Comments Thread For: Ward Discusses The Need For A Pension For Retired Fighters

[landotter]

Everyone is missing the point because Ward is saying it. Maybe they would understand if it was Donald Trump saying it. Or maybe if GGG said it with his broken English.

Whatever you think of Ward as the fighter, shouldn’t take away from what he’s saying. He’s right.

But these fans are shameful, they don’t give a fck about fighters and their health and wellbeing.

I have zero idea what you are talking about. Nearly everyone on this thread agrees with Ward, And every time a boxer is nearing the end of his career and is taking serious punishment, nearly EVERY poster on the threads are hoping he walks away before he gets seriously hurt. There may difference of opinions on how to deal with boxers and their futures, but I am not seeing a ton of people "not giving a #### about fighters and their wellbeing"..

Listening to boxers slurred speech and watching them move painfully into their golden years after watching them in their primes is one of the sadder reality checks fans of combat sports have to endure.

[Roadblock]

This is nothing but virtue signaling. There are not enough active fighters who would be capable of paying into a system like that for it to work. I suspect that less than 5% of fighters are actually making a living as a fighter, maybe even less than that. The top 100 fighters in the world likely receive 97% or 98% of the revenue, So where exactly is the money going to come from? And what is the criteria to receive it? Is a 2-6 opponent eligible? Fighters have such a short career duration that the math just doesnt work. Are contributions based on certain purse amounts? Do foreign fighters have to contribute when fighting on US soil? If they are contributing, are they eligible to receive benefits? In most every functioning union, even the lowest paid employee is paying union dues. Are you going to do that here? Does the guy who just made $800 for a 4 rounder need to pay union dues?

See, everyone likes to talk about how we need a union, but NOBODY talks about how to actually do it and have it be sustainable. So its all just lip service. I would rather see conversations about the ABC standardizing medical tests among EVERY state commission, or requiring higher insurance coverage levels for combat sports. Some states only require shows to carry $25,000 worth of medical coverage. That's fine if someone just needs a few stitches or something minor. But its laughable if you are talking about catastrophic injuries. I mean jeez, at least raise it to $250k for starters, and make it a nationwide requirement. No more doing shows in low-rent back country states with weak medical requirements and little to no insurance.

If Ward want to run his mouth, it should be about solutions that are actually DOABLE, not some millionaire patting himself on the back about how he's looking out for the little guy lol

But your taking say 3% from the total pool, so add up all purses from 3 rounders to Canelo level, how much you reckon that pool is for the entire fight game, and how many pensions would need to be paid.

[Eff Pandas]

This is nothing but virtue signaling. There are not enough active fighters who would be capable of paying into a system like that for it to work. I suspect that less than 5% of fighters are actually making a living as a fighter, maybe even less than that. The top 100 fighters in the world likely receive 97% or 98% of the revenue, So where exactly is the money going to come from? And what is the criteria to receive it? Is a 2-6 opponent eligible? Fighters have such a short career duration that the math just doesnt work. Are contributions based on certain purse amounts? Do foreign fighters have to contribute when fighting on US soil? If they are contributing, are they eligible to receive benefits? In most every functioning union, even the lowest paid employee is paying union dues. Are you going to do that here? Does the guy who just made $800 for a 4 rounder need to pay union dues?

See, everyone likes to talk about how we need a union, but NOBODY talks about how to actually do it and have it be sustainable. So its all just lip service. I would rather see conversations about the ABC standardizing medical tests among EVERY state commission, or requiring higher insurance coverage levels for combat sports. Some states only require shows to carry $25,000 worth of medical coverage. That's fine if someone just needs a few stitches or something minor. But its laughable if you are talking about catastrophic injuries. I mean jeez, at least raise it to $250k for starters, and make it a nationwide requirement. No more doing shows in low-rent back country states with weak medical requirements and little to no insurance.

If Ward want to run his mouth, it should be about solutions that are actually DOABLE, not some millionaire patting himself on the back about how he's looking out for the little guy lol

California has been doing a boxers pension for decades. Its entirely doable. The CA pension has rules on who qualifies & it can be used for getting trained for jobs too. In a business where 99.9% of guys will never make money to last the rest of their life & often have few skills to transition to other careers I think its a great idea.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-11/how-to-claim-california-boxing-pension

The union stuff is fair. Idk how you have a union when boxing is "franchised" out all over the world also. It sounds nice, but idk how you'd do it in boxing today.

At some point if boxing is consulated into one ent^ty maybe a union or some kind of group that looks after boxers concerns like the NBA, MLB & NFL gots could be feasible but I don't see the former happening anytime soon so the latter will take even longer.

[OnePunch]

California has been doing a boxers pension for decades. Its entirely doable. The CA pension has rules on who qualifies & it can be used for getting trained for jobs too. In a business where 99.9% of guys will never make money to last the rest of their life & often have few skills to transition to other careers I think its a great idea.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...boxing-pension

The union stuff is fair. Idk how you have a union when boxing is "franchised" out all over the world also. It sounds nice, but idk how you'd do it in boxing today.

