Any fighters you have bumped into recently that have surprised or saddened you by the speech? Always find it a stark, sad reminder about the risks of the sport when I bump into former or sadly still active fighters and their speech is clearly deteriorating. Makes you wonder how they will be years from now.
You do wonder why they do it. The guys mentioned will be some of the lucky ones that have made a fair few quid....but if you knew you,d end up punchy by the end of it all...is it really worth it. Especially nowadays where you dont actually need to be that intellegent to make decent money doing other things. Probably for these guys who will always be remembered fondly...made some decent coin etc. But if you knew at the start you might not make it to that level....and might still be punchy....its a big gamble to take. Think most of us would take that gamble....if you we,re good enough anyway....but in the end is it really a wise move.
I speak with quiet a few boxers on a regular, one former highly regarded world champion seems a lot sharper now he’s retired and another who seems slightly odd for some reason, the only one that I think sounds a little punchy is a journeyman I know.
I speak with several undisputed champions, one smokes weed all day and does exhibitions, but sounds okay despite all of the punches to the head, remarkably.
I speak to a former heavyweight champion who does a bit of commentary here and there and he is still extremely sharp. I also speak to a former American Heavyweight champ who lives extremely clean yet his speech is shocking.
Weirdly, I was speaking to one this evening. Never a pro but fought a lot as an amateur on the local circuit in the '80's. Very awkward. He called me by my name and said he knew me from Boxing. You could tell he stopped a good shot, no front teeth, flat nose... His speech was OK but his emotions seemed all over the place. Didn't know whether he was happy, sad, angry... We shook hands but then he started throwing jabs quite close and getting in my grid. When I didn't react, he walked off grumbling. That's too many to the head. Early onset dementia. Very, very sad.
Herbie Hide - Doesn't sound great Tommy Coyle - Sounds like he's brain damaged Dave Allen - I think it's just where he's from, unfortunate accent Nigel Benn - The badman street lisp is getting worse and he looks a little out of it at times Tony Bellew - Has no self awareness but I think that's just him Tommy Coyle is the one that has really stood out for me of late. Having been around people who are terminally ill with neurological conditions he sounds like someone that's going through the motions. That said so does Chris Kamara on Sky, he looks like he's lost some of the use of muscles in his face and his tone sounds a little drawn out these days, all he did was head a ball a few times.
Yeah, Coyle, Mitchell, and Benn sound terrible. The thing is CTE and the studies into it are becoming huge. It's not just the speech. its the erratic moods, the manic depressive episodes, the poor judgment, lack of self-awareness etc although it could be argued that a lot suffer from that regardless of the head trauma
Yes, you can tell that Chris Kamara is working hard to get the words out. He presented Britain's Strongest Man the other day and he was really struggling. I don't watch the stuff that he does on TV so I was really shocked.
Love him, but thought big Frank came across poorly in the recent DAZN interview. Possibly long term mental health meds not helping but Bruno much slower and slurred than 10-15 years ago.