Boxing Brain Injuries

The most electrifying moment of any fight is when there is a knockdown or knockout. These are most often the result of a hard, explosive punch landing on the jaw or on a thinner part of the skull, producing concussive effects inside the brain. In and of itself, that constitutes a mild brain injury, and unfortunately more serious injuries are also a risk of the sport.

  1. Knockdown

    • The most frequent causes of a boxing knockdown are a minor trauma to the brain stem caused by the head twisting due to a hard blow at an odd angle, or from a very minor concussion. In both cases, the boxer rarely loses consciousness, but does suffer a short impairment in neurological functions, especially motor control.

    Concussion

    • Low priority concussions often result in the temporary loss of consciousness, and in boxing this produces a knockout. The results are also a short-term, but more profound and longer lasting impairment of neurological function.

    Rotational Damage

    • Sometimes the violent shaking and rotational motion produced by taking a punch can tear the connective tissue fastening the brain inside the skull, which can result in lethal injury if the skull is subjected to later trauma. This is exactly what happened to boxer Ernie Schaaf in 1933.

    Subdural Hematoma

    • A subdural hematoma is a rare occurrence, but it does sometimes happen inside the ring. This is when a hard blow damages an artery inside the brain, causing inter-cranial bleeding and a potentially fatal build-up of pressure on the brain.

    Dementia Pugilistica

    • "Punch drunkenness" or dementia pugilistica is a condition of declining mental ability due to cumulative brain damage sustained by veteran professional boxers.

    Muhammad Ali

    • Muhammad Ali is often incorrectly thought to suffer from dementia pugilistica, but in reality he suffers from Parkinson's Disease. Parkinson's is largely a genetic condition, but his boxing career is thought to have aggravated his condition.