When do fighters stop fighting?

For some it is a task to fight; make as much money from the game as possible, and then leave with your health intact. For others, fighting is a way of life; It’s a drug that you can’t quit.

There is a tendency to despise the new era of competitive sports like the clown show. Whether it’s UFC fights on the South Lawn of the White House, former Disney kid Jake Paul becoming one of boxing’s biggest money-makers, or whatever’s going on at Misfits on a given week, the bravado, theatrics and the occasional joke that always accompanies the fight game have been inflated to an obscene level.

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But when the bell rings, the technique of a cracked fist, a knee or a pipe against the skull is as ugly as it ever was. Fighters knowingly accept the risk of serious injury or death when they step into the ring. Often the same fighting force of spirit within said singular ring.

Liverpudlian Darren Till, a former UFC star turned strip-traffic ticket for BKFC, is in that camp. “I love violence. I love fighting. Built for fighting,” he says Welcome. At 33, he did not begin to think when he would give this game. Who just went away with the prospect of many struggles to investigate still went to such an age.

Yoel Romero is 49. An Olympic wrestling silver medalist all the way back in 2000, Romero is best known for his remarkable run in the UFC, which began at the age of 36 – 13 years after that triumph in Sydney. Entering a mixed martial arts organization when most fighters begin to age, the Cuban Boogeyman took the middle division by storm and fought for the world title three times.

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In the age he spread the cruelty. He also now fights mostly bare-knuckle, which is completely lacking in protection from the discipline, so you’ll be looking at some sick knockers. All this, while half a century. And like Tillius, a man 16 years his junior, he has no intention of retiring.

What do you think his reasons are? He does not seem to have one; it was fought simply for the purpose. “I don’t live a motivated life, cause tomorrow will leave you,” Romero says through an interpreter. “It’s something that’s in my blood, that’s what we do. I was born with the concept: if you want to be a great athlete, you have to train. You’re not an athlete unless you train.”

But indeed this discipline is secondary to his faith. He previously said “God will decide” when the fight ends, although in this interview he retracts it: “My faith with God is different. He does not dictate my wins or losses. It is the first battle.”

Romaro will not be suspended for a while, it seems. He will surely fight in his 50s, when he is already touted for retirement at 52; this, however, continues to be rejected.

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He is far from the only fighter to be glued to the fighting game. There is an obvious concern for this.

Fighter health, especially during retirement, has always been one of the biggest concerns of the fighting game. Stories of anxious ex-partners now battling CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head) and boxing dementia are tragically common in this world. It often feels like coaching; perhaps that is a greater tragedy.

No one knows this more than Dave Harris of the Rings Charity Trust (RCT). Harris has spent his career in boxing as a trainer, promoter and manager. He is now working to improve the lives of boxers and their families, particularly with funds aimed at raising residential care homes for retired boxers facing injury, illness and work.

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Harris is on the front lines of seeing former elite athletes physically and mentally damaged by their art. “I have wives on the phone because their husbands say they have affairs when they’re not because they’re suffering from pugilistic dementia,” she says.

In a very sad incident, Harris revealed at the time of his speech that Jimmy Revie, the former British featherweight champion, was forced to leave his home because of bullying at his mercy. Home care alone cannot meet the unique needs of a boxer, Harris believes. “Jimmy, at Ringside calm and care home, the right people will be around to calm him, talk to him, show him. [his old fight] son This is at home, there is nothing to disturb the spirits.

Two weeks later, Revie passed away on September 13, at the age of 79.

Knowing what fighters can go through in later life, Harris is concerned about the safety of retired boxers as they are still fighting for greater protection. He believes that the organizers and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) will fail the crop today.

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“There is an epidemic out there that no one recognizes, especially the inexcusable perpetrators,” he said.

“The [real world] the mafia kill people. Well, the boxing mafia, the soft mafia, they don’t kill anyone. But in the long run they perish from their judgments. That’s an analogy that fighters usually take too long. I think they should do something about it.

BBBofC general secretary Robert Smith responded to this statement saying: “Mir Harris’ comments are very disappointing given the British Boxing Board’s medical standards are some of the strictest in the world and are recognized as such. Over the years the BBBofC has supported the Ringside Charitable Trust.”

Harris is frustrated that certain big names have been allowed to compete. Derek Chisora ​​is the obvious one, stating that he will fight again in December for the world title despite his defeat to Deontay Wilder in April that killed him as his 50th and final fight. But Kell Brook has another chance. The former IBF welterweight world champion announced in August that he would come out of retirement for another fight at 40, having previously admitted to mental health struggles after a period in his career.

“Is he in his business after the course? No. Where’s the common sense?” Harry’s successor “They’ll inject him with an actual squad or build someone up – it wouldn’t be surprising if after this September the thing with Conor Benn. [his defeat to Ryan Garcia]They took Kell Brook with them. It’s a street fighting game, but it’s bad. They want to get their act together on the Board of Directors.

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He added: “I think so.” [the BBBofC] but they make it more difficult for themselves to say, ‘No, we will not give Kell Brook a license.’ But money talks and that boy will fight again. I just hope he doesn’t get brain damage or damage later when he’s gone.”

The BBBofC confirmed that Brook did not apply for a license at the time of writing, but “should he do so it will be considered on its merits”.

Harris emphasizes the difficulty for fighters to step back from their game. “I have nothing else to go on,” he said, preparing a place for the soldiers who had left the military. But this makes it easy for supporters to “manipulate” the champions when they should be keeping them.

Money will naturally be the first reason why fighters, especially infantry, go. Then for the most successful legacy points there will always be a tick off. Mike Tyson said he would fight Paul in 2024, at the age of 58, because he is a “glory junkie” rather than for a huge payday. Conor McGregor, meanwhile, continues to ignore his body, insisting he will make a triumphant return to the UFC despite sustaining two catastrophic injuries in the first round of his two fights.

But deeper than that.

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Anthony Joshua shocked many by returning to action just months after being involved in a car crash that claimed the lives of two friends last December. In this case pain seemed to be a powerful motivator and a coping mechanism. A quick comeback seemed to be on the way to the end, with the long-awaited British super-fight with Tyson Fury finally signed. If ever there was a final chapter for a man, this must be it.

Joshua is a prominent RCT supporter, wearing his charity’s logo on his ring with Paul standing by his belief. “I know they’re worried about the boxers,” Harris said. But in an industry where fear can be frowned upon, the results of a fighter’s health can be said to be too random by those he directly observes.

Daniel Dubois was asked if Joe Joyce would resign due to ill health; It looks like a real issue in the boxing world. “If he was going to have brain damage, he would have it now,” Dubois says. “The amount of shots that the guy took to his face, he’s already got, so what’s the point of retiring? Nothing’s going to change.”

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Unfortunately, still in the thick of his life, this risk also seems to wipe out future complications, such as an occupational hazard. When asked if it weighs on his mind, he replied: “A little, but as I said, I like violence, if it will hurt the brain and the vessel like that, what then? I signed this.”

After the war with Romero at the end of September, a man whose first fight needs to be told, he came out victorious on the scorecards despite having suffered a knockdown in the last round. It was a bloody and brutal event that was once imagined by the UFC fantasy book. Both now continue to write their own stories in the ring, but on all fronts it is more important to consider how the books are closed.