Here's Bunny Sterling, after being hit.
Is there anything fans love more than a dramatic punch that drops a man to the canvas?
The ring announcer shouts, "And the winner...BY KNOCKOUT..."
KNOCKOUT!!
That's sort of the right word, isn't it? Technically, the fighter is KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS. He's OUT.
Bunny Sterling was a journeyman who held a minor (British Commonwealth) title for a while. he had a notable win against a name-fighter in Maurice Hope, but finished with a a record of 35-18-4. That's not exactly a great record, but it reflects that early in his career, he was often over-matched, and taking on anyone in order to get experience and get paid.
He had a mere 25% KO record, sending 14 to the canvas in his 35 wins. A deceptive sign of a "strong chin," is that in his 18 losses, he was only dropped for a KO twice, and that was in the middle of his career. Unlike some fighters who retire after several knockouts, his last 3 losses were by decision.
As you might have guessed, he suffered from dementia.
British boxing writer Steve Bunce: "“Sterling was a young old man when he walked away, scarred, aged before his time and without the cash to live in luxury." Few boxers make a lot of money in the ring, or get lucky with a very lucrative job after their sports days were over. Either way, money can’t buy a cure against dementia.
Boxers know the risks, of course. They love their sport and try not to think about the sad injuries and endings some have had. But perhaps they, and the general public, might benefit if "KNOCKOUT" was changed to something else.
Like: "TEMPORARY DEATH."
That's what a knockout really is. You're unconscious. You're dead to the world. Sometimes even smelling salts doesn't work. Oxygen and emergency care is needed.
If boxing fan Ernest Hemingway could poetically, sadly call orgasm the "little death," then why not call a knockout "TEMPORARY DEATH?"
"And the winner...by TEMPORARY DEATH..."
Having those words in the record book, a TD (TEMPORARY DEATH) listed along with the occasional UD (Unanimous Decision), might be a stronger reminder that a fighter might consider retirement a little sooner.
What did Bunny Sterling having in those last years of dementia? It was a kind of zombie state. Dead but undead. Because of too many punches. In many cases, it's directly because of too many knockouts or one truly debilitating one that leads to a brain injury too severe for the fighter to ever get in the ring again.
If we can change "Indian" to "Native American" or "Colored" to "Person of Color," maybe changing "Knockout" to "Temporary Death" isn't as radical as it sounds?
It might also suggest a rule change in boxing to prevent a "temporary death" from being fatal. I call it the "Standing 3" count. Boxing fans definitely do NOT want a fight stopped prematurely. Neither do the boxers. But if a fighter has been clocked, and has fallen, and gets up by the count of 9, and then gets clocked AGAIN, maybe the ref should be able to call for a "Standing 3" count. Three seconds. This is not long enough to give a fighter an unfair time for recovery, but long enough to alert the fighter AND the fans, that the fight will be waved off if a better defense and/or offense isn't made.
Sometimes a fighter is being hit often but doesn't go down at all. A standing 3 is useful. It should only be used ONCE in a round, and certainly not more than twice in an entire fight.
A standing 3 prevents a ref from making one of those snap judgments everyone grouses about. It gives the fighter a reminder, and a chance. If the fight is waved off a few moments later, it also might prevent that "TEMPORARY DEATH" from being permanent.
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