James Toney's Slurring Speech

[GrandpaBernard]

Most fighters usually split their time in training camp between sparring and all the other activities. I heard all James Toney did was spar. Could this be the reason why his speech is difficult even though he has one of the best defenses?

[Thread Stealer]

Yeah, think of how many shots fighters take in sparring. They have headgear, but that doesn't help much. Their brains are still jarring back and forth.

Terry Norris didn't take many prolonged beatings in the ring, his chin prevented it, but his speech is slurred. Norris was known to go all out in sparring.

[Thread Stealer]

James Toney's speech in 1994:




James Toney's speech in 2010:





I hope the guy retires soon.

[NChristo]

Yes, sparring can protect you from cuts and grazes but you still can unfortunately get concussion and in some cases I heard can be much worse then without the gear then with it on.

[blaze778]

Yeah, think of how many shots fighters take in sparring. They have headgear, but that doesn't help much. Their brains are still jarring back and forth.

Terry Norris didn't take many prolonged beatings in the ring, his chin prevented it, but his speech is slurred. Norris was known to go all out in sparring.

That's very true.

Norris also had a lot of amateur fights as well. He was 291-4.

[RubenSonny]

Yes, sparring can protect you from cuts and grazes but you still can unfortunately get concussion and in some cases I heard can be much worse then without the gear then with it on.

similar to the glove/bareknuckle thing.

[Miburo]

I think it has as much to do with weight gain as anything else. He kind of has a wheeze.

[GrandpaBernard]

Why can it be worse to have headgear on? I never boxed without headgear before, so I don't know.

[Bullrush]

i notice that with a lot of heavyweight boxers. at some point you dont really understand them anymore, they dont open their mouth when they talk, clearly its brain damage or parkinson type. ali of course if you look at him in his mid 30s thats when it began i think. his voice has gotten quiet, he couldnt really talk and when he was talking he didnt really open his mouth, you couldnt understand him.

and thats what i notice with a lot of heavyweights now. mike tyson is showing some of the signs, he talks like ali used to talk in his mid 30s. look at the way tyson talked 10 years ago, no issues. now you look at him and its sad. same thing with james toney. freddie roach is another guy. and there are so many more guys, they all sound like tyson & james toney do now. you cant understand them anymore and they just sound exactly the same

[NChristo]

Why can it be worse to have headgear on? I never boxed without headgear before, so I don't know.

A trainer told me a while ago that it add a another layer of protection other then the skull, obviously, but because it adds that layer your brain is mislead and it bounces around more or something a long them lines making it more susceptible to concussion.

He went into in detail but that's it basically.