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Out of the ring: boxing and long-term brain damage

2018; Elsevier BV; Volume: 17; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s1474-4422(18)30150-9

1474-4465

Jules Morgan,

Traumatic Brain Injury Research

It is May 2, 2015, and the boxing world is psyched for the bout billed as the “Fight of the Century” between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. It turned out to be a disappointing match for viewers, but the total revenue generated was far from unsatisfactory. It earned over US$400 million with 4·6 million pay-per-view buys, and the boxers agreed a 60/40 split for the $300 million prize. Back in June 1997, the infamous ear-biting fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield generated US$100 million, Tyson taking home US$30 million and Holyfield US$35 million. With big bucks like these at stake, who would want to talk about a high probability of sustained brain injury from excessive blows to the head? Or about the lasting neurological consequences of those impacts? Previously called punch-drunk syndrome, this neurodegenerative disease is now known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Writer, director, and actor Paddy Considine has risen to the challenge. In Journeyman, Considine directs and stars as middleweight boxing champion Matty Burton. His “one last big fight” is set up, supposedly to provide future financial security for his baby daughter Mia and wife Emma (played by Jodie Whittaker), as he seeks to defend his title against up and coming Andre “The Future” Bryte (Anthony Welsh). Of course, professional boxing does not guarantee the mega salaries of Mayweather, Pacquiao, and others. Earning is proportional to star quality and hype, and Matty appears to live fairly modestly. In boxing, a journeyman is a fighter with adequate skill, but is not considered a real contender. So for this fight does Matty view himself as a journeyman or a champion? Perhaps both. He is also a devoted family man: scenes with Emma and Mia are heart-warming and down-to-earth, and close-up camera angles invite the audience to experience the intimacy with them. In the film, Andre and Matty square up to each other for the usual pre-fight publicity and rooky Andre mouths off: “this will be a life changer”, he taunts. And he is right. Matty wins the fight, but at what cost? In the ring he receives some heavy blows, and later collapses at home and falls into a coma. When he awakens, his brain has sustained an injury that changes his life, irrevocably. It is easy to understand how both amateur and professional boxers are at risk of head trauma, but what is being done to protect these athletes? Safety regulations have been implemented and are frequently updated, but in a sport where the goal is to punch your opponent, how many blows to the head is too many? Charles Bernick at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas (NV, USA) is lead researcher of the “Professional Fighters Brain Health Study”, which measures the effects of long-term head trauma in combat sports. Using MRI, the Study sought to identity the so-called breaking point, when continued repetitive blows to the head lead to measurable cognitive impairment. The extent of brain damage is often not detectable until autopsy. The results from the study show that Fight Exposure Score—based on duration and intensity of fights—was associated with lower brain volumes, notably in the thalamus and caudate, and speed of processing slowed with decreased thalamic volumes and with increasing fight exposure. CTE and other sequelae after traumatic brain injury affect people in different ways, but common features are memory loss, poor cognitive functioning, and personality changes. In Journeyman, after he awakes from his coma, Matty returns home to live with Emma, who now serves as his carer. What really works is the empathy the audience feels for both Considine and Whittaker's characters as they try to adjust. Considine plays a man who is struggling with his disability, his limitations, and his identity, while Whittaker is desperately clinging on to their relationship, patiently re-teaching her husband how to be himself. She searches for a glimpse of the man she knew before, but the only time she feels that connection is when he is sleeping. When Mia's life is endangered, Emma leaves. Initially, Matty's boxing coaches—his closest friends (sensitively played by Paul Popplewell and Tony Pitts)—are absent, and this isolating and terrifying period invokes the reality of a kind of discard-when-damaged culture in boxing and in other contact sports. So how does Journeyman contribute to a debate on the future of boxing? Fundamentally, it is a deeply human perspective on the issue, and Considine is attentively credible in a sensitive portrayal of brain injury. The film is a love story, a tale of courage and of overcoming adversity. It may be a little too tidy at times but this doesn't detract from the film's emotional punch. There are some heartstring-pulling moments when Considine brings Matty's struggle to life as he tries to reclaim his life and steadfastly works on his rehabilitation programme in hopes that Emma will return. Although his circumstances seem bleak, there are bright spots in the form of the many touching interactions between Matty and his friends as they step-up to share the responsibility of caring for him. Without tarnishing the gritty reality of relationships surviving brain injury, the viewer is left with hope for Matty and Emma's future together. This is not always the case though—the invisibility of brain disorders is problematic and many injured sporting heroes fall through the cracks. A brutal, but somehow thrilling sport—delivering punch after punch, boxing continues to draw in the crowds and line promotors' pockets with gold. It is a heavy price to pay. Watch Journeyman and make up your own mind. Journeyman Director Paddy Considine, 2018 92 minsFor a trailer of Journeyman see https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=KCKQ9bVO4w4 Journeyman Director Paddy Considine, 2018 92 mins For a trailer of Journeyman see https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=KCKQ9bVO4w4