Former Champ Speaks Out About The Brain Damage Suffered By Ali
And Warns Against Choosing A Career In Boxing
By Bobby Franklin, March 9. 2025
“The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.” James Baldwin
Recently, I came across comments made by Bernard Hopkins in a 2014 interview with BBC Sport. I was surprised at what he said but also pleased to see how honest he was about the sport of boxing, and more so by his willingness to mention Muhammad Ali as an example of why young people should not take up boxing.
Here’s what he said:
“I would never want anybody I care about to box. In fact, I would tell my worst enemy’s kids not to box. I don’t believe that the body, especially the head, was made to be hit. So if any of your kids or grandkids want to box, distract and discourage them early. You want to teach kids about the dangers of violence on the streets? Take them to the morgue, let them see the victims of gun crime. You want a kid not to smoke crack? Show him a crack-head. Your kid wants to box? Start off by showing him Muhammad Ali.” Bernard Hopkins, BBC Sports, April 17, 2014
“You want a kid not to smoke crack? Show him a crack-head. Your kid wants to box? Start off by showing him Muhammad Ali.”
Hopkins spoke the truth. For too long boxing has been romanticized, and the damage it has done to those who participate in it has been downplayed. While studies have been done, books written, and documentaries made about the tragic fate that awaits the majority of boxers at the end of their careers, little if anything has been done to stop this carnage.
I write about the history of the sport and those figures who became well known because of their careers in the ring. When doing research for each column I pen about these men who spent years in the ring I inevitably find that most ended up suffering from dementia caused by the punches they took during the time they spent in the ring. There is even a name for the affliction visited on them because of the sport: Dementia Pugilistica. Today it is more commonly referred to as CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).
The condition also happens to those who are active in other sports, most notably football, but boxing is the only sport where the cause of CTE is the very object of the game.
In boxing, the way to win is by inflicting head injures on the opponent.
In football where there is also a high rate of brain damage as a result of the hits the players take on the field, the point of the sport is to score more points than the opposing team in order to win. In boxing, the way to win is by inflicting head injures on the opponent. The ultimate victory comes via a knockout which is a concussion. A concussion is a brain injury, and brain injuries are cumulative and progressive.
For an example of just how awful it is watch “Anyone Seriously Considering Being A Boxer Should See Jerry Quarry” and look at what happened to this once top rated heavyweight and how he ended up after a career in boxing. It’s both heartbreaking and sickening to see what happened to this highly intelligent man. It’s also infuriating to know that he got this way while being paid to entertain people.
There is another prime example of what this sport does to even the most gifted of its practitioners. I am, of course, speaking about Muhammad Ali. While in Jerry Quarry’s case his family wanted it to be known what happened to him in hopes it would discourage others from suffering the same fate. With Ali, excuses have been made for how he ended up. The most popular being that he suffered from Parkinson’s Disease which supposedly would have happened even if he had never boxed. To believe Ali’s brain was not damaged by the thousands of blows he took to the head is ridiculous. To try to hide it from the public is doing a disservice to our youth who may be thinking of making a career in this cruel profession.
Propagating this myth has done much damage. Instead of convincing people that the thousands of blows Ali took to the head had nothing to do with the horrible condition he ended up in, they could have been forthright and told the world that no matter how great you are in the ring, this is the fate that will likely await you from the damage you will receive when making a career out of boxing. This would have been the noble thing to do, and it would not have taken away from the champ’s accomplishments in the ring. In fact, it would have enhanced his reputation.
This is why I was pleased to read the quote from Bernard Hopkins. Sure, it can be said Hopkins owes everything he has to boxing. His life was tragic with years spent in prison, and boxing was his ticket out. But most young people who take up boxing aren’t in such dire straits. Also, what does it say about us as a society when we celebrate boxing as the best career choice for troubled youth? We really can’t come up with better options?
Bernard Hopkins so far seems to have come out of the sport with his faculties intact, though he remained active for way too long. But what of the Jerry Quarrys of the sport? Even worse, what of the thousands of fighters who never made any money but still suffered the same fate? I can name dozens of them. Was boxing their ticket to a better life?
Bernard Hopkins is right and his comments should be widely circulated. The time has come to stop encouraging young people to practice a sport that harms their brains. They have better choices. It’s really a shame the legacy of Ali hasn’t been used to help prevent the brain damage that happened to him from happening to others. We need more people like Bernard Hopkins speaking the truth about the dangers of the sport of boxing, and fewer people making excuses for the way Ali ended up. It’s time to end the Myth of Ali.