Muhammad Ali, nicknamed “The Greatest,” entertained and inspired the world both inside and outside of the boxing ring. But Ali fought until he was nearly 40-years-old, losing three of his last four fights, his final bout in December 1981. Less than three years later, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which sometimes results from head trauma.
Although boxing matches were reduced from 15 to 12 rounds soon after the tragic death of South Korean lightweight Kim Duk-koo, who died in November 1982 after a brutal fight versus American Ray “Boom-Boom” Mancini, collapsing into a coma inside the ring and passing away five days after the match — combat sport athletes are still susceptible to short- and long-term damage. Would Ali have lived a better quality of life if he had not absorbed so much head trauma in the ring? Boxers in particular, and combat sports athletes in general, need to consider retiring sooner for their own health.
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman battled Sebastian Fundora for his World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight title in only his third fight since August 2019, losing by TKO in the sixth round after dropping the first five rounds on all three scorecards.
“The fans were loving the action and the referee stopped the fight too early,” a delusional and busted-up Thurman, who will turn 38 later this year, said after the fight. “They don’t have the guts to let the fights go on like the Erik Morales days. He talked to me and said if I was moving my feet, he wouldn’t stop the fight. I wasn’t on the ropes, taking shots. It was very unfortunate to not give the fans a better show. Win, lose, or draw, I thought it was a little bit premature. I had more in me.”
After earning arguably the best win of his career by recapturing the UFC middleweight title by defeating Alex Pereira in April 2023, MMA legend Israel Adesanya, who will turn 37 this summer, lost his fourth consecutive fight, with the last two by TKO, after a Saturday night defeat to Joe Pyfer in Seattle. Despite the consecutive losses, Adesanya emphatically stated after the fight that he is not retiring.
Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who once famously said “I want a body on my record” — or literally to kill a fighter in the ring — is 4-4-1 in his last nine fights after winning the first 40 fights of his career (39 by knockout). Despite suffering three brutal knockout losses in those fights, most recently being knocked out by Zhilei Zhang in June 2024, Wilder is scheduled to fight Derek Chisora next Saturday at the O2 Arena in London, England.
For these fighters, continuing to earn a living and return to the glory of being a champion is the goal, but at what expense? Perhaps more combat sports athletes need to make the decision that former three-time undisputed champion Terence Crawford made; he retired in December at 38 with a 42-0 record.
“We all [looked] up to Ali as the most iconic boxer ever, and to see him deteriorate like he did, we don’t wanna be like that,” Crawford told podcast host Ryan Clark in a recent interview. “You’re the greatest fighter of all time, but you can’t take care of yourself.”