Re: I'm becoming more sensitive to stoppages nowadays!
I doubt you're the only one. The concussion, CTE and TBI issues are spreading through pro sports like wild fire, especially now that footballer's families have evidence for litigation. The truth is we are just now starting to know more about it than ever before. Combine that with fight sport specific issues like cutting water weight so drastically that it effects the fluid surrounding the brain (that ultimately provides a cushion of sorts for the brain when the head snaps violently in one direction or abruptly stops), and it's the killer in the room that anyone making money off the sport refuses to acknowledge because its attached to their meal ticket.
To me, its a gladiators sport. This isn't a contact sport with where the pads are supposed to save you. You have 2 guys that know they can get KTFO but refuse to believe it, go in stripped down and try to cave each others head in. (all the people that say they're there to entertain or perform... if they could ko people with the first shot they land, take the check and run.. they would.) But in a sport like boxing where violent trauma could end it for you. Avoiding the first shot is just as important as avoiding the last (because there's always a possibility that they could be they could be the same shot)... or the last 5 shots unaswered. The only difference is you only need to take the first one to get your check. The last 5 that cave your head in usually come with bills, a lot of them. (hospital, doctors, therapy, prescriptions, funeral parlor)
Just because you have someone like floyd saying he's performing... doesn't mean hes taking less of a gamble with his life or that of his family or his kids. Having Great defense, overprotective refs, pre fight glove mandates, etc... may bolster things but all it will ever take is one shot to change your life. The perfect punch at the perfect time with perfect placement and distance... whether its intended or totally blind ... can be all it takes.
There are people that walk around with previously undetected brain issues or undiagnosed conditions that live a full life because through luck they avoided any kind of brain trauma. Just as there are people who trip at fall while in their physical prime and die from a small bump to the noggin. You never know when your ticket will be punched (no pun intended.. but funny how that worked out).
They want your @$$ beat because upsets make news. News brings about excitement, excitement brings about ratings. The objective is to bring you up to the tower and tear your @$$ down. And if you don't believe that, you're crazy.
Roy Jones, Jr. "What I've Learned," Esquire 2003
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