Nooooo!!!!!!!!

[Just1More]

That was (is) a bad dude.

He took Chavez to 3 rounds... and that was a heck of a feat in those days. Kenny was 26-3 with 21 KOs heading into that fight on ESPN. Kenny out-boxed guys with his fast hands and feet. For his physical (thin) build, he packed a lot more punch than people would suspect.

As for the demise of football... by evidence of the long term effects of head blows... is a longshot. I just think that with the instantaneous nature of information and public reaction... a definitive medical community report could create massive issues. However... I look at it like cigarette label warnings. If the addiction is massive... it takes a lot more than definitive medical information to eliminate it.

[locoguano]

The boxing comparison does not work... Boxing has been replaced by MMA, a MORE VIOLENT sport.

You may well see football disappear from public school... You may see all extra-curricular activities fade away. They will not, however, disappear from the private schools.

[Just1More]

The boxing comparison does not work... Boxing has been replaced by MMA, a MORE VIOLENT sport.

You may well see football disappear from public school... You may see all extra-curricular activities fade away. They will not, however, disappear from the private schools.

First, MMA is slightly less likely to cause the damage boxing does over time. Boxing gloves, by not allowing a much faster ending to a fight, actually allow a pummeling of the brain. MMA may appear more violent, but it ends things much quicker than boxing. You are right that MMA is tearing boxing up in the past decade from a popularity standpoint, but the correlation to boxing was going back to when it was a mainstream sport in society. Boxing got relegated to poor inner-city youths a long time ago. Boxing was in decline for mainstream America long before cage fighting came along.

I don't think football will decline in the same way boxing did. The point is that brain damage science may put a lot more pressure on football and this article speculates those forces may hammer football. I think my cigarette analogy should make all football fans and those employed by football feel better - the addiction and money are too great - and we don't mind watching people die if we can make money and/or be pleasured.

[CharlieK]

How popular was boxing and how far has it fallen? The most popular athlete in the history of mankind is an ex boxer who hasn't fought in 30 years.

[CajunMarineBBK]

I went to school with Kenny I still see him around but if I am not mistaken that was the second guy that died after being in the ring with him. I actually say Kenny about six weeks or so ago.