Boxing and brain damage.

[Taeth]

I am reading this book by a neurologist, and he is saying that boxing absolutely a no-no in terms of what it does to your brain... obviously. However I would like to raise the fact that boxing takes it biggest toll on the brain long after you quit doing it. It does lasting damage to the hippocampus and cerebellum which is why it is likely to cause Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

So I am bringing this up because people criticized in particular Freddie Roach for what he has said about the health of certain fighters, but I think while reading this book that I am not going to continue sparring for one, but also guys like Hopkins might be wise to leave the sport asap. Regardless of how hard it is to hit Hopkins he has been fighting pro for 20 years, most of it at the top level of the sport where guys hit harder, and do more damage. I am really worried for guys I admire like him, Holyfield, and other guys like Margarito who are really going to suffer in their late 40's and 50's. All pro fighters suffer multiple times the brain damage an average person does, and even guys like Leonard who have escaped rather unscathed have far less intellectual capacity than they would have, had they not put on a pair of gloves. I feel these are important things for people in boxing to know, and it seems avoided way too much.

[No Contest]

No shit Sherlock. Would you mind watching boxing with bigger gloves and headgear though? Kind of takes away from the heritage of the sport. Just like joining the military may get you shot, nobody is forcing these guys in the ring....well I don't know about some of these promoters....

[Trainer Monkey]

Everything almost, can cause brain damage. You play baseball,you probably tak a brush back pitch to the head. You play football,almost all of your life long facilities are in trouble. Medieval combat,or the martial arts,you'll take one to the noggin. Driving your car can involve a stand of trees or another car tomorrow.
Lifes to short to spend it under your covers

[boozeboxer]

Dang. I thought this thread was going for the obvious......Taeth has brain damage and it is affecting his posting about boxing.

[cpcompany]

Even heading a football can cause some brain damage. I beleive ex England player Jeff Astle`s early death was brought on through brain damage from heading the ball. Gary Lineker also used to avoid heading the ball as much as possible in training for the same reason.

Boxers know the risks. While its a shame for any fighter to lose control of their faculties, fans become less sympathetic if they fight on until they are well past it and bring on permanent damage themselves.

[Beanflicker]

Saying things like "well you can get brain damage in other sports too" is such a chicken-sh!t, cop out answer IMO.

Boxing (and MMA) are the only sports where the object is to give someone brain damage. Thats the truth. You can watch football without seeing a bone jarring hit, and no one will care. You can watch hockey without a bodycheck or a fight and no one will care.

When someone doesn't get hurt in boxing, we call it boring. Its not interesting to watch. People watch boxing to see people get hurt, and boxers step in the ring to hurt their opponent. There is no two ways about it. The guys who box with the correct philosophy, to hit and not get hit, people find boring.

Thats why in a way, and it pains me to say this because I love boxing, I think MMA (ufc, ect) is probably the wave of the future because there is much less punishment taken to the head.

[DaxxKahn]

Saying things like "well you can get brain damage in other sports too" is such a chicken-sh!t, cop out answer IMO.

Boxing (and MMA) are the only sports where the object is to give someone brain damage. Thats the truth. You can watch football without seeing a bone jarring hit, and no one will care. You can watch hockey without a bodycheck or a fight and no one will care.

When someone doesn't get hurt in boxing, we call it boring. Its not interesting to watch. People watch boxing to see people get hurt, and boxers step in the ring to hurt their opponent. There is no two ways about it. The guys who box with the correct philosophy, to hit and not get hit, people find boring.

Thats why in a way, and it pains me to say this because I love boxing, I think MMA (ufc, ect) is probably the wave of the future because there is much less punishment taken to the head.

The whole object of the sport of Boxing and MMA is not to inflict brain damage...anyone who thinks so has no REAL understanding of the sport...They have simply an urge to see someone permenatly injured and that is an issue of their own.....

Sure everyone likes to see a KO but no one wants to see someone injured severly.....Brain Damage from long term just happens to be a side effect that goes along with being hit so often...the body is a machine and like any machine it can only take so much....Athletes that take better care of themselves deal with it better...

In FACT most NHL hocky players recieve harder hits that cause more damage to the head then the average KO punch....It is often rare that a KO punch in itself has any long lasting effects...there is usually some sort of damage already in place prior if that does happen

The sport of Boxing is one that proves the better man/woman, it is one that shows skill and how hard a person has worked in perfecting their craft...it shows who is physically able to bring their body and reflexes to the greater point.....It is not to cause brain damage on your opponent....

In MMA most genuine fans of the sport and not the casual armchair fan appreciate a well executed submission just as much if not more in most cases

[Beanflicker]

The whole object of the sport of Boxing and MMA is not to inflict brain damage...anyone who thinks so has no REAL understanding of the sport...They have simply an urge to see someone permenatly injured and that is an issue of their own.....

Sure everyone likes to see a KO but no one wants to see someone injured severly.....Brain Damage from long term just happens to be a side effect that goes along with being hit so often...the body is a machine and like any machine it can only take so much....Athletes that take better care of themselves deal with it better...

In FACT most NHL hocky players recieve harder hits that cause more damage to the head then the average KO punch....It is often rare that a KO punch in itself has any long lasting effects...there is usually some sort of damage already in place prior if that does happen

The sport of Boxing is one that proves the better man/woman, it is one that shows skill and how hard a person has worked in perfecting their craft...it shows who is physically able to bring their body and reflexes to the greater point.....It is not to cause brain damage on your opponent....

