Does every fighter get some sort of brain damage?

It's a worrying thing to think about, actualy. I'm not sure if 70% of fighters get brain damage like somebody earlier suggested, but there must be lots more than is publicised. Just look at Hopkins and Roger Mayweather, they seem to be affected in someway.

 

The article says they researched 18 boxers. And then they speak in percentages.

Well, of course it's obvious that boxing in the long term causes brain damage, but a research mostly based on statistics with only 18 counts is laughable.



Some people seem to take it better than others. What i think plays an important role is how much someone spars. Guys like Jermain Taylor used to have tons of sparring sessions and believe me, in Philadelphia, they don't hold back or go easy. Taylor was already messed up early in his career, a sad sight.

On the other hand, guys like Foreman, as far as i know relied more on strength exercise etc instead of sparring, and he's healthy as a fish.

Wladimir and Lennox have styles in which they don't get hit that much, i'm sure that contributes to their health. If Ali had retired in 67, perhaps he would've still been having charismatic speeches and jokes today.


I hate it. I wish i could just spar every day because i love it, but i want to save my brain so i don't do it that often.

 

Scary stuff.

 

I agree about the percentages thing, but there is broad evidence -- tested over decades -- that backs up the point, if not the percentage. The final link provided has a doctor estimating 40-50%. The difficulty lies in diagnosing something as complex as a brain. Clearly, based on our own eyes, we can see that fighting for a long time is a poor long-term health strategy. To say the least.

Also, fighters from the mid-90s and later haven't been retired for long enough to show the effects. I actually though I heard Roy Jones slur on FNF last year, but he has seemed OK lately. But if this stuff takes on average 16 years to set in, it's far too early to predict how that effect may take its toll.

At any rate, it's an occupational hazard and one in which fighters should be allowed to take. Eating fast food and not exercising is pretty bad for you, too.

 

Benitez? Let's see how long Floyd sticks around. His father and uncle obviously are punchy, so clearly genetics are not in his favor. I hope you're right, though.

 

It is more than obvious that there is potential tissue damage as the power is unleashed on a structure such as an organ loose inside a bone structure and that damage should increase according to activity levels and amount of time spent undergoing it. I believe that every adult is responsible for his own decisions and actions but there is something known as medical science and humanitarian conscience to protect fighters from themselves... The central nervous system has many ways to defend our system from those physiological changes - indicators of potential injury should encourage a person to cease a task, prompting someone to refrain from activity and those are memory loss, speech alterations, drop in blood pressure, nausea, feeling faint, slowed heart beat, loss of appetite, sweating, and perhaps even loss of consciousness.

 

Based on what you can read about the subject, and what you hear from so-called experts, I believe the answer is yes, but then again, what's the point? What business or trade of work doesn't leave you with some sort of brain damage. Look at some of the scientists working in the field of "brain damage". They can hardly order themselves a beer in a bar. If that is not brain damage I don't know what is.

 

Please make an experience, bang your head hard and as fast against the wall and judge for yourself if there would be any sort of indication of potential damage... Of course that any biological machine doesn't get to work better as time goes by and under increasing stress of work ( mental work that is) but we are not just thinking machines - sleep, relaxation, energy supply, even healthy work itself should help to recuperate... Alcohol is a drug and as such, it is not to be understood as helpful in that sense. Basically sayin that getting punched in the head doesn't have direct implication on neurological damage cuz there is no significant science to prove it is almost as sayin that there is no corruption in politics just cuz they don't get caught that often.

 

Ray Leonard has slow and halting speech compared to what he used to sound like. Also he had a total of 40 pro fights , not a great deal .

Some guys just take a punch better than others , the guys who rely on speed and reflexes are generally lighter boned.

Bernard Hopkins was asked a couple of years ago on a TV interview if as a result of taking head punches if his brain works as well as it used to, he answered no.

One of the best studies done on concussions was on hockey players in Canada. After one concussion each successive concussion happens easier , takes longer to recover from and after several the victim has noticeable personality changes, none for the better.

 

Randall Tex Cobb got a degree after getting hit in the head numerous times, so not all fighters get brain damage.

 

Everybody who competes in professional boxing will suffer some type of brain damage; it's just that with some, it's more obvious and seriously effects them later in life.

 

Good one!