Why are there so many more deaths in Boxing

JCS_FM said:
Because there are many more boxing matches than MMA matches. Ever consider the comparative volume?
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Boxing is much more dangerous then MMA will ever be. MMA fights last for 15 minutes boxing fights last for 36. You can do much more damage in 36 minutes then you can in 15 and most MMA fights don't last that long.
 
Being dehydrated and in a weakened state is always a dangerous thing reguardless of what sport or activity you may be involved in......but doubly so in boxing.

Some of the past deaths in boxing can be attributed to fighters taking a bad beating .....and then getting back in the ring a short time later before they have recouped.....Benny Paret is the perfect example. He was pounded out by Gene Fullmer (Fullmer says it was the worst beating he ever gave to a fighter) and a short time later Paret was back in the ring with Emile Griffith........Add to that the fact that Ruby Goldstein was moving in slow motion that night and you have the making of a tradgedy.

During the 20's, 30's, and on up through the 50's boxers fought more often. It was a common thing for fighters to have 20 fights or more in a single year.....I read somewhere that Harry Greb sometimes fought 3-4 times in a single month......I haven't had time to research the frequency of boxing deaths during that period.......but I'll bet it is considerably higher than it is in this day and age (also there were alot more fighters then than there are today)..........Feel free to flame me if I'm wrong.
 
I'd like to take this moment to point out James Jamerson in Sonny's AV. Very nice.
 
King Kabuki said:
Yeah, he looked like a weak old man, and got slapped around like one.
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That fight broke my heart to watch. Not really sure why, I just found it extremely difficult to watch Chris in that state.
 
Manu said:
Boxing is much more dangerous then MMA will ever be. MMA fights last for 15 minutes boxing fights last for 36. You can do much more damage in 36 minutes then you can in 15 and most MMA fights don't last that long.
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Thats really not true anymore. Statistically, sure. But you have to look at how much larger a part of MMA striking is lately. You have guys spending more time than ever training boxing and Muay Thai and more and more fights end up basically being boxing matches with takedowns.

Then note how many MMA fighters are seriously lacking in their defense standing.

Deaths in MMA are coming. The sport is still very young.
 
Longer bouts that contain significantly more striking than mma and allow the opportunity for downed fighters to recover..

MMA looks more brutal because when a fighter gets dropped, his opponent rains down shots until the ref steps in... which often leaves the loser out cold..

But that is less harmful than getting knocked down(which in some cases actually involves having a concussion) and then being allowed to keep fighting.
 
Further to earlier answers I really think being weight drained plays a big part. The brain basically sits in water - what do you lose when you lose a lot of weight quickly?

I also saw another post which I think adds another dimension I've not seen before to this discussion.

"During the 20's, 30's, and on up through the 50's boxers fought more often. It was a common thing for fighters to have 20 fights or more in a single year.....I read somewhere that Harry Greb sometimes fought 3-4 times in a single month......I haven't had time to research the frequency of boxing deaths during that period.......but I'll bet it is considerably higher than it is in this day and age (also there were alot more fighters then than there are today)..........Feel free to flame me if I'm wrong."

Consider for a moment, in that era, there were significantly LESS weight divisions than there are now, thus less scope for cutting weight. That's why its more of a big deal for people who stepped up to heavyweight in the past than it is now.

In MMA there is weight cutting but there are still relatively few weight divisions in the major leagues that sport (comparative to boxing).

Finally it has to be said in MMA there is more scope to stall, even with a ref that is on top of his game.
 
Grabbed a little spare time for research. The following is from the Journal of Combative Sports, Nov. 2007. Written by Joseph R. Smith. It's a lengthy article and seems to be well researched. Without hitting on all points I'll give the quick breakdown here:

Deaths by decade/period

1811 thru 1888 There were 88 reported boxing fatalities averaging just a little over one per year.

