January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

Parkinsonian ~symptoms~ are - stiffness, tremors, shambling, draggy walk,
slurred speech, etc. What is true though, is that it's sort of like a time bomb.
Ali increased his chances of getting it the longer he fought of course, or
certainly some sort of effect, given the number of times he fought, and the
ferocious opponents he went up against. However, the damage to the dopamine
producing center in his brain, that caused his Parkinson's could have been done
after a half dozen fights, and he wouldn't have known it for years. I think
everyone could see the erosion of his skills and timing years before he quit,
and even the beginning of what turned out to be Parkinson's, towards the end. It
isn't a disease that stops, and Ali certainly has other problems too, from all
the punches he took; an MRI, CAT, and various other neurological tests would be
total disasters. In addition, we can't discount internal organ damage too,
though these wouldn't be as obvious as his extensive brain damage.I
remember an interview he did with Marv Albert after Thrilla, in which he said,
"Joe Frazier made me what I am today." How right he was, though he had didn't
mean what was so obvious. Frazier, Foreman, Liston, Patterson, Quarry, Lyle,
Shavers, and so many others. It's actually a miracle he's as "good" as he is.|
|9/1/03 04:53:50
PM|Massimo|Rome||bigaristotle.com||||10|RoadscholaretteThere are fighters,
in boxing's history, that have fought so much more than Ali' and they haven't
had health's problem: Archie Moore and Sugar Ray, for example ! It's strange !
Anyway, I think Ali' should have quit after Manila. Holyfield is crazy ! What is
he doing ? He was a great champion, he has a lot of money ! If I were Holyfield,
I would go to Seicelle, not to a boxing ring ! Toto' used to say:" ACCHI
!!!!!!!!!!" with shrill voice... I propose a new rule:NOBODY,OLDER THAN 38, CAN
FIGHT ! Do you agree ?PS: I have a strange relationship with boxing: boxing
is so exciting, it's my favorite sport, but I'd abolish it for moral reasons !
Do you agree ?|
|9/1/03 06:29:20
PM|Roadscholarette|Chicago||roadscholarette@hotmail.com||||10|Massimo -
You're very right there. There are fighters who spend many years in
professional fighting and don't seem to have a thing wrong with them (Foreman,
Moore, and Dempsey for example), and yet there are others with terrible damage
after not all that many even amateur fights. A person might say good
luck-bad luck, but considering the collision anyone's brain takes from a blow to
the head, and the number of times this occurs in a fight, it has to be more than
luck. My guess would be that different neurological makeups make some people
more susceptible to damage than others, or more resistant to the effect of
blows, maybe both at the same time in some people. This would be kind of the
same as when some football players get hurt all the time, while others don't.
Unfortunately, the more resistant a fighter is to blows, the longer he's likely
to box, assuming he's a good athlete to begin with. However, resistance to blows
and to being knocked out doesn't mean damage isn't still being done. Ability to
take a punch was both Ali's gift, and finally his curse. If he'd been knocked
cold a couple of times when his skills faded, maybe he'd have gotten out
earlier. |
|9/1/03 07:23:44 PM|JIMMY DORSEY|VENTURA
CALIFORNIA||RONNYRAINS@YAHOO.COM||||10|Just witnessed the Jerry Quarry-Ron
Cranmer bout again,Why aren't the promoters in prison???The referee almost
stopped it between the 5th and 6th rounds!POOR JERRY was just exhausted,people
this was a human being for Gods sake!!I've seen it more than I ever wanted
to,but how about a charge like "WRONGFUL DEATH" against those clowns!!|
|9/1/03 10:05:31 PM|Kent|La Habra, Ca||kentallenent@aol.com||||10|On the subject
of some fighters fighting for a long time and becoming damaged and others who
fight as long or longer not showing any effects of their time in the ring, one
of the things I learned here at TJQF is that some people have a gene that shows
whether that person will later develop Dementia Pugilistica (Punch Drunck