Boxing needs some kind of ex-boxer run association to help the new guys with their investments, etc. this story just keeps on happening
guys who have wars like this on a consistent basis...well, there's absolutely no excuse, especially in any democratic country, why they aren't getting taken care of after they hang'em up. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s8oxUqBAFc[/ame] what a war
We're talking about a guy that made millions but went overboard... I don't wish hard times on anyone what so ever but I will certainly not cry over a guy that had an opportunity to take care of himself and his family for the rest of his life and through it away on his own...
on the same token though, you have to expect guys who are for the most part from the streets and who fight for a living, to not be even remotely business savvy. that makes it the promoters job (these ivy league graduate promoters), the guys who make millions off of these fighters, to help them with their funds in their retirement and not just forget about them. it's the least they can do for gladiatorial combat, honestly the very least.
I read somewhere he turned down a painter job because it was beneath him. Painter jobs can pay pretty good when you get to journeyman status. So he really has noone else to blame for not having a roof over his head.
I agree that these guys need to be guided better since they can't necessarily be relied upon to invest their own money. On the other hand, when you make millions, you don't need counseling to just fully pay for 1 decent house, not a mansion with 50 bathrooms... It doesn't take a PHD to do that. If only for that, he'd at least still have a decent roof above his head right now. The main problem is that people in general, not just boxers, are way too materialistic....you know the constant search for the "American Dream"..... A materialistic mind is the MAIN problem, not necessarily a lack of business savvy !!
how does someone squander 5 million like seriously. Theres more to this story than we re been told. Still very sad and do agree their should be pension payments etc.
I have a lot of sympathy for ex-fighters who end up losing most of their money for medical care and the like, or who got bilked out of their money by unscrupulous hangers on. Not to sound callous, but I don't have much sympathy for people who just do stupid **** with their money and then lose it. I don't see how this is any different from anyone else who squanders their money on needless ****. If you don't want to end up broke, don't spend your money on crap you don't need, and don't borrow money you can't repay. As for pensions, has anyone actually paid attention to the news? Pensions barely exist anymore in the US. It would be nearly impossible to organize a proper one now. And the people who would need a pension are the journeymen who got beat up while living from paycheck to paycheck. THOSE guys actually need the money to live, since they can't fight anymore and they didn't exactly develop other marketable skills. Iran ****ing Barkley, who made millions of dollars in his career, doesn't need a pension. He needed to not lose all his money gambling! Same goes for Riddick Bowe and Tommy Hearns and Evander Holyfield and whomever else ended up broke and made millions of dollars. It's not rocket science. All of them did dumb stuff, like not paying taxes, or having 100 room mansions built for them, or keeping an entourage of 50 people. You live hard like that and you lose it, that's your damn fault, not mine.
I am so sick of hearing guys rip Boxers for not being "smart" with their money. Look. Many of the symptoms of pugilistic dementia are lack of impulse control, loss of focus/concentration, and depression. Getting punched in your head changes how you think not just how you talk. Fellas I am not trying to paint these men as saints, but we have to try not to be so critical of these men always looking for a way to dismiss their misfortune as "their fault". Boxing many times leaves men with "demons".
commissions should force a % of earnings for massive fights (over xmill or whatever) into an account that they cannot withdraw from until a certain time, or which just gives money back on a monthly basis or whatever. this dude bought a lexus 300 and infiniti, **** most people can never afford. but you cant expect a 14 year old off the street whos been getting hit in the head for 15 years to know how to look after money.