Fights who suffered damage due to sparring wars?

This is true. All James wanted to do was spar all the times I seen him in training. Even when he was sick. He'd have Bill Miller wrap his hands, then get in the ring with whoever was there and spar. He's paying a price for too many years of it plus he had a long career to boot.

 

I remember reading about Larry Holmes sparring 300+ rounds for some of his bigger defenses — I think Shavers 2 and Cooney among them.

 

Actually to be honest I think 80 to 90% of brain damage suffers in sparring.
In most gyms sparring was basically like a real bout that does not count on your record but your brain is recording it.
Imagine doing that 4 days a week. Now multiple that by a year.
Kronk was infamous for having gym wars and if you could not handle it they drove you out of the gym. John David Jackson got driven out of Kronk.
Philly prided itself on gym wars for many many years.
Carlos Monzon was actually shocked when he watched American boxers spar.

 

[QUOTE="Mastrangelo, post: 22280385, member: 120391" I read that in the old times, fighters getting knocked out during sparring was much more of a regular thing. A lot of people brought in for Joe Louis's training camp, apparently, were getting carried out of the ring, then coming in next day for more.[/QUOTE]

Tyson I believe was notorious for this.

 

Pretty unsurprising that a longtime sparring partner for hire would value sparing a lot. I'd expect it's common for guys like him.

 

I am not going to use names but their was this middleweight moving up through the ranks and on the verge of getting rated.
I went to watch him train and he and a stable mate of his absolutely beat the crap out of each other for 8 rounds.
His trainer was bragging they could sell tickets to these sparring sessions because they were better then most fights.
I was there for about a week and everyday they sparred and just tore each other up.
So finally another trainer asked if that was such a wise thing to do and didn't they worry not only about the damage being inflicted on both boxers but the possibility of a cut which could cancel actual pro bouts.
They kicked the trainer and his boxers out of the gym after a heated argument.
About a year latter this middleweight who was a darn good fighter started getting staggered ALL THE TIME in sparring.
Then he got stopped in a stay busy fight against a boxer who was 4-10 .
Then he got a shot at a name boxer and was stopped in one round. He just could not take a hard shot anymore.

 

In the eras when guys fought a lot, sparring was minimal. You got sharp and stayed sharp by fighting. If you read about the old days, to promote a big fight guys would go 2 weeks without a fight and they would spar to stay sharp. And they could spar light because they were already tuned up and were just trying to stay there.
The simple fact is that you only get sharp by fighting. You can run miles, hit mitts for days, have ripped abs, whatever. that doesn't make you fight ready. If you only fight 3 times a year, or less, you are going to have to go hard in sparring to get sharp enough to fight. there's no other way around it.

 

Exactly. That is why fighters like Chavez liked to fight often in between big fights.

 

Ali allowing spar mates to beat up on him.

 

Tons of them. I have seen people with no pro fights have cognitive difficulties due to boxing.

Canelo's incident beating the absolute crap out of a lightweight because he couldn't hit the previous sparring partner and was mad, and then the guy died and Canelo paid the family and the news hush money to act like it was an accident.

I've met a pro fighter with fewer than 5 fights who is very erratic and has speech cognition difficulties. I am assuming most of this wear and tear was not inflicted over four 3 round pro fights.

Great shout from Mike Cannon on the Quarry family, what a piece of absolute dog**** that patriarch was.

I recall Emmanuel Steward saying the gym fights between Don George and Andy Lee at Kronk were really good. He was commenting during a fight and said something to the effect that Andy Lee and Don George have better fights in the gym regularly. I think the fight was Randall Bailey vs. Mike Jones, maybe a round before the KO or the round of the KO.

 

Agreed, Blofeld, and your courtesy prompts me to add that @Saintpat is a font of knowledge and experience which he shares without patronising or bragging. I enjoy what he says. Kudos to him and fair play to you for your generous words.

 

In case anyone is wondering, the irony of my praising someone for not being patronising in such a patronising post hasn't escaped me. My excuse; I've been on the Cardhol - 12 year old single malt. Do keep Mrs Ezzard in your thoughts. She is in for one boring night.

 

I accept all patronage, especially the kind that pays bills haha.

What you get from me is worth exactly what you’re paying for it, but what I get out of this forum is invaluable. So many threads I read without commenting just to drink in the knowledge about fighters and fights to which I haven’t been exposed. I thank you all, and especially the mods for keeping Classic more like what Hemingway called “a clean, well-lighted place.”

 

I had heard that Canelo sparred a former pro who should have never been in the ring. Sad that it turns out to be true.

 

Hearns and Benitez.