At some point if boxing is consulated into one ent^ty maybe a union or some kind of group that looks after boxers concerns like the NBA, MLB & NFL gots could be feasible but I don't see the former happening anytime soon so the latter will take even longer.

The California system is a perfect example of these programs being not much more than lip service. In 40 years, the program paid out a total of $4 million to 235 fighters, for an average total payout of between $11,000 and $17,000 per fighter. In FORTY YEARS. So basically if a fighter qualifies and lets say is disabled at age 30, his TOTAL benefit for the rest of his life is between $11,000 and $17,000. And no that's not per year. That's the TOTAL benefit. So the fighter is supposed to live for 30, or 40, or 50 years, on ELEVEN GRAND TOTAL?? The entire revenue the system took in over the 40 years it existed wouldn't even be enough to pay for 10 years of care for Magomed Abdusalamov.

So is it a nice gesture? Sure. Is it better than nothing. Absolutely. But lets not act like it actually makes a significant difference in anyone's life....

[Eff Pandas]

The California system is a perfect example of these programs being not much more than lip service. In 40 years, the program paid out a total of $4 million to 235 fighters, for an average total payout of between $11,000 and $17,000 per fighter. In FORTY YEARS. So basically if a fighter qualifies and lets say is disabled at age 30, his TOTAL benefit for the rest of his life is between $11,000 and $17,000. And no that's not per year. That's the TOTAL benefit. So the fighter is supposed to live for 30, or 40, or 50 years, on ELEVEN GRAND TOTAL?? The entire revenue the system took in over the 40 years it existed wouldn't even be enough to pay for 10 years of care for Magomed Abdusalamov.

So is it a nice gesture? Sure. Is it better than nothing. Absolutely. But lets not act like it actually makes a significant difference in anyone's life....

Granted a pension often fully cover ones living expenses in certain careers, but thats not always the case & that's not what this is about. This is about guys who spent ~4hrs of time or more in the ring getting some money later in their life to help them out.

Obviously a guy who is getting a % of the gate for 7ish or so boxing matches isn't gonna get the pension of a cop who did 40hrs+ a week for 20yrs.

And this is one state doing it. If every state did it I'm sure the pension would be a lot better.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

This is nothing but virtue signaling. There are not enough active fighters who would be capable of paying into a system like that for it to work. I suspect that less than 5% of fighters are actually making a living as a fighter, maybe even less than that. The top 100 fighters in the world likely receive 97% or 98% of the revenue, So where exactly is the money going to come from? And what is the criteria to receive it? Is a 2-6 opponent eligible? Fighters have such a short career duration that the math just doesnt work. Are contributions based on certain purse amounts? Do foreign fighters have to contribute when fighting on US soil? If they are contributing, are they eligible to receive benefits? In most every functioning union, even the lowest paid employee is paying union dues. Are you going to do that here? Does the guy who just made $800 for a 4 rounder need to pay union dues?

See, everyone likes to talk about how we need a union, but NOBODY talks about how to actually do it and have it be sustainable. So its all just lip service. I would rather see conversations about the ABC standardizing medical tests among EVERY state commission, or requiring higher insurance coverage levels for combat sports. Some states only require shows to carry $25,000 worth of medical coverage. That's fine if someone just needs a few stitches or something minor. But its laughable if you are talking about catastrophic injuries. I mean jeez, at least raise it to $250k for starters, and make it a nationwide requirement. No more doing shows in low-rent back country states with weak medical requirements and little to no insurance.

If Ward want to run his mouth, it should be about solutions that are actually DOABLE, not some millionaire patting himself on the back about how he's looking out for the little guy lol

Why not just operate like any common business does, work off basic pay. The fighter contributes x amount of each purse, the promoter/employer also makes a contribution on a fight by fight basis. At the end of that fighters career the money is allocated. So if he’s only 2-6 he obviously wouldn’t get much but a guy who’s 80 fights deep would see the benefit. The same way a guy who works for a company for 20 years would get more benefit than a guy who worked there for 12 months.

[Toffee]

It's never going to be "all pay in, each take an equal share later". It's not a government benefit.

The boxing orgs could run a superannuation fund for the individual fighter based on what they've paid in. But the fighters could also just be doing that themselves.

[YGriffith]

What needs to happen is someone knock some financial or just literacy in general into these boxers' minds.

[The D3vil]

Tf is he crying for? He got paid millions for the kova robbery and low blows. Not to mention his terrible run as commentator. Why not Kickstart it yourself

He's fine.

He's looking out for people other than himself, unlike the rest of you ingrates

[Teetotaler69]

He's fine.

He's looking out for people other than himself, unlike the rest of you ingrates

Still mad I humiliated your dumbass last time?