Jerome "Wipeout" Wilson
Welterweight boxer, Jerome Wilson of Sheffield,
England was rushed to the hospital during his 8th fight, after a 6th round knockout by
fellow boxer, Serge Ambomo, in a rematch fight that took place on
September 12, 2014. The 29-year-old dad remains in critical
condition with a "severe brain injury."
Last year, boxer, Magomed Abdusalamov, sustained
very serious injuries in a fight against fellow pugilist, Mike Perez
(World
Heavyweight Champ Wladimir Klitschko Sued By The Family Of Brain
Damaged Boxer). As a result of the severe brain injuries
Abdusalamov sustained during the fight, he can no longer walk or
talk.
Sugar Ray Robinson
In 1947, boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson once
accidentally delivered a knockout punch that became a death blow to
rival, 22-year-old Jimmy Doyle in Cleveland, Ohio. It was
welterweight Robinson’s worst nightmare, literally, as he’d had a
dream days before the fight that he would end up accidentally
killing Doyle. He succumb to a severe head injury hours after being
rush from the ring to the hospital.
After Robinson woke up from the dream, he tried
to back out of the fight, but it went ahead as planned and
Robinson’s nightmare came true. Robinson established a trust that
took care of Doyle’s mother for a decade after her son’s tragic
passing.
It’s what every boxer dreads - a serious head injury
that changes life and career. No one wants for it to happen or means
for it to happen, but sadly sometimes it does in the ring. It
doesn’t matter what color you are, what country you come from or
your weight division. It can happen to any boxer.
Floyd Mayweather
Boxing is not an easy sport. It’s more than putting
on gloves and gum shield and jumping into the ring. There’s a lot
more behind it than that. It takes planning and productive plotting. Great
self-discipline. Years of heavy training and a restricted diet. A
great trainer. A great promoter. Basically, a team behind you that
knows what they are doing and are willing to invest in your possible
success (as there are con artists out there, who have terribly taken
advantage of boxers and don’t know what they are doing in managing
and promoting them).
At the end of the day boxing is a tough and
dangerous sport and people should treat it as such. The grueling
training and physical punishment in the ring is not easy to endure. It
can turn into a very painful pummeling that takes time to heal (torn
ligaments, fractured and broken bones, negative neurological
changes).
Manny Pacquiao
People should not begrudge boxers the money they
earn in the event they make it, because a lot went into their
success that the average person is not willing to endure. To reach
the top was a hard fought climb with years of preparation, planning
and punishment. I respect the age old sport and wish all boxers
well. Protect and take care of yourselves.
