Boxing and brain damage.

[Trainer Monkey]

Just ask Troy Aikmen about concussive damage.Football players take severe damage as well but on a large scale recieve no where near the negative stigma of professional fighters.Their are endless contributing factors that can cause problems before a guy even steps into the ring....draining weight,over training to begin with Imo.

Head gear seems a pro/con ??Effectivly a punch is landing on a bigger mass,even partial contact rattles the brain.Seems to protect more so against cuts,visual damage but the grey matter is still dislodged off contact.

He has had what three concussions? A fighter can have that many in one fight, it doesn't receive the stigma because its nowhere near as bad, and even football is a sport that is now considered a no-no. Actually helmets help with brain damage, hence why you should wear a helmet when riding a bike or motor bike. If you don't believe try falling on your head without a helmet, and then with one, it acts like a cushion, and your brain doesn't move as much. They actually make a bigger deal about football players getting concusions than they do about boxers or guys like Wladimir Klitschko would never fight again. Because everytime you get a concusion its easier to get another one, and they get progressively more dangerous.

Also its not the glove size, but how its made, sparring gloves actually cushion the blow, they have padding that absorbs a significant portion of the power that normally would land on someone. A pro glove is harder, and those there is less of a cushioning effect, and that does make a huge difference, there is a reason why it doesn't effect you as much, and that does mean less brain injury.

Actually I believe it was about 10 or 11,and as is norm increasing in regularity.One thing about football compared to boxing is the individual basis that members compete on.And when a free safety comes flying across open field and lays out a reciever,it does not have to be a headshot.The concussive force of impact,mass per mass can result in an equally emphatic "KO".Boxing is just as much a training of defense as it is an offense but when a defensive specialist is in the ring....fans often react not so kindly unless they implement telling offense as well,landing shots.In football a guy streeks down the sideline for a returned TD,avoiding tackles the entire way,they are superstars.When a Linebacker flattens a QB,they are monsters......A boxer must be both at once.

The point about the helmuts/headgear Im making is that a boxer has more mass of the head to connect with.Even a clipping shot,regardless of gloves sends shockwaves through the cranium.Not visually devisating but what happens inside the head can not be seen.Honestly,It would be interesting to hear from some of our Boxing members.I have never been in the ring and the best testament I can give to being concussed are squabbles on the pavement....when I was out numbered of course. Look,we as fans understand what we are seeing,Boxing is a beutiful sport of offence AND defense.Sadly tragedyhappen and it is incumbent on us,as well as everyone involved ,tominamize those risks.We should speak openly of it and this thread needs to be spoken on.Nice to address it but I'd be a hypocrite to berate and single out boxing as a lone culprit.I in a very small way,'except' the dangers and after effects....but that pales and is utterly insignifcant towhat fighters face everytime they climb through the ropes.

My intial point being
All sports are inherently dangerous,some moreso then others,but singeling out boxing is foolish.
There are people who jump out of perfectly operational planes with some silk strapped to their back for fun for the love of god. The whole point of skydiving as far as I can see,is to succesfully avoid plummeting to your death. The whole point of swimming is to not drown. The whole point of football for most of the team,is to rip someones head off.
Just saying its just boxing is foolish,since the abolition of the 15 round fight,fewer and fewer boxers are showing signs of repetitive concussion syndrome,and boxers are less prone to other debilitating injuries that are common place in other sports,like Paralysis, hamstring ruptures,when was the last time you heard about a boxer undergoing Tommy John surgery,because I guarantee you at least one pitcher this year is going to lose his career because of that injury. Crucial ligimate damage is going to happen.
Any time your an athlete,a debilitating injury is a possibility.
Its par for the course youve chosen in life,you knew the risk and continued upon your course.
Now if you want to say there is more those of us in the sport could do to protect the boxers,both during their career,and after their career,your speaking my language. But to highlight boxing specifically as a source of traumatic injuries is BS,most sports entail traumatic injuries. You have a choice of whether or not you wish to participate in an athletic activity