THE health hazards of boxing get very little media attention. But tragic incidents do land on sports and news pages about ring casualties and fatalities.
The late Lito Sisnorio, who was once the former World Boxing Council youth flyweight titleholder, is the latest boxing death. He died after being knocked out in Bangkok on March 30 by former Thai world champion Chatchai Sasakul.
Sisnorio had an emergency operation to remove a blood clot from his brain. He had fallen unconscious several hours after his fourth-round knockout loss to Sasakul. (Sasakul is the Thai fighter who in 1998 lost?by a knockout?his WBC flyweight title to Manny Pacquiao.)
Indonesian junior-lightweight boxer Anis Dwi Mulya died from internal hemorrhage in the head. He had suffered injuries in a fight five days earlier. The bout had been stopped in the sixth round when the referee saw that Anis was in serious trouble. The Indonesian-language newspaper Kompass said Anis was that country?s 22nd casualty related to boxing.
Blows to the body, especially the head, always pose dangers. That is why in the United States laws, like the Mohammed Ali Boxing Reform Act, seek to minimize hazards to boxers.
Fewer boxing deaths
Those who oppose government regulation say the number of boxers who have died from blows received is not accurately known. And it does seem that some sports, like horse racing, register higher death rates than boxing.
Because regulation of amateur and professional boxing differs, the lack of figures can be expected. Also, many boxing events are in fact illegal. In many countries regulatory bodies do not always do their work efficiently or honestly. And there are no long-term studies and no serious effort to relate the seemingly minor injuries a boxer has sustained to his later health condition.
Body damage to boxers are cuts, bruises, broken teeth and other dental and mouth problems, broken ribs and damage to organs and internal hemorrhage.
While a very hard bone protects the eyes on the side, the eyes are very vulnerable to direct upward blows. Not only direct hits damage the eyes, shock waves in the eyes? fluids can injure the retina. The boxer could have retinal detachment and retinal hemorrhage and then go blind.
Brain damage commonplace
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons asserts that brain damage is commonplace among boxers, up to 90 percent of whom sustain some brain injury or another. They believe the number of boxers suffering brain damage is much higher than reported.
AANS doctors estimate that the direct blow to the head given by someone like Manny Pacquiao is equivalent to being hit by a 12-lb padded wooden mallet flying at 20 miles per hour.
Head blows can fracture the skull, damage face and brain tissues, tear the brain?s nerve networks, cause lesions and bleeding, and produce blood clots in the brain.
Pro boxers are found to have more brain injuries than amateurs. That must be because the latter wear headgear.
Doctors have also found that former boxers suffer more from the effects of natural aging of the brain and various diseases of brain. They are more likely to suffer diseases such as Alzheimer?s and Parkinson?s disease. Mohammed Ali is the most famous example of this.
Brains become smaller
Surgeons find that for some reason, boxers? brains become smaller because of boxing, their surface grey matter is thinner. The ventricles within their brain therefore enlarge to fill the space of decreased white matter.
There is no reliable count of how many boxers have died in the ring. But the online Journal of Combative Sport says in the past 50 years at least 450 people had died all over the world from injuries related to boxing.
