Why Mike Tyson’s return to the ring is not just a danger to himself but to the sport as a whole.

Boxing is one of my favourite sports, particularly heavyweight boxing. The athleticism, the psychology, and the peak of human conditioning on display in an animalistic version of human chess. Britain loves boxing, even those who disagree with the violence can get caught up in the pageantry and the spectacle. But right now boxing has a crisis on its hands in the form of bout-related deaths and Mike Tyson’s return to the ring will only make it worse.

Since the turn of the century, twenty-seven boxers have died due to injuries sustained in the ring. That’s just from professional bouts. Fifteen of the twenty-seven deaths came in the last decade making it the deadliest decade that the sport has seen since records began. Four deaths came in 2019: Maxim Dadishev [28], Hugo Santillan [23], Boris Stanchov [21] and Patrick Day [27]. With the exception of Stanchov, who, at the time of his death was fighting under his cousin’s name and licence, all bouts that resulted in the 2019 deaths were sanctioned by one of the ‘Big Four’ Boxing sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO). All deaths were the result of severe brain traumas that required extensive surgeries but all were sadly unsuccessful. These men were in the prime of their lives with hopes of making an impact in the sport that they loved enough to put their lives on the line. Lives tragically taken way too soon.

Claims have been made that the man who went 50-6 in his career with 44 knockouts would not be in such danger as he is ‘Iron’ Mike, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’. All that needs to be said in response is that this man is 54 next month. If the sport is resulting in the deaths of young men in peak physical condition, then the impact on a man in his fifties, no matter his former prowess, is surely not worth the risk. The already mentioned deaths have been the result of Cerebral Edema, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Cardiac Arrest and swelling of the brain leading to kidney failure. Whilst these are freak incidents and completely unpredictable, the danger of CTE still lingers in boxing just as it does over many contact sports. CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is the result of multiple concussions and head trauma. An individual cannot be  diagnosed with CTE until after death but signs and symptoms of it can be prevalent throughout later life, such as behavioural and mood problems that can result in: depression, aggression, dementia, and impulsive and suicidal thoughts.

Many of the deaths related to CTE occurred due to the behavioural changes that they have experienced because of the condition. Many big names across multiple sports, such as NFL stars: Junior Seau (gunshot wound to the chest), Jovan Belcher (murdered girlfriend then committed suicide), and Aaron Hernandez (murder then suicide in prison), and WWE wrestlers: Chris Benoit (double murder of wife and son and subsequent suicide) and Test (drug overdose) were all diagnosed with CTE post mortem, but the destructive signs of CTE were prevalent in their lives leading up to their deaths.

Now imagine that an older boxer gets back into the ring, gets knocked out and suffers a concussion. Imagine that we read in the months and years after the fight that he is struggling with mental health, that he breaks his sobriety and continues on a destructive path. Imagine that it results in his death and during an autopsy it is found that he has CTE. Imagine what that would do to the sport that allowed a 54 year old man back into a ring having had 15 years away from it; what it would do to the promoter who set up the match and the boxing body that sanctioned the bout. Boxing would be ruined and the effects on the fighters involved would be irreparable.

A lot of big names defied the laws of aging by fighting well into their 40s, and even into their 50s, at the highest of levels. Names such as: George Foreman (48 at the time of retirement), Larry Holmes (52) and Bernard Hopkins (51) but these anti-aging machines consistently boxed throughout their thirties and forties (save Foreman’s ten years out between ages 28 and 38). The dangers of fighting amplified significantly as boxers enter middle age, shown by Adonis Steveson’s forced retirement aged 42 due to a brain trauma leaving him comatose for three weeks. Boxing is a dangerous sport at its core; the object is to beat up another human being to the point that they can no longer continue. So why would we want that to happen to a man in his mid- fifties, a man who has already given so much to the sport?

Many opponents have been mooted for Mike Tyson’s return bout including Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Shannon Briggs, Riddick Bowe, Frank Bruno, and Tony Bellew. All of these men are retired and, with exception of Bellew, are in their late forties and beyond. This not only puts Tyson at risk of serious, life-threatening injury but any of those older opponents who decide to stand across the ring from him on the night of his return. This is a risk that I cannot envision many sanctioning bodies or promoters would be willing to take, even for charity as is the plan. There have been suggestions of pairing Tyson up with a younger fighter who would be able to take him to an exciting fight. Former All-Blacks rugby player Sonny Bill Williams has been the name on everyone’s lips as that younger fighter. Whilst the novelty of the return would bring some sort of entertainment to the bout, the danger to ‘Iron’ Mike would increase exponentially due to the younger fighter’s body being closer to his prime and having been kept in incredible shape since the start of his rugby career. Mike Tyson hasn’t fought in 15 years, he has battled alcohol and substance abuse in that time and, whilst he is now sober and a vegan, his body will not be what it once was during his pomp, allowing for more to possibly go wrong.

As I am only 22, I never got to see ‘Iron’ Mike box let alone watch him in his heyday when he tore through 42 Heavyweight fights in six years (save that one against Buster Douglas). So the thought of seeing Tyson squaring off against a legend of the sport or an up and comer in front of a powderkeg MSG would be incredible, but I just do not want it. For Tyson’s sake and for the sake of the boxing world. I will be sticking to Youtube compilations for now.