Flyweight Pancho Villa had some badly infected teeth going into his fight with Jimmy McLarnin in 1925. He had one of them removed the morning of the fight. He understandably lost the fight but then went on a party binge and ended up hospitalized and dying from the progression of infection.
I thought rhabdomyolysis had something to do with muscle breakdown because of injuries or overtraining
It does, but there are other factors, and studies of patients who get it after surgery show that obesity is an independent factor increasing risk. Just google "rhabdomyolysis" and "obesity." One study which you can easily find even uses the phrase independent factor, or something very similar.
The most common cause is actually blunt-force trauma, or crush injury. He took a 12-round beating from Deontay Wilder. Probably the doctors thought he had been in a car crash when he went to the hospital after the fight.
It could be, but we don't know, and even if true, the title of the thread is "fighters who had a disease in the ring." I have already conceded that it is a "syndrome" and not a "disease," but apart from that, I have not said a single thing incorrect.
This, to me, is one of the biggest myths in boxing & robs Tyson of one of his two greatest fights. Spinks did not fight scared, he moved as well as he could & traded when he had to, he never once stopped trying to catch Tyson coming in! Spinks looks nervous during the instructions, but he didn't fight scared.
He's twisting it. Obesity is a risk factor for rhabdomyolysis in surgery patients. In terms of pro athletes, it's performance induced. Just a really weird thing for him to be yammering on about.
As a Tyson fan I’m very happy to accept what you say. I don’t like to take anything away from any of Tyson’s victorys if I can help it. I was in the arena that night and a lot of the talk around me was that Spinks looked frightened…but trust me I’m happy to go along with you that Spinks was not terrified that evening.
Don Cockell had a glandular issue that took his weight out of control. He was really only a light heavy for most of his career until he could no longer cope and had to move to heavy. He only actually had 10 fights at heavy before challenging Marciano for the title. Tami Mauriello had what was then considered a 'club foot'. My ignorance on this subject, as I don't know if this was a disease or some childhood accident or from birth. He was always a bit fleshy and had moved steadily from middle, to light heavy, to heavy. Probably because he couldn't run much. If anyone else knows more on this I'd be glad to hear.
Oh, no doubt Spinks looked very afraid while the referee was giving instructions, but he fought about as well as he could, all things considered. BTW - If you want to see a Tyson opponent REALLY crap their pants, watch the McNeely fight. It's very quick but watch carefully. As the referee gives instructions, Peter has this dumb smile on his face. Immediately as he turns away from the ref, he has this look on his face like "oh my god he's gonna KILL me!!!" It's a riot. Actually it's the perfect example of fighting scared by tearing right into Mike with wild abandon & no strategy. Spinks, on the other hand, fought as normal as ever.
