Hey Dave:

I work in a federal space where I'm able to witness the amount of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) returning from iraq and afghanistan. A colleague and i were talking the other day and he mentioned how many death row inmates suffer from TBI. So now, having read this post, i'm thinking about these intersections in new ways.

Many sincere thanks to you, for the zillionth time, for lifting some truth out and putting the appropriate structures on blast.

In struggle and hope,
Emily Joye

Who is the "politically correct bad guy" in the piece? It's not about good guys and bad guys. It's also not about banning boxing. It's about protecting fighters and making sure we aren't blind to the physical and mental damage they deal with on the job. If they are good enough to cheer for, they are good enough to care for.

Alex... I'm sure you're typing with a purpose other than the batshit gibberish above but then again maybe not. Zirin's piece could not be any clearer or cut to the heart of the matter any better. And Espada's thoughts wrap it up in a powerful way.

Try smelling salts and toss in the towel.

"Down goes Frazier!"

It is often difficult to explain to non-boxing fans the appeal of seeing two people trained in the art of pugilism going toe to toe. If it doesn't stir something in you that is primal, namely the excitement of seeing conflict in its most basic form, than you are likely to simply label it as pointless and barbaric. Incidents such as theese do not help to convert anyone either, although to be fair the vernon forest murder seems more a random act of senseless violence than anything connected to the inherent brutality of the sport he excelled so well at. If ever there were a group of athletes that could use more solidarity and oversight it is certainly boxers. John McCain may have made a horrible president but he at least recognizes this fact and has pushed for a national commission for years (not to mention a long overdue posthumous pardon for jack johnson).

Alex- your last paragraph is truly a work of right wing American art: ignorant fairytales. And which Marx Brother are you referring to? There were a few.

"Perhaps people are less shocked by the deaths of boxers because the "sport" has one aim: batter the other person's bare head until it causes a concussion."

Wrong. The purpose of boxing is beat your opponent and win. Your absurd logic is equivalent to saying the purpose of football is to crush a person's body until he's crippled. Boxing is the most difficult sport there is and its athletes are among the most skillful. If an idiot like you actually met a boxer you'd have a different opinion.

JJ Dynamite - facts matter. The overwhelming, overwhelming majority of boxers aren't "millionaires." They toil at the margins of the sport in beat up gyms. They are the ones who would benefit from union protections and health benefits. It doesn't seem that controversial. Athletes who are part of collective bargaining processes have better health care and benefits. It aint rocket science. Boxers, given the physical demands of their sport, deserve the same.

"American Medical Association has called for a ban on boxing, refusing to even license ringside "physicians" on ethical grounds... The truth is that mostly upper middle class white boxing "fans" like those who post on here don't care about people who box..."

Wrong again. There are already licensed physicians at every US boxing card, which is a legal requirement.

The majority of US boxing fans are working class hispanics, not white middle class - again, proving your ignorance.

Fact is contact sports sometimes result in injury and the only solution is medical benefits for boxers. If they ban boxing they must also ban auto racing and football, which have more concussions and deaths per year in this country than boxing.

"If you truly "cared" about boxers-- a rather laughable proposition-- you'd ban the "sport" or at least require head gear."

I am a former boxer so do not presume to know anything. As an outsider to the sport you are laughable. And head gear was proven years ago to have no impact on head shots. Head gear is only leather and foam that has a minimal cushion effect and reduces visibility, sometimes resulting in boxers getting hit more than they would without head gear. I know this because it happened in the gym all the time.

You on the other hand know nothing about boxing but like most mental midgets you do have emphatic opinions. Congratulations, perhaps you'll get a blue ribbon to wrap around your dunce cap.

Yikes.

I count 7 posts with Alex's name on it. A little over the Alex, that is, if it is your real name. You're a typical Internet coward, hiding behind an anonymous first name. I'll bet your real name is Lucy.
I post my real name and I'm from Alberta, Canada. As the man says, Alex, "put your name on it!"

Thanks, Dave, for another splendid piece. Arturo Gatti was a tremendous fighter with a giant heart. I, like the vast majority of boxing fans, believe he was murdered. The fact that Mr. Alex is mentioned alongside 'Thunder' is preposterous.

Christopher Cain

Excellent recap of the tragedy that has fallen on a bunch of great pugs recently.
Personally, I think the problem lies within the Balkanization of boxing. The myriad state commissions combined with the various Federations make safety for fighters secondary to the wishes of the tv exces, promoters, and venue owners.
Unless he's Mayweather or Pacquiao a fighter really isn't making that much money from the purse after the promoter, manager, trainers, cutman, and fees are all paid. A union could do much for getting costs down.

P.S. Women's boxing in three weight classes was added to the Olympics 2012 striking a minor blow for gender equity. Now if only Women's fights can get on television.......

Alex labours under the delusion that all boxing will stop if it is banned. Boxing will continue but without the protections that licensing offers, ie, physician at ring-side, nearby hospitals on alert etc etc. His way effectively calls for more boxers to die in the ring, and all in the name of caring about boxers. Absolutely ludicrous.

JJ - you are right that there are no connections to the various deaths in July. But you are also wrong. It's not natural for someone to die at 47 from "sunstroke." It's not rational to chase armed robbers with your own gun. These deaths are unconnected but they are bound by a sport that doesn't care for the physical and mental health of its participants.

For another compelling and provocative article - you are so right - we should not imagine that boxing is the one sport where we acquiesce to the worst impulses of sports business.

It's so refreshing to read an article on boxing that deals with the darker side of the sport for a change.

Boxing will always split opinion, but I simply cannot understand the 'they're boxers, they know what they're getting themselves into, they deserve whatever happens so who cares' mantra that so many people stand by. It just strikes me as inhumane. Why not try to help them as much as possible? Especially those who are more than happy to watch them fight.

As an aside, it is interesting to consider the effects that the Queensbury Rules had on the sport of boxing. Many ex-fighters are adamant that they do more harm than good (the late great Lenny McLean being perhaps the most famous - check out his video on this on Youtube), yet this is also rarely discussed.

Shrug couldn't be more right, banning the sport will just force it further underground and increase all of the existing problems.

I think that too much emphasis has been placed on the boxers Dave used as examples here, and not enough on the core issue; we simply do not do enough to protect the long term health of fighters. These guys are artists and atheletes, they deserve our support even after they stop being of obvious use to us (it's so easy to forget about them once they leave the ring).

Once again, great piece, thanks.

jjdynomite above asks how much difference a real boxing commission and a boxer's union could make in the health of fighters from countries such as canada with nationalized health care.

I'm a boxing fan, but one thing that I would absolutely love to see is an end to so called tune-up fights where a man is placed into the ring with the full expectation that his opponent is going to knock him out or batter him to the point that the fight is called off. Many fighters supplement the income from their day jobs as professional opponents, they earn small purses in fights they are expected to lose. Collective action could certainly help improve fairness in match-ups and in purses, and a strong commission could help stop fighters from continuing when they've taken too much damage.

my brother has been involved with boxing for at least 40 years but sadly it has become apparent more lately that he is indeed begining to suffer from aggression /change of personality whitch i and many other people who have known him attribute to his long term involvement with boxing i along with many of my friends have benifitted from mostly short term involvement with the sport its strive for fitness the comaradery and the respect it engenders within its partisipants for our fellow humans and the removal of the use of aggresion from our daily lives is highly laudable but there are no checks and balances and very little in the way of organised help to turn to when things start to go wrong

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Pancho was my son and i think you are right about a lot of things...I was a boxing judge before my son died and i think they also let heavy weight fights continue longer then they should .. People get so excited they forget about the boxers..