Modern gloved era:

1890's 103 deaths
1900's 94
1910's 127
1920's 191
1930's 155
1940's 116
1950's 146
1960's 113
1970's 95
1980's 67
1990's 78
2000's 68

From July 1888 thru Aug 1914 boxing averaged 10.9 deaths per year (a total of 283)

A good portion of the deaths (1/3) during the 1920's occurred in the amatuer ranks.

The journal records a total of 1,465 reported boxing deaths through Nov. 2007

Many of these deaths occurred during sparring/training (approx 125)

Most of the boxing deaths have occurred in America (well over 700)

N.Y. is at the top of the list with 93.....California 81.....Pa. 68

Japanese boxing deaths are listed at 43.....Indonesia is at 25 total.

Since 1920- there have been 61 fighters who died from ring injuries who won or drew in their final bout !!!!!

A very informative article. I didn't realize the tally was so high.
 
kurtwpg said:
Because when a boxer is seriously injured, he is given a count of 8 to recover sufficiently to be hit a bunch more. Because a boxing match only ends 2 ways: with a guy being knocked out, or with 2 guys punching each other for 12-36 minutes and going to the scorecards.
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I agree with what you said. MMA bouts are much shorter than boxing matches.
 
^^^^

That post reminds me of all the ridiculous mismatches in countries like Thailand. Anothe rfactor in deaths in boxing, I'd guess.
 
Mismatches would have to be a factor, or matches where one person takes sustained punishment for a long time before the fight ends. I just hope you weren't calling my post ridiculous. :D
 
JMyersDTN said:
Mismatches would have to be a factor, or matches where one person takes sustained punishment for a long time before the fight ends. I just hope you weren't calling my post ridiculous. :D
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No, good post. Seriously, one of the better posts I've seen.:icon_lol:
 
OK. Just wanted to make sure. You never know......
In all seriousness, I do believe the sustained punishment argument has some merit. In MMA, you can submit your opponent. In boxing, it's all about punches, especially to the head.
 
JMyersDTN said:
OK. Just wanted to make sure. You never know......
In all seriousness, I do believe the sustained punishment argument has some merit. In MMA, you can submit your opponent. In boxing, it's all about punches, especially to the head.
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I don't know about that anymore. Sure that was true when Royce Gracie held you in his guard for the entire fight.

But how many punches did Sherk eat versus BJ? How many punches did Nog eat from Fedor and Tim Sylvia (or any of his opponents.) How much heavy sparring are these guys doing? More than in the early UFC days I'd wager.
 
True enough. Just another angle to consider is all.......
 
Seano said:
I don't know about that anymore. Sure that was true when Royce Gracie held you in his guard for the entire fight.

But how many punches did Sherk eat versus BJ? How many punches did Nog eat from Fedor and Tim Sylvia (or any of his opponents.) How much heavy sparring are these guys doing? More than in the early UFC days I'd wager.
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True,

But I can almost guarantee you its significantly less than what a Marquez/Vasquez, Katsidis/Earl, Katsidis/Casamayor etc. Not to mention that MMA fighters dont do nearly as much sparring as a boxer/kickboxer would do. I remember reading an article about Serra's training camp for Hughes and he said he sparred 50-60 rounds in a 2-3 month timeframe.

Every boxer is different but id bet the amount of rounds they spar is well in the hundreds prior to a fight. Steve Molitor the IBF featherweight champion spars almost everyday against quality sparring opponents. And its not soft sparring either. They get hit.

And I really believe the rules in boxing as well as the glove size has alot to do with it as well. In boxing if you get knocked down you have 8 seconds to recover. Than you go out there again and get hit some more and more...and more. Whereas in MMA you get hit you fall down and often times the fight ends shortly after.
 
uppercuts21 said:
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In boxing if you get knocked down you have 8 seconds to recover. Than you go out there again and get hit some more and more...and more. Whereas in MMA you get hit you fall down and often times the fight ends shortly after.
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Or you get hit, clinch your opponent, taken him down/be taken down and get hit some more.
 
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