Seems boxers retire earlier now and always get a scan done after a knock out. Maybe it's too earlier to tell since it often shows more as they grow older. And not so many power punchers running around anymore like Earnie Shavers and George Foreman t
They all have brain damage of some sort.. they are taking shots to the head.. multiple concussions. It's not as common as it was years and years ago, but they force you to wait to fight after a TKO/KO, and guys just don't fight as often.
Still prevalent though not as soon as back when fighters fought weekly or bi-weekly. The damage is undeniable!!!
Overall exposure is now much lower. Take Sam langford for example, he boxed 2568 rounds http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=011023&cat=boxer Then take a modern day fighter who people are calling to retire as he has been boxing too long, eg Holyfield, who has boxed 443 rounds. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=499&cat=boxer Holyfield has boxed 17% as many rounds as Langford. Big difference.
That is completely disturbing!!! If I was his next opponent I would send him a portrait of that pic in the mail...Special Delivery about one week before the fight or hand it to him personally at the weigh in!!!
Fewer fights per career, better health regulations, fights are stopped sooner (think Frazier vs Foreman - would have been stopped after the 4th knockdown in the second round not after Frazier was sent into orbit with that uppercut; or Cooney vs Norton where Norton was sat on the ropes and was hit by some of the hardest punches Cooney ever delivered on a man), and training camps that focus on other forms of training other than sparring such as polymetrics, explosive strength and exercise science. I read somewhere ages ago that most fighters suffer the most serious brain damage sparring because the head gear distributes the force more all over the head and into the brain rather than more at the point of impact (such as the jaw) as in a fight with no headgear.