A Doctor Breaks Down the Mayweather-McGregor Fight

Most of you don’t know about my boxing experience.  My brother was a pro fighter.  I was a mediocre but All-American college boxer in the 80s.  I also was a sports medicine trainer for many pro boxing champions before medical school.  I follow the sport even though I have hesitations.  Combat sports are the only ones who let competitors compete with an acute concussion.  As a physician, I have trouble with this now especially after seeing all the CTE studies (you may know about my Cryohelmet) though, surprisingly, very little is done with boxers.  I know plenty of ex-fighters who are completely demented.   I believe Roger Mayweather, Floyd’s uncle, and long time trainer, has it severely and that is why he is no longer involved with these fights. And I helped train Roger!

The fight itself was a textbook inner city, boxing gym “challenge”.  I used to see it all the time.  It is where someone comes off the street and challenges anyone in the gym to a fight.  I once saw some monster-sized dude do it in Houston and the trainer put him in with Carl “The Truth” Williams, who gave Larry Holmes a run for his money.  Carl let the guy punch himself out and then kicked the crap out of the dude.  Between rounds the guy ripped off his gloves and literally ran out of the door and was never seen again.  This is what Floyd did and the result was almost the same. No disrespect to Conor as he did an admirable job.

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Should the fight have been stopped? Absolutely.  I clipped the video above because Floyd says the wisest thing he has EVER said.  It won’t be reported and he won’t be given credit for it but it was great.  Please watch it.

Boxing is a dangerous business.  I am EXTREMELY concerned about the health of these guys and the fact that basically, no one is helping them. My brother has a charity called Ring 10 that does a great job but he is almost alone in this.  Feel free to check it out and donate. One hundred percent goes to ex-fighters as everyone involved are volunteers.  Their yearly extravaganza benefit is in September and if you make it you may just see some Hall of Famers.

The sport won’t go away as it is a way out of poverty for many inner city kids.  It is also a great way to discipline yourself and learn self-defense.  That doesn’t mean it couldn’t be safer.

Lastly, Floyd Mayweather, the boxer, should be given some credit. He is 40 years old. Tom Brady gets a ton of coverage for defying Father Time and so should Floyd.  He fought a 29-year-old man who really trained hard for this. Floyd didn’t even spar for the past month and yet was able to not fatigue himself!  But beyond that, it was more important to listen to what he says above.  The referee saved Conor from worsening brain damage and there should be no complaining about that.