Brain bleed forces boxer Betham to quit the ring

Exclusive: Boxer and former league star tells Patrick McKendry why he had to hang up the gloves immediately

major health scare caused by a brain bleed which caused him immense pain means Monty Betham will never get in the ring again as a professional fighter or even spar in training — a decision he feels grateful to be able to make.

The 38- year- old married father of two children, aged nine and seven, made the call late last week in consultation with his doctor Chris Hanna, an experienced physician who has been a medical director for the New Zealand Warriors and Kiwis league team. Betham made the call after a frightening sequence of events after a sparring session.

Betham, putting his final touches on the preparation of his defence of his New Zealand cruiserweight crown against James Langton in late June, suffered some disturbing side effects after an eight- round sparring session against first Leki Maka, a national welterweight champion, and then heavyweight Mokai Parahau. Both men are good friends of Betham’s and were regular sparring partners.

The after- effects left him nearly paralysed with pain, and although Betham has been given the all- clear, he accepts fighting again, or even lacing the gloves, would too big a risk.

“I never got stunned, I never got dazed, by any of the punches at any time,” said Betham of his final sparring session. “But that night I didn’t feel quite right. I was coughing and I would feel a bit of pain behind the back of my head. There was no blurry vision, no headaches, nothing like that.”

The next day Betham continued training on the heavy bag, but, “I didn’t feel good. My head was sensitive and I was a little sensitive to light but nothing to associate it with con- cussion. Even when I hit the bag I could feel something in my head. I didn’t feel right so I rang my doc”.

Hanna advised him to get a concussion test from regular physio Jonathan Moyle, which Betham passed. But soon afterwards the serious problems began.

“Progressively, my body started stiffening up — my hamstrings, my glutes and through my back — to the point where I couldn’t even get out of bed,” he said. “Even turning over in bed was extremely painful.

“It was frightening. I have a high pain threshold but . . . it felt like someone was stabbing me every time I moved, that’s how bad it was.

“I had a brain bleed or head bleed, and the fluid leaked down the spine into the lumber area which just crippled me. The scary thing is if that hadn’t happened, I would have fought because I had passed the concussion