning ie weighing up consequences and decision making among other things.

[JamesPhilips]

It can be hard to defend pro boxing sometimes… especially as you get older and lose that youthful invincibility mindset….

[Boxerbeetle]

At the end of the day, it’s not nice but everyone knows the risks vs rewards. Really hate the idea of a society where everything is banned and personal responsibility is ignored.

Ban boxing and what’s next? Rugby? F1? Horse riding? Cheerleading?

[gilgamesh]

At the end of the day, it’s not nice but everyone knows the risks vs rewards. Really hate the idea of a society where everything is banned and personal responsibility is ignored.

Ban boxing and what’s next? Rugby? F1? Horse riding? Cheerleading?

Drinking? Smoking? Sex? All these things are risky. Risk is part of life.

Taking a chance is part of what it means to be human.

[Boxerbeetle]

At the end of the day, it’s not nice but everyone knows the risks vs rewards. Really hate the idea of a society where everything is banned and personal responsibility is ignored.

Ban boxing and what’s next? Rugby? F1? Horse riding? Cheerleading?

Drinking? Smoking? Sex? All these things are risky. Risk is part of life.

Taking a chance is part of what it means to be human.

You mean to say sex isn’t already banned? I need to remind my missus!

[Controversial]

At the end of the day, it’s not nice but everyone knows the risks vs rewards. Really hate the idea of a society where everything is banned and personal responsibility is ignored.

Ban boxing and what’s next? Rugby? F1? Horse riding? Cheerleading?

Does everyone really know though, it’s only in more recent times they are looking at the dangers of heading balls in football etc. Lots of young kids are pushed into boxing or want to box, I’m sure they don’t really understand the full dangers of what damage they are potentially doing to themselves . Loads of fighters have wars in the gyms thinking they are doing the right thing behave their trainer tells them to do it. It’s a tough one for sure.

[Coco]

At the end of the day, it’s not nice but everyone knows the risks vs rewards. Really hate the idea of a society where everything is banned and personal responsibility is ignored.

Ban boxing and what’s next? Rugby? F1? Horse riding? Cheerleading?

Does everyone really know though, it’s only in more recent times they are looking at the dangers of heading balls in football etc. Lots of young kids are pushed into boxing or want to box, I’m sure they don’t really understand the full dangers of what damage they are potentially doing to themselves . Loads of fighters have wars in the gyms thinking they are doing the right thing behave their trainer tells them to do it. It’s a tough one for sure.

When you have been smacked on the chin a few times in the gym, you know exactly what boxing is all about

[Controversial]

At the end of the day, it’s not nice but everyone knows the risks vs rewards. Really hate the idea of a society where everything is banned and personal responsibility is ignored.

Ban boxing and what’s next? Rugby? F1? Horse riding? Cheerleading?

Does everyone really know though, it’s only in more recent times they are looking at the dangers of heading balls in football etc. Lots of young kids are pushed into boxing or want to box, I’m sure they don’t really understand the full dangers of what damage they are potentially doing to themselves . Loads of fighters have wars in the gyms thinking they are doing the right thing behave their trainer tells them to do it. It’s a tough one for sure.

When you have been smacked on the chin a few times in the gym, you know exactly what boxing is all about

In terms of it hurts yes of course but in terms of potential long term neurological damage? I doubt many youngsters even consider it or know it’s a thing. Even if they did being young makes you brave and do stupid and dangerous things sometimes, wisdom comes later.

[johnmanchester]

Boxing is obviously dangerous, but so are a lot of non-combat sports - rugby, ice hockey, NFL, motorsports, horse riding, etc. Life would be pretty dull if anything that carried risk was banned.

Yes but none of those sports - in fact no other sport at all - have the delivery of blows to the head as the primary focus.

The sport of boxing is presented as "the accumulation of more points than the opponent by successfully out landing them"

There is a sort of silent consensus where everyone pretends the knockouts and the knockdowns just sort of happen as an unintentional byproduct of this - as if head contact isn't actually necessary to "out land" the opponent.

Whereas we all know if head contact was banned tomorrow, that would instantly be the end of the pro sport.

[TheLeprechaun]

Ezzard Charles is the only one I can think of, he had ALS which is a form of MND. Interesting about field sports, I wonder if they’ve ever studied this theory?

There was a very famous ad he did. I suppose it's from a different era so people from today wouldn't know but I would have thought boxing fans would know. Charles was lineal heavyweight champ.

[stujones]

Its not just boxing ... a lotmore can
Be done for Parkinson's, dementia, MND & alzeimhers...

I will
Contradict myself now ... the problem is
if more research went into the effects of rugby and boxing it would give the do gooders more fuel
To ban us.

The brain is proper complex ...

Gambling ... i can be sat in the bookies and lose a fortune and since i have had Parkinsons when that happens i seriously dont give a f. Ck .. now thsts bad.

