Is American football really more brutal than Boxing???

[!! Shawn]

Probably. NFL linemen have nearly 100 violent collisions every week for at least 17 games plus preseason and playoffs. Boxers are in the ring three times a year max.

Yet some of them are sparing up to 60 rounds a week, all year round, especially in the amateurs. 12 rounds a week is very very normal. The damage happens in the gym, not on fight night. Gym wars are the norm in some places. There are lots of fighters who have left it all in the gym. Lots of really good fighters. What we see on TV is survivorship bias, the guys that get damaged in the gym, and start slurring young don't go on to have successful careers.

Look at Wilfred Benitez for example. He was world champion at 17, and completely done by 26, slurring, and now basically doesn't know where he is. He was also one of the slickest fighters of all time. He was notorious for hard sparring sessions with his older brothers and other gym wars with Esteban DeJesus, you know the guy to hand Roberto Duran his first loss. And he was doing this at 15 years old.

Hes not alone, anyone thats been in serious boxing gyms for long enough, have seen young kids get their future beaten out of them, one sparring session at a time.

Terry Norris is another prominent example, famous for gym wars. Done young, and not doing the best now. But anyone thats been around fighters with lots of mileage on them, knows they aren't all there any more.

[Sun_Tzu]

It can be, CTE is a real problem with retired NFL players. Is it more brutal overall, hard to say but its a violent fckn game. I played until my junior year and my knees and shoulders still feel it. You sustain more varied injurys I would say in football.

[Robbie Barrett]

I think it's more to do with when something goes wrong it's worse in yank egghand because there's more force involved. If boxers had as many fights as NFL players have matches they'd have a lot more injuries.

[Damn Wicked]

Shawn Porter has a football background and it shows

tough sob with endless stamina and fast feet

he fights how you’d imagine a football player turned boxer would fight

Seth Mitchel had a football background too but it didn’t help him once he got in the ring with Jonathon Banks….and Chris Arreola.

[GreatMalenko]

Yet some of them are sparing up to 60 rounds a week, all year round, especially in the amateurs. 12 rounds a week is very very normal. The damage happens in the gym, not on fight night. Gym wars are the norm in some places. There are lots of fighters who have left it all in the gym. Lots of really good fighters. What we see on TV is survivorship bias, the guys that get damaged in the gym, and start slurring young don't go on to have successful careers.

Look at Wilfred Benitez for example. He was world champion at 17, and completely done by 26, slurring, and now basically doesn't know where he is. He was also one of the slickest fighters of all time. He was notorious for hard sparring sessions with his older brothers and other gym wars with Esteban DeJesus, you know the guy to hand Roberto Duran his first loss. And he was doing this at 15 years old.

The thing is that guys who go through that are from very poor areas and are basically selling their health for some paydays. Any decent gym isn't going to put guys through that. You also have hardass football coaches who give high school kids heat stroke by making them do drills in 100 degree heat. So yeah, if you don't care about a guys health boxing can be the absolute worst. But if your coaches are looking out for you, I'd rather be a pro broxer than a NFL lineman. Assuming the money is equal.

[!! Shawn]

The thing is that guys who go through that are from very poor areas and are basically selling their health for some paydays. Any decent gym isn't going to put guys through that. You also have hardass football coaches who give high school kids heat stroke by making them do drills in 100 degree heat. So yeah, if you don't care about a guys health boxing can be the absolute worst. But if your coaches are looking out for you, I'd rather be a pro broxer than a NFL lineman. Assuming the money is equal.

You just described every boxer in every gym everywhere. Its a culture where toughness is encouraged, and people cheer on **** swinging contests in sparring. Im not saying I disapprove of it, Im just saying I have seen first hand the toll it takes on people. Lots of promising fighters are done by the time they get out of the amateurs, slurring, memory problems, etc. Its not just down to the gym, thats gym culture in every serious boxing gym. I think genetics plays a big role in if you cant take the punishment or you cant. But we only see the guys that came out the other side of amateurs, or early career development unscathed. Again, survivorship bias.

Out of all the hall of fame football players, how many of them, can you not understand when they talk?

Lets start a list of hall of fame boxers.

Muhammad Ali
Joe Frazier
Terry Norris
James Toney
Evander Holyfield
Meldrick Taylor
Wilfred Benitez
Tommy Hearns
Shane Mosley
Hector Camacho
Rid**** Bowe
Freddie Roach (as a trainer)

There are lots more.

Medical studies have indicated that up to 40% of boxers with 20 fights show signs of CTE.

Lets take a look at CTE symptoms, and guess, who is going to end up not doing so well later.

"The symptoms include memory loss, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, mental illness (depression, suicidality, anxiety), parkinsonism, and lastly, dementia."

What fighters match these criteria? Teofimo Lopez? Adrien Broner? Tank? How many more?

[Gary Coleman]

Johnny Knox was bent almost in half back in 2011. A major spinal injury that ended his career and luckily he's able to walk now.

Possibly the worst sports injury I've ever seen. I don't care to ever see it again.

[medic5678]

Go to any high school game and you'll see some very hard hits. Take that to college and the pros. The elite people take massive punishment over many years. It's not as explicitly violent as boxing, but over the course of many years it doles out tremendous brain damage.

[Shadoww702]

Is this true?

Yeah a lot of guys end up paralyzed playing football.

[War Room]

Is this true?

No. If you had 3 maybe 4 football games a year, no. If you boxed every week, still no. Frequency mate.