January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

Syndrome). Mr. Jimmy (James Quarry) said that a company has a patent on a blood
test that shows if a person has this gene or not but that company is not willing
to make it available at a reasonable price. One of the thigs he was working
towards is having potential fighters be able to take this blood test and then
they could make a more informed decision about whether they would go into boxing
or not. Dementia Pugilistica can have sympthums similar to both Parkinson's
disease or Altzeirmer's disease. Jerry had the Altzeirmer's form.|
|9/1/03 10:34:45
PM|Roadscholarette|Chicago||roadscholarette@hotmail.com||||10|Kent -
I've read the same thing, both in relation to trauma and not. There's so
much medicine doesn't understand yet about body chemistry, its effect on
genetics, as well as the effect of outside factors on what's already in our
bodies. It's possible that people who have terrible results from head trauma,
whether from boxing, football, accidents, or whatever, might have a higher
tendency to develop certain neurological pathologies anyway, with the head
trauma simply being an accelerant. This is the same as families that tend to
develop any sort of problem at whatever stage of life.My husband told me
that in the early 80s, Sports Ilustrated had an article on the effects of
boxing. He said Bobby Chacon, the riotous Tex Cobb, and he was sure Jerry Quarry
participated, and while Cobb inexplicably showed no signs of damage at all (was
this before the Larry Holmes fight?), the other two fighters did, and both were
still active, I believe, and showing no outward signs, publicly, anyway. It
seems that some very slow and sneaky metabolic processes are going on anyway in
fighters who crash badly later. The blood test you mention is certainly a step,
as is a single regulatory commission, and more stringent medical examinations,
as well as rules governing what happens when a fighter sustains an injury (read,
knockout), whether in the ring, or in the gym (where a lot of damage can be
done, but is rarely heard about, much less reported). Things such as mandatory
layoffs have been mentioned, as well as the more radical ideas advocating
stopping a career after three knockouts in a certain time span, even after three
knockouts in a whole ~career~. Concussions might be a better measuring tool.
When you're knocked out, you automatically have a concussion, but you can have
one and ~not~ be KOd. There's no doubt in my mind that many top fighters who
aren't knocked out have concussions anyway. Does anyone think Ali and Frazier
both didn't have them after Manilla, for example, and neither was even
down.I see the "Muhammed Ali Bill" passed, which should help with
predatory financial practices as well. With a single regulatory commission, I'd
be in favor of career counseling, and mandatory contribution to a pension fund.
These things would be a start anyway.|
|9/2/03 02:50:27 AM|Kent|La Habra,
Ca||kentallenent@aol.com||||10|Roadscholrette, Jerry indeed was one of the
fighters that showed signs of some brain damage in the 1983 test and yes, I
believe this was after the Holmes/Cobb fight. Jerry was allowed to continue to
box because the California state athletic commision let him fight because he
didn't have any outward signs of damage and they didn't want to deny a man a
means of making a living.If some good did come out of this, it was after
he took the brain exam that Jerry started talking about setting up a foundation
to help retired and/or injured fighters. The idea didn't become reality until
Jerry himself started showing outward visible signs of damage.|
|9/2/03 03:46:44 AM|Massimo|Rome||shaqMVP.com||||10|Holyfield will go to " holy-
field" if he doesn't quit immediately !|
|9/2/03 08:08:29 AM|Massimo|Rome||.com||||10|Roadscholarette-Have you ever
seen the Joe Louis vs Primo Carnera fight ? I would be very curious to know if
that was a one-sided bout or not. How would you score the rounds ? Have you ever
seen other Carnera's fights? Thank you very much !|
|9/2/03 03:33:21
PM|Roadscholarette|Chicago||roadscholarette@hotmail.com||||10|Massimo -I