I coukd go on but wint bore you

My friend has MND , absolutely awful condition.
He played a lot of football right into his late forties and he thinks the development of MND might be something to do with pesticides that are sprayed onto playing fields , leading to a disproportionate number of field sports players development MND.
You'd think MND would be high in boxers due to head punches , but I can't think of any boxer that has developed MND , and thinking about it they aren't exposed to outside training that much especially in fields or pitches.

Ezzard Charles is the only one I can think of, he had ALS which is a form of MND. Interesting about field sports, I wonder if they’ve ever studied this theory?

There is some links between mnd and pesticides. Farmers get it more frequently also…. Doddle Weir I believe was a Rugby player who farms.

There is stats that support this from research papers, Anecdotally, I know 4 people who have had mnd. Each of those farmers.

[skanksta]

Intetesting read this thread and I only clicked on it 'cos my bad eyes plus a phone made me think it said Brian Itauma, and I thought "who TF is BRIAN ITAUMA ?!"

[jamesmcdonnell]

As an older bloke, even having mates the same age chomping at the bit to get back in the ring, I wouldn't put my brain through multiple concussions again. I've got a lot of life left to live and want to be happy with all my faculties.

Brave from early boxing training, I got bounced off the concrete by a tougher kid as a teenager and felt like I'd left a little bit of myself on the pavement even back then. I still messed around with combat sports for years after, but I do still wonder how much damage had already been done. I was very reckless after, got into trouble and suffered with depression in a way I hadn't before.

I've got a niece who really wants to box, and although I'll move about with her and show her things for fun, I've always discouraged her from doing it for real.

I remember years ago, was in the pub, and got chatting to this big, but out of shape posh rugby type, who as it turned out had played competive rugby in his youth, he was in his mid forties, and probably 3-4 stone out of shape.

He told me he was entering a white collar boxing event, and that his opponent was a 30 year old ex squaddie.

I asked him what on earth had possessed him, to do something so foolish, given the fact the squaddie had also as it turned out boxed in the army. I asked when his fight was, and he said four weeks time, and I said "You need to stop going to the pub mate, you're going to get a right kicking unless this guy is a midget."

I ran into him a couple of months later at the same pub, he nodded at me at the bar.
"How'd your fight go?" I asked him, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.
"It was stopped in the first" he said. "The guy was smaller, but much fitter and stronger and he just came out and starting smashing me to pieces right from the first bell. I got knocked down, and got up, but after that I had no idea what was going on - and when the ref stopped it, I didn't even know where I was."
I just shook my head.

I just don't understand why anybody with little or no background in boxing would contemplate getting into the ring. Especially in their 40's or older - even as a young and fit individual, it's fraught with risk.

I'm amazed more people haven't just keeled over and died of a coronary at these events to be honest.

[Coco]

As an older bloke, even having mates the same age chomping at the bit to get back in the ring, I wouldn't put my brain through multiple concussions again. I've got a lot of life left to live and want to be happy with all my faculties.

Brave from early boxing training, I got bounced off the concrete by a tougher kid as a teenager and felt like I'd left a little bit of myself on the pavement even back then. I still messed around with combat sports for years after, but I do still wonder how much damage had already been done. I was very reckless after, got into trouble and suffered with depression in a way I hadn't before.

I've got a niece who really wants to box, and although I'll move about with her and show her things for fun, I've always discouraged her from doing it for real.

I remember years ago, was in the pub, and got chatting to this big, but out of shape posh rugby type, who as it turned out had played competive rugby in his youth, he was in his mid forties, and probably 3-4 stone out of shape.

He told me he was entering a white collar boxing event, and that his opponent was a 30 year old ex squaddie.

I asked him what on earth had possessed him, to do something so foolish, given the fact the squaddie had also as it turned out boxed in the army. I asked when his fight was, and he said four weeks time, and I said "You need to stop going to the pub mate, you're going to get a right kicking unless this guy is a midget."

I ran into him a couple of months later at the same pub, he nodded at me at the bar.
"How'd your fight go?" I asked him, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.
"It was stopped in the first" he said. "The guy was smaller, but much fitter and stronger and he just came out and starting smashing me to pieces right from the first bell. I got knocked down, and got up, but after that I had no idea what was going on - and when the ref stopped it, I didn't even know where I was."
I just shook my head.

I just don't understand why anybody with little or no background in boxing would contemplate getting into the ring. Especially in their 40's or older - even as a young and fit individual, it's fraught with risk.

I'm amazed more people haven't just keeled over and died of a coronary at these events to be honest.

I know a couple of guys who run white collar shows, they are both keen to have fair matches.
If 2 40 year old fellas with little experience and a bit overweight want to fight, it's all good. They are provided with proper training camps too.
Sounds like a bad match to me.