A sensitive topic: Ring fatalities from punchers and non-punchers

Griffith wasn't a great puncher, nor was Albert Davila. Nor, for that matter, was Gabe Ruelas.

What these fights (and most others) have in common is sustained punishment over a number of rounds. Power punchers can take guys out much quicker. Ergo, they take less punishment.

 

Good points. And perhaps guys taken out early by bigger punchers have better health than those gradually chopped down by lighter punchers.

 

Not all ring deaths are about power. On any giving day a good punch can kill a man if landed right. Fitz, Baer ete hit hard, and do have the power to knock a man out or even kill them if the situation falls into that outcome should it come to that, they can in theory be able kill a man should they land the shot right, but that does not mean there going to cause fatalities like it is Mortal Kombat or something. On the other hand the punch that Carnera killed Schaaf with does not look like much. Any time a blow hits you, there is always risk of death. It is just the way the human body is. We are not made to take shots to the head with out some type of damage.

 

Anyone that uses Baers body count as an example of power disgusts me. Complete lack of respect and human decency. As stated Griffith above really wasn't a puncher It was simply a matter of dehydration and an accumulation of damage that took Benny Paret from us. You wouldn't believe the ****s I have seen say Benny deserved it for calling Griff a "Maricon" like trash talk never happens grow up. Boxers put there lives on the line every single time they go out there and they make there money fighting for your amusement just to be ****ed in the end 95% of the time. Don't call yourself a fan or a man if you are going to trivialize what goes on in that ring. /Rant over /

 

Dehydration is probably the biggest factor for in ring fatalities.

Outside the ring it usually happens when somebody hits their head on the floor.

 

Exactly. Davila was the first one I thought of. One punch from George Foreman might knock you down for the count, but 500 punches from Albert Davila will do way more damage to your brain.

 

Kid Lavigne stated Andy Bowen asked for the padding on the ring to be removed and that lead to his death in their fight.

 

Hector Thompson had two ring fatalities at his hands. He was a solid, attrition puncher but certainly not a noted KO artist.

It definitely adds credence to the “attrition” puncher being more debilitating long term than the noted power puncher.

 

Accumulation is always worse than a single powerful blow, of course - but accumulation of powerful blows from a hard puncher is worse than a comparable number from a pillow-fist. Seems fairly straightforward logic.

I do agree that citing them as supporting arguments when parsing out a ranked hierarchy of punchers is, tasteless aside, not the most instructive or useful tool given how many other factors can play into such tragedies.

 

IMO, the WBC needs to shoulder the blame for the Jimmy Garcia and Kiko Bejienes debacles. It is a rough sport and tragedies do happen, but bad matches due to politics and money changing hands are a big cause. For instance, when a fighter is getting a shot at the title - and I am a stickler with this - he should be deserving and in shape for the biggest moment of his professional career. Not some clubfighter from a politically connected country. In the instance of Garcia, he had a pretty record, but in what way was he deserving of a title shot? Very few names of substance on his record, he hadn't won a fight in almost a year and in his last fight he was absolutely and soundly beaten by Genero Hernandez for the WBA title. Now, Hernandez wasn't a puncher, which was probably lucky for Garcia. But to put in a completely undeserving fighter like that with a tiger like Ruelas was quite literally, tragic. Secondly, Kiko Bejines hadn't even fought in 13 months - and that was a 4th round stoppage loss - when he went into the fight with Albert Davila for the vacant bantamweight title. A vacant title is supposed to be between the two top contenders. How the hell did Bejienes still hold a top 2 rating? Again, when one is fighting for the world championship, this cannot be taken lightly and the contender needs to be ready not politically ready.

 

I've thought this. Someone like a Larry Holmes has probably done a lot more long term damage to people than an Earnie Shavers. If Shavers got you, it was one punch. If Larry got you, it was 100 stiff jabs to the head with some straight rights to the head following up on those.

 

McGuigan and Bugner hsd to live with the pain of causing a death in the ring. As did Alan Minter.
Of course, Eubank had the tragic Michael Watson fight, but by the grace of God he survived.
Every time a fighter steps in the ring, he's literally taking his and his opponent life in to his hands.