This is a tough article to write but it is something i have been thinking about continually for the past few weeks so i will put my thoughts out there and we can see where it goes. Boxing is a sport that mixes brutality with finesse , skill and technical ability with hard work and dedication , if you can get this blend right there are rewards of riches and immortality in boxing history , but what boxing really boils down to is Risk vs Reward . Although the rewards can be massive the risks can be deadly so it is pivotal that you get the right team around you , a team who are there for your well being , a team who will not hesitate to tell you when the risk’s now outweigh the rewards and that it’s time to hang them up . Now from this point i just want you to take note that it is none of my business how another man makes his money to pay bill , but as a fan of the sport there are a couple of examples that are really starting to worry me .
Amir Khan
Amir Khan shot to fame in the 2004 Athens olympics when he brought home a silver medal . The high in which British boxing is on today all started with Amir Khan , this kid really was a fans favourite with his blistering hand speed being a joy to watch . Amir has went away and fought on some of the biggest stages in boxing and we all tuned in because as quick as Amir’s hands were he showed a vulnerability at the top level in his quest for greatness , that made his fights so entertaining. Winning some and losing others to massive knockouts Khan was always in entertaining fights . Just before his recent fight with Sammy Vargas i heard Khan in an old interview as a young prospect just after he beat Scotland’s Willie Limond back in 2007 . The young Khan speaking 100 MPH , raw with little media training it was quite funny . Then i seen Khan’s pre fight interview before the Vargas fight and the signs were there . Khan now speaks like his tongue is to big for his mouth which gives off a little slur but more worryingly he seem’s to be searching for answers . The fight itself done nothing to put my mind at ease as Khan was sent to the floor in the second round and rocked another few times in the fight . Yes Khan came out on top but rather than the boxing media/ promoters point out his punch resistance has gone and that he could potentially be showing signs of CTE , maybe put an arm round him and say you should give it up for your family they instead are trying to goad him into a fight against his arch rival Kell Brook in what would be a brutal fight . Maybe this is why Khan has went through so many trainers of late , maybe they have told him the harsh reality , who knows . 
Anybody who has seen the Will Smith movie “Concussion” will be aware of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) which you may also know as ” Punch Drunk Syndrome ” . CTE is making headlines in the US after so many former NFL players began taking there own lives which prompted the scientific community to do extensive post mortem examinations of there brains which showed a protein clumping throughout the brain killing brain cells , this is CTE . Although CTE can only be diagnosed properly after death there are symptoms to look out for like slurred speech and memory loss .
What you may not know is that the movie title “Concussion” is misleading , you do NOT need to suffer a concussive blow for CTE to set in . A study done by Boston University say’s that any prolonged exposure to blows to the head is more Likely to be the cause . It is said that symptoms start to show in people between there late 20’s and 30’s . There is no cure , there is no treatment , study’s also say that further more head trauma can accelerate Alzheimer’s which is another symptom . Amir Khan has given boxing fans some great nights but now his career is past him . Khan is a man with a young family , he has made million’s of pounds in the ring , if there is any chance his later life is going to be permanently impaired and ended prematurely then it is imoral to keep letting him get back in the ring .
David Price
David Price is a larger than life kinda man who stands at a mere 6’8 tall . After a top amateur career Price was picked by many to take the heavyweight division by storm but as is so often the case with top amateurs things just didn’t work out for Price and after a an early career KO to Tony Thompson he regressed rapidly . Since the KO something has happened to Price mentally which has seen him look very fragile in the ring . Price is also hindered in the ring by a very poor stamina , in fact you can see him physically struggle after just four rounds of very little action , which has seen him take some massive Ko’s . Time after time we see Price wheeled out on big PPV cards being fed to guys like Alexander Povetkin which resulted in Price being brutally KO’d after he gave Povetkin a free shot , the kind of KO that can take years off your life all due to him being overmatched technically and overstretched physically . I get the feeling now that Price is allowing himself to be exploited for big paydays . The fact is David Price should no longer be in a boxing ring , especially at the level we have seen him of late and i really don’t know what it’s going to take before promoters realise that . I no longer look forward to this giant of a man fighting , i feel dread when i see he has been added to a card .
In the build up to David Price fights you have all the usual faces out telling us Price is the hardest puncher in boxing . They tell us this monster of a man always has a punchers chance no matter who he is fighting . They tell us David Price is one of the nicest guys in boxing and they consider him a friend , so why do we never hear any of these “friends” tell him he shouldn’t be in the ring anymore ? . Why don’t they tell him that now the risk’s he’s putting himself in now outweigh the rewards ? . Even though there are more tell tale signs that Amir Khan is in real danger it is David Price i worry about more as at seem’s that the people around him are not being honest with him or with themselves .
Steven Donnell
djayboxing 