The dangers Pacquiao faces

When Manny Pacquiao enters the ring against Erik Morales, it will most certainly be a big event in Philippine sports. Some sports fans may even say it’s business as usual. But let us remember just how truly hazardous Pacquiao’s profession is. After all, he’s out there nakedly being battered by someone trained to inflict maximum damage. In sparring, it is very seldom that the fighter in training gets hit, so you can’t really tell what injury may be inflicted in the heat of battle.

First, let’s look back at a tragedy that changed the face of boxing forever, one that, incidentally, was in a championship bout very close to Pacquiao’s current weight limit of 130 pounds. The first struggle a boxer faces is making the weight limit.

Korean lightweight Duk Koo Kim had won 17 of 18 fights, including 13 in a row. He was named the World Boxing Association’s number one contender, and slated to fight world champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini on November 13, 1982. This took place despite the fact that Kim had never fought a 15-round bout before, and his only overseas exposure was against an unsuccessful Filipino journeyman named Tony Flores.

The fight was–to put it politely–action-packed. It was a savage battle, with Kim giving Mancini everything he could handle. Battered and exhausted, Kim went into the 14th round with nothing left, and Mancini floored him. He got up, but the fight was stopped.

But before anyone could hail his bravery, Kim collapsed into a coma, and was rushed to hospital. Emergency brain surgery was unable to save his life, and he died five days later. Referee Richard Greene, who officiated the bout, committed suicide the following February. Kim’s mother did the same four months later. Mancini blamed himself for Kim’s death, and eventually continued, winning only four of his next (and last) eight bouts.

The WBA instated many reforms. First, they realized that much damage is done to a boxer after the twelfth round. So they cut down the number of rounds of their bouts to 12. All other boxing organizations eventually followed. Electrocardiograms, brain tests, lung tests and other medical procedures became mandatory. Before then, a boxer was only checked for blood pressure and heart rate. Imagine that.

There are other serious injuries that may befall boxers, no matter the distance of the fight. Fractures can happen at any time, given the relentless contact of the sport. Multiple world champion Sugar Ray Leonard, now a co-producer of the acclaimed reality show "The Contender" with "Rocky" star Sylvester Stallone, has twice been hit by major injuries. His amateur career covered a sterling 145 wins with only five losses. He won the hearts of a thirsty boxing world by winning the welterweight gold medal at the 1876 Montreal Olympics. It was only after the feat that broadcaster Howard Cosell discovered that Leonard had fractured his right hand in his first bout, and fought the rest of the way with the injury.

Eye injuries are also very common, given the lack of protective headgear. Early in his career, Leonard stopped Wilfredo Benitez, Roberto Duran, Ayub Kalule and Tommy Hearns in a span of only 22 months, an unparalleled test of toughness. But, in 1982, a match against Bruce Finch revealed that Leonard had a detached retina, and he was forced to retire prematurely. The injury never fully healed, and Leonard’s career was marked by and starts.

Dehydration and internal hemorrhaging are just some of the ill effects a boxer experiences when he forces himself to make the weight, which is what Morales is reported to be going through now. Research by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) has shown that not having enough water in your body before or during a strenuous physical exertion can cause a variety of ill effects, not including the impact traumas to internal organs brought about by blows to the body.

Brain trauma has become the most recent terror after the effects of a long career on champions like Muhammad Ali, who has been struck down by Parkinson disease, whose most common symptom is an inability to control one’s motor functions. Prominent New York neurologist and boxing expert Dr. Ira Casson says that,

indifferent studies, 15 to 40 percent of ex-boxers manifest different symptoms of brain injury.

"Symptoms develop an average of 16 years after beginning the sport, although some cases have occurred as early as six years after becoming a boxer," Casson wrote. "Symptoms have been reported in boxers as young as 25 years of age. Although the disorder has been reported in amateurs, it is more common in professionals. It can occur in all weight classes but is seen most often in the heavier divisions, and champion boxers run as much risk of sustaining chronic brain injury as less skilled journeymen."

The World Boxing Council set aside 30 percent of the sanctioning fees from the Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield world heavyweight title fight to make a $225,000 donation to UCLA’s Brain Injury Research program. The WBC has donated over $ 1 million to help fund the program. Part of the research is a proposal to use medication to prevent the release of certain enzymes and minerals that damage the brain after impact.

"We are finding that with a lot of mild injuries that occur repeatedly, we see the same symptoms as with more severe injuries," declared Stefan Lee, one of the program’s leading researchers. They have also been studying relatively lighter impact trauma to the brain, cause by moves such as "heading" a ball in a soccer match, which, studies suggest, also has long-term impact. Other research covers sports like football, ice or roller hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball and others.

Although there is no clear link between boxing and Parkinson’s in particular, research has established a connection between repeated blows to the head and other chronic problems with the brain.

"The exact mechanism by which multiple and repeated blows to the head cause brain damage to boxers has not been fully established, although it appears that the deep mid-line areas of the brain are affected most severely," Casson continues. "The major risk factors for development of brain damage are length of professional career and number of professional bouts, which obviously are measures of exposure to head blows. One can postulate that every blow to the head results in minute microscopic damage to the deep medial areas of the brain."

So, each time you cheer for blood when Filipinos like Manny Pacquiao fight, or rage when a bout is stopped, remember how much they have at stake. Our temporary enjoyment comes at a great expense, one our valiant boxers decide they were willing to pay a long time ago, and continue to do so today.

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This week’s episode of The Basketball Show will be aired tonight at 9 p.m. over IBC-13. The program returns to its regular schedule on Saturday at 7 p.m.