Fighters not swayed by risk of head trauma
Boxers ‘love the thrill, love the challenge, love the daring,’ says ex-champ Hopkins
The severe traumatic brain injury suffered by Montreal boxer Adonis Stevenson has pushed the subject of head trauma in combat sports back into the spotlight. There are no easy solutions in either boxing or mixed martial arts, where repeated blows to the head are the norm despite the potential for serious and long-term consequences. The head is a main target in both sports and fighters say they know the risks. “It’s dangerous but it’s also something (where) the majority of us love the thrill, love the challenge, love the daring part of it,” former boxing champion Bernard Hopkins said. “That’s what makes us who we are.” Stevenson remained in stable but critical condition after a knockout loss last Saturday night in Quebec City. He dropped his WBC light heavyweight title to Oleksandr Gvozdyk of Ukraine. The Montreal fighter underwent surgery to reduce bleeding in the brain and his prognosis remains uncertain. Doctors said Stevenson is under mechanical ventilation, is sedated and requires specialized neurological monitoring. The harsh reality of combat sports is that they are violent, often bloody, and at times, downright difficult to watch. Stevenson was on the receiving end of two nasty flurries of punches late in the 11th round at the Vidéotron Centre. The final barrage included repeated head shots, with Stevenson’s legs finally buckling after he took a stiff right hand while backed against the corner. “Knowing that these blows are cumulative in their damaging effect, it just points to the huge risks of sports like mixed martial arts and boxing in general,” said Charles Tator, a neurosurgery professor at University of Toronto and a director at the Canadian Concussion Centre. Fighters do not use head protection at the professional level in MMA or boxing. Both sports have made adjustments over the years by changing things such as glove size, fight length and the addition of doctors at ringside. However, the head has remained unprotected and as a result, injury prevention efforts can only go so far. Hopkins said adding headgear would send his sport into decline. “This is professional, I think we should keep it authentic as possible,” he said. “Just have the right teaching and training of physicians that can immediately stop the fight when a fight needs to be stopped.” Chris Nowinski, a founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, said changing training techniques might help when it comes to combat sport. “The No. 1 change would be to not have head blows in sparring,” Nowinski said from Boston. “You can imagine that for some fighters, it could be that 90 per cent of their hits to the head are in sparring and not fights. “That would be a dramatic change if the culture changed around allowing head impacts in sparring.” Hopkins, for one, dismissed the suggestion. “You can’t subtract punches in training or in a fight and not go for the head,” he said during a promotional stop in Toronto. “It doesn’t make sense. It becomes a body-punching match.” As researchers and medical authorities learn more about concussions, head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the alarm bells ring louder. Some sports — notably football — have made changes to limit contact at practice while others have instituted concussion protocols. While the entire body can be more of a target in MMA, the head still takes a pounding. And it’s not just with fists — blows can come via elbow, knee or a kick to the head. There is simply a demand for these violent sports. Whether that will change as fighters and the public learn more about the potential dangers remains to be seen.