I used my best judgment in posting this where it was most appropriate. Please forgive me if you disagree. The looming specter of the Valuev / Holyfield fight has brought me back around to a subject I've been troubled by over the years which is brain damage. It has become obvious over the years that dementia is progressive as are some other forms of brain damage. After their very last fights Hearns didn't stutter, Ali could still speak and the three Quarry brothers... well... It seems plain to me that a person with even a slight slur who continues to fight is doomed. Such seems to be the case with Evander. I have read where people say he is slurring his speech, but when I watched a interview with him that was taped within the last year I thought he didn't so much slur as just sound stupid Meldrick Taylor - style. I posted this in the classic boxing forum because I wanted to hear what seasoned fans think of this subject, what you've seen in the past and when and how is a guy saved from himself? It's a discussion post I suppose.
I remember reading an article in The Ring that said that after Holyfield's break from boxing (when the NYSAC suspended him), that his speech seemed to improve and his slur diminished. Each fighter is different. A guy can appear to be in good health and then the signs show years later. One guy I wonder, and worry about, is James Toney. It doesn't seem to be a slur so much as he's mumbling, but still, you can barely understand him. Toney in 1994: [YT]uIpXR7-qmCY[/YT] Toney in 2003: [YT]JgecPysuGB4[/YT] Toney in 2008: [YT]XmWFfXx8A4w[/YT]
Honestly, any number of fighters come off as hard to understand. Fighters trying to emulate some street bull****, which any number of fighters do, whether on purpose or just from doing it automatically from so many years.
If it happens it happens to Holy....... BUT! His recent comeback steming from 2006, Holy has NOT really taken a wicked beating or been in a really hectic fight...... "Oquendo & Iggy" were more so tactical fights rather than wars..... MR.BILL:good
At his age... and over the endured years, the thousands of rounds of sparring will have taken effect. At his current age, no head trauma will be a positive influence. If Holy tires against Val... and he will.. Val can be in position to seriously **** Holy up..and he might. The size difference is like nothing Holy has faced before. Taking his age into account, this is a dangerous prospect. Holy WILL NOT walk away from this bout without lasting effects, which may ony show in the future.. unless he stops Val very early. Holyfield is one of the most enduring, if not the most enduring H/Ws in history.
my partner is a pro boxer he was ordered to have an M.R.I done on his brain he was 27yrs old at the time but has the scaring of a 40yr old man....
I wonder how George Foreman will hold up over the next ten years or so. He took a lot of punishment during his comeback........
He took some shots, but didn't take a lot of punishment in his early career and I really think that 10 year break made a difference. I have wondered if they're isn't a big genetic component to boxing dementia-- there are some studies that indicate that Apolipoprotein E may contribute to the onset. http://www.medlink.com/medlinkcontent.asp http://tbi.unl.edu/savedTBI/sports/dementia.html As far as Evander goes, I think he should have retired after the first Ruiz fight. He's a prime candidate for dementia as his speech may indicate and his steadfast refusal to acknowledge the reality of his age and decline in skill. Sad, but true.
