Docs say Manny knows best

MANILA, Philippines - Dr. Domenic Coletta and Dr. Ray Monsell, leading exponents of safety in boxing, said recently that Manny Pacquiao – nobody else – is in the best position to know when to retire from the ring but strongly suggested he consider hanging up his gloves sooner than later.

Dr. Coletta, 56, is the president of the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians (AAPRP), which was established 13 years ago to improve the safety standards of boxing. He is an emergency medicine specialist with the Cape Regional Medical Center in New Jersey. Dr. Monsell, 49, has been a ringside physician for 25 years and is an AAPRP board member based in Wales. They were both in Manila to speak at the “Boxing and the Brain” convention organized by the UP-PGH Department of Neurosciences in the Diamond Hotel on Roxas Boulevard last weekend.

“When to retire is one of the most difficult decisions a fighter makes,” said Dr. Coletta. “Every fighter wants one more fight, one more chance for the big one. I think a fighter should quit when he has accomplished enough. Joe Calzaghe retired undefeated and Lennox Lewis quit as world heavyweight champion. Oscar de la Hoya was a great fighter but unfortunately, he will be remembered for the beating he took from Manny Pacquiao in his last fight and that’s sad. As for Manny, maybe, he should consider retiring soon. What else does he have to prove?”

Dr. Coletta said if there’s a fight out there for Pacquiao, it should be against Floyd Mayweather Jr. “No doubt, Manny will beat Mayweather,” he added. “He’ll win by decision. I don’t think Manny can knock out Mayweather but Mayweather surely won’t knock out Manny.”

Dr. Coletta said in 1975, he was mesmerized by the drama that Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier brought to the ring in the “Thrilla In Manila.” “Today, the world is mesmerized by Manny,” he said. “He’s the greatest fighter pound-for-pound out there. I don’t follow his musical career and I don’t know how he’s doing as a politician. But as a fighter, I know there’s no one who can beat him in his weight class.”

Dr. Coletta said in Pacquiao’s recent fight against Antonio Margarito, referee Laurence Cole should be spared by critics for not stopping it but described as “ludicrous” holding up his fingers to check the Mexican’s vision at least twice.

“The referee was closest to the fighters,” said Dr. Coletta. “He obviously thought Margarito still had some fight left. I think you could justify stopping it and if it was stopped, nobody would’ve been shocked. What I found ludicrous was Cole holding up his fingers to check Margarito’s vision. That’s the ringside physician’s job. Cole had no business doing that. If he was bothered by Margarito’s swollen eye, he should’ve called in the ringside physician. What Cole did was a waste of time.”

Dr. Monsell agreed with Dr. Coletta that Cole shouldn’t be chastised for allowing the fight to go the distance. “Boxers are the fittest, toughest and bravest athletes in the world,” said Dr. Monsell. “Margarito took a bad beating. It was brutal, like a ritual slaying. Cole didn’t want to take away Margarito’s last chance to win by knockout, knowing how tough he is. And Manny looking at Cole as if to tell him to stop it didn’t work. I don’t think a referee will stop a fight because one of the fighters tells him to.”

Dr. Monsell recalled a 2004 cruiserweight fight involving Carl Thompson and Sebatiaan Rothmann in Yorkshire. “Rothmann had Thompson pinned against the ropes, hitting him at will,” said Dr. Monsell. “Then, Rothmann glanced at the referee, like he was asking when he would stop it. Suddenly, Thompson threw a vicious uppercut and Rothmann was knocked out. In boxing, it’s not over ‘til it’s over. It’s possible Cole had that in mind despite the beating Margarito took from Manny.”

Dr. Monsell said a Welsh flyweight Robbie Regan wore loose-fitting shoes for a fight once and in the second round, his feet began to blister. He went on to win a 12-round bout by decision but after the fight, both the soles of his feet were skinless. “It was a horrible sight,” said Dr. Monsell. “I asked Robbie what made him do it. He was in terrible pain from the second round. He replied that he couldn’t stop, that he had to win. He just didn’t think about the pain. That’s why boxers are special athletes.”

Dr. Monsell said it takes an experienced referee to recognize if a fight has to be stopped. “Take Ali’s fight against George Foreman,” he noted. “When Ali did his rope-a-dope, he took a lot of punches without giving back. An inexperienced referee would’ve stepped in because Ali appeared helpless. But as we all know now, it was part of a strategy and Ali came back to knock out Foreman.”

Dr. Monsell said boxers are a special breed. “They’ve got to be clever,” he said. “They must have the intelligence of a chess master, the agility of a ballerina, the stamina of a marathoner and the quickness of a sprinter.”

Dr. Monsell said simple neurological tests should be regularly administered on fighters to monitor their brain health.

“I don’t think we should wait for a fighter to deteriorate,” said Dr. Monsell. “We should find ways to determine if a fighter is on the way down. That’s when he should retire. It’s not correct to cite number of fights or number of losses as a measure of when a fighter should retire. In fact, there are studies that relate the amount of sparring to brain damage. Sparring, more than an actual fight, could cause serious brain injury.”