In MMA most genuine fans of the sport and not the casual armchair fan appreciate a well executed submission just as much if not more in most cases

A KO means a concussion, which is brain damage, and a KO is the main goal of boxing. There is no better win in the eyes of the fans than a KO.

Yes boxing shows how hard a person has worked to hone their skill and reflexes, but why do they do it? To be better prepared to KO or incapacitate another human being.

You say hockey players often take bigger hits (and in some cases maybe they do, the Lindros bros in particular have had bad concussion-riden pasts), but how many former NHL'ers do you see with slurred speech, or that can't dress themselves when they hit 55? How many NHLers do you see die on the ice from a head injury? Boxing has the stats to prove how dangerous and brutal it is.

[holmcall]

I am reading this book by a neurologist, and he is saying that boxing absolutely a no-no in terms of what it does to your brain... obviously. However I would like to raise the fact that boxing takes it biggest toll on the brain long after you quit doing it. It does lasting damage to the hippocampus and cerebellum which is why it is likely to cause Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

So I am bringing this up because people criticized in particular Freddie Roach for what he has said about the health of certain fighters, but I think while reading this book that I am not going to continue sparring for one, but also guys like Hopkins might be wise to leave the sport asap. Regardless of how hard it is to hit Hopkins he has been fighting pro for 20 years, most of it at the top level of the sport where guys hit harder, and do more damage. I am really worried for guys I admire like him, Holyfield, and other guys like Margarito who are really going to suffer in their late 40's and 50's. All pro fighters suffer multiple times the brain damage an average person does, and even guys like Leonard who have escaped rather unscathed have far less intellectual capacity than they would have, had they not put on a pair of gloves. I feel these are important things for people in boxing to know, and it seems avoided way too much.

Normally, the symptoms of pugisitica dementia show up about 12-16 years after contacting the affliction which is why it is so horiffic.

[holmcall]

Normally, one trauma will not do it. An accumulation will, however. And sparring is one of the primaru causes of brain damage with boxers.

[Taeth]

Normally, one trauma will not do it. An accumulation will, however. And sparring is one of the primaru causes of brain damage with boxers.

Actually in studies one punch in a pro fight is the equivalent of about 16 or 17 in sparring and amateur fighting. In fact because sparring and amateurs use a different type of glove, and the fighters don't tend to sit down on their punches in fact they don't do the same permanent damage that punches that you receive in a pro fight. Sparring and amateur fighting generally only causes swelling which will heal in about 3 months, but pro fights will actually cause tears in the brain that are permanent damage.

[holmcall]

Normally, one trauma will not do it. An accumulation will, however. And sparring is one of the primaru causes of brain damage with boxers.

Actually in studies one punch in a pro fight is the equivalent of about 16 or 17 in sparring and amateur fighting. In fact because sparring and amateurs use a different type of glove, and the fighters don't tend to sit down on their punches in fact they don't do the same permanent damage that punches that you receive in a pro fight. Sparring and amateur fighting generally only causes swelling which will heal in about 3 months, but pro fights will actually cause tears in the brain that are permanent damage.

Maybe;maybe not. I know too many guys who have told me their condition was caused by too many rounds in the Gym. I do, however, agree, that punches in a pro fight are the heaviest. Also, the number of amature fights can play into this. But for me, it's all about accumulative punishment over a period of time. Bowe was well on the way and then Golata super-charged his journey. Bobby Chacon's last 7 fights were against stiff competition and he won each pretty easily as I recall. Then, several years later, the dreaded PD set in. There are many other whom I just as soon not mention. At any rate, I have done a lot of research on this stuff and always walk away from it in horror. It's a one way street for which there is no way out, as the brain cells eventually liquify in the end and the victim is the put on life support and then he dies. Just plain awful.

[Taeth]

Football, soccer, hockey, none of them compare to the head trauma experienced in boxing. I use to try to rationalize it as well, but you can't compare other sports to boxing. I love boxing, and I am not trying to change the sport, but just to make people actually pay heed to Freddie Roach, as a person who loves to learn, I can't think of anything that is worth killing my brain for, its what makes us human.

[holmcall]

Football, soccer, hockey, none of them compare to the head trauma experienced in boxing. I use to try to rationalize it as well, but you can't compare other sports to boxing. I love boxing, and I am not trying to change the sport, but just to make people actually pay heed to Freddie Roach, as a person who loves to learn, I can't think of anything that is worth killing my brain for, its what makes us human.

Yes indeed. I reall some guys back in the '50s who repeatedly took terrible beating in amature fights and in the gym and later became "punchy" before any of us really knew and understood whhat "punchy" meant.

[Lance Uppercut]

Dr. Margert Goodman often writes about his in The Ring. In a recent article she noted that 1/3 of pro-fighters suffer some type of brain damage. But that includes very minor symptoms. That also means that 2/3 of fighters have no adverse effects.


additionally, studies have suggested that bigger gloves do not make the sport safer, and may even make it more deadly, by adding extra weight to the punch and better protecting the fist. Similarly, there is no objective evidence to prove that headgear provides any extra safety.


Life is full of risk. Spend your youth in a boxing gym and you might slow down mentally as you age; spend your youth in a bar, and you might die of heart disease at 45. Pick your poison.