Comments Thread For: Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Damage in Boxing

[Monty Fisto]

Believe it or not, I read the exact opposite about Ali. Following his return to boxing and loss to Joe Frazier, he'd specifically train to prepare for sustained blows -- standing with his back to the ring post and taking blow after blow as if to be better prepared to absorb punches by any opponent, and that in doing so he learned that he could be out on his feet, but as long as he had his back to the ropes he would not fall. Add that to the beatings he took later in his career, and it is not difficult to see why he suffered brain damage. In my opinion, Ali should not have fought after 1975 (he was still capable of championship caliber boxing at this time) ending his career with a victory over Joe Frazier in Manila, although Ali would have been much better off had he not taken that fight as it was so damaging both to him (even in victory) and as everybody knows, Frazier.

Yes, this. Norman Mailer writes about this in his book The Fight and talked about in the doc When We Were Kings (and they show footage of Ali allowing himself to be beat up against the ropes by his sparring partners). Mailer says something along the lines about how well the sparring partners handled Ali and how it was almost as if he was training his body to receive messages of pain.

The shocking thing with Ali is that his speech was showing significant signs of impairment long before he retired. There are interviews with (UK chat show host Michael) Parkinson where he's saying he's the same as he ever was, still the greatest, and he just sounds slow and tired, his voice so soft. Now that is one of the signs of Parkinsons (the disease, not the chat show), but Parkinsons is a disease of the nervous system and the brain, and it seems highly unlikely there was no connection with all those blows to the head.

By the time of the build-up to his fight with Trevor Berbick it was even more pronounced to the degree that those involved should have been charged with criminal negligence.

[OnePunch]

It's a very tough one, because a boxer's aim is to hurt their opponent, to the body and the head.

There are guys that can take a lot of punishment and they don't suffer that much at the end of their careers, and the other guys take punishment in one fight and it's very damaging for life.

Think of a fighter like George Chuvalo, who's probably the toughest boxer in history, in terms of a man who could take relentless punishment and never went down.

Then there was a really tragic occurrence with Gerald McClellan, one of the best fighters at the time and then he suffered the damaging effects after the Benn fight.

My respect goes out to all professional boxers stepping inside that ring. You don't play boxing the way you can play tennis or golf. This sport is brutal.

You mention Chuvalo. I saw him on some home renovation show awhile back, and he sounded like a retired schoolteacher or something. You would never even have known he was a fighter......

[BodyBagz]

You should be banned.

Give it time, pal

MFers crying, knowing DAMN WELL what crashing into and punching each other can lead to.

They can either get jobs at the nearby super mall or put their talent to work and buy mansions and fancy cars

FOH with your tears

[BodyBagz]

BHS QUITTING has exposed every queasy fake as FU CK boxing fan

[War Room]

Give it time, pal

MFers crying, knowing DAMN WELL what crashing into and punching each other can lead to.

They can either get jobs at the nearby super mall or put their talent to work and buy mansions and fancy cars

FOH with your tears

Posters like you have to go on ignore, pure troll zero challenge. I mean, you don't produce anything.

[BodyBagz]

Posters like you have to go on ignore, pure troll zero challenge. I mean, you don't produce anything.

And you contribute tons

Do what you must