Z Gorres is transported out of the ring on a stretcher.
Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto certainly deserves all the attention it is getting, but it must be pointed out that while the Pacman is celebrating his win, another Filipino boxer, Z Gorres, is in critical condition in hospital after winning his bout with Colombian Juan Melendez. He had been hit pretty hard at one point during the match but still went on to win the fight — only to collapse in the end due to a blood clot. He was immediately hospitalized and operated on but had to be placed on induced coma to stabilize his condition.
The two boxers represent two realities in the world of boxing: on the one hand stands Pacquiao, incredibly rich and famous after winning an unprecedented seven titles in seven weight divisions; on the other lies Gorres, injured and most certainly no longer able to pursue his dream of being a world champion. Boxing, for all its glitter, is essentially a violent sport that can and does injure and even kill its participants. Let’s not forget that the victorious Pacquiao currently sports a bandage over his right ear due to some clotting that had been removed after the fight.
There are varying estimates, but most reports have it that about 1,000 boxers died in the ring in the 20th century. In the first five years of the 21st century another 43 victims have been recorded worldwide — mostly professional boxers but including up to ten amateurs. Thousands of others have suffered injuries, the most famous of whom is Muhammad Ali who has Parkinson’s Syndrome, a disease to which those subject to severe head trauma, such as boxers, are many times more susceptible.
While boxing is an extremely popular sport, there have been longstanding moves to ban it. The New York Times, in an article written on January 14, 1983, reported that the day’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association had urged the banning of boxing “in light of new evidence suggesting that chronic brain damage was prevalent among fighters.”
“In a study of 38 former boxers, who were examined by the X-ray process called computed axial tomography (CAT), more than half of the fighters showed signs of brain-tissue loss, or atrophy. This is the kind of cumulative damage that leads to the punch-drunk syndrome known as dementia pugilistica, which is characterized by memory loss, eye and ear problems, slurred speech, abnormal gait and tremors… The data indicated that the more often a person steps into the ring, the more likely he is to develop cerebral atrophy. But the data also suggested that boxers with a ‘moderate number of bouts’ may suffer such damage.”
Across the globe from the US, the British Medical Association (BMA) has also repeatedly called for a ban on boxing. In its May 3, 1998 issue, the BBC quoted BMA boxing spokesperson Dr. Bill O’Neill as saying the group is “very concerned about acute injuries.”
“We are also very concerned about the chronic brain damage that boxers are susceptible to from repeated injuries in the ring… It is the only sport where the intention is to inflict serious injury on your opponent, and we feel that we must have a total ban on boxing.”
Banning boxing, of course, will not go well with Pacquiao’s millions of fans. But perhaps those who have been following Gorres’ career would support it. Here’s to his full recovery, and may no one else suffer the same injuries he did.
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