Percentage of fighters with CTE post boxing career? Will current fights be affected?

Early dementia is easier to attribute to CTE, but fact is dementia in older age is relatively common.

Take for example Jake La Motta former middleweight champion, definitely a give one to take one fighter, he fought 869 rounds as a pro in a 13yr career, and died at age of 95 with his grey cells apparently not affected by CTE.

I am sure in future the numbers of pugilists who suffer CTE will be more quantifiable, due to brain imaging happening through their careers, so damage will be identified and any worsening will be measurable.

However in answer to the percentage of former champs who succumb to CTE, I do not know, we of course can name plenty who have.

 

It can really vary. For example, Muhammad Ali and Ernie Terrell. They were in the same age range and fought a similar number of fights. They both ended up with severe damage. However, the time of the onset couldn't have been more different: Ali was falling apart before he even finished his boxing career, while Terrell was ok mentally for the vast majority of his life, but then the dementia kicked in badly for his final few years.

 

To a degree? Perhaps most. Difference between migraines and progressing dementia however is a difference between life and death.

 

Have you read A Champion's Last Fight The Struggle with Life After Boxing By Nick Parkinson? I read this before Tris Dixon's Damage and it does cover CTE in boxing and it's effects.

 

Also Joe Bugner, who seemed to be doing well until recently, but now has dementia.

It's easier to identify in guys who were ailing at a young age, like Ali, Quarry, Norris and Benitez, and also the likes of Watson and McClellan. There can't be much dispute that their health issues are/were boxing related. However, people who have never boxed in their lives also get dementia and Parkinson's.

When a 75 year old man who retired from boxing 40 years ago and was previously in good shape suddenly develops Alzheimer's, who can really say whether it was caused by boxing?

 

Ironically, football players seem to be far more affected by CTE. It all comes down to bone structure and genetics (like Parkinson's). Some of the least hit fighters still end up w dementia.

 

Wasn't Schmeling at a few months shy of 100 fine brain wise?

 

I read an article in Ring Magazine once that went into great detail about the effect on the brain caused by certain punches. If I remember correctly hooks and uppercuts were the most damaging punches.

 

I attribute it to the same as smokers.
Some can smoke many years and die in old age, others develop lung cancer s, heart disease, stroke s etc.
Some time s it's luck, or rather bad luck, of the draw.
Very interesting subject, regarding the brain damage caused in boxing.

 

I found the article that I mentioned earlier. It was written by Scott Lafee in Ring magazine some years ago. He says that a straight-on blow to the face is less likely to cause injury than from a punch coming from the sides or below. He gives the example of a woodpecker which can smack its head against a tree with forces reaching up to 1,200 g’s without damage because, in part, it’s head is travelling in the same plane as it’s body. He goes on to say that boxing punches that come in angles such as hooks and uppercuts, do just the opposite. They produce rotational forces that can cause the brain itself to twist and distort within the skull, stretching and tearing delicate connections between brain cells.

 

It’s too tough to so the research to find the percentages of all the pro fighters in the world and see if they have CTE. There will always have your share of fighters that suffer from brain damage though. It’s simply unavoidable due to the nature of the sport.

There’s a really good documentary called After the Last Round dealing with this topic.

This content is protected

 

I can't imagine what the studies might show for those who were struck by Wilder.