JIMMY BATTEN, the man who fought 10 rounds with Roberto Durán in 1982, will openly tell you that he has brain damage. However, he still loves the sport of boxing and is a keen supporter of the Ringside Charitable Trust (RCT).
At a publicity event for RCT last Thursday (September 1), Batten was one of several former boxers who were there to fly the flag. Others included Duke McKenzie, Allan Richardson, Pat Doherty, Ross Minter and James Cook, while the British Boxing Board of Control was well represented by General Secretary Robert Smith and Vice President Guy Williamson. Jerome Pels, the new CEO of England Boxing, was also in attendance. There were no promoters or active fighters.
Batten told Boxing News: “I knew something was wrong with me, but I didn’t know what caused it. I was later diagnosed with dementia pugilistica and it got steadily worse.”
The former British super welterweight champion’s memory is poor, his words slurred, his hands tremble, but he has retained his sense of humour. If he could go back to the beginning of his boxing career, which he ended in 1983, he would do it in a heartbeat. With a warning.
“I wish I had been informed about the dangers,” he explained. “We knew it was a dangerous sport and we could get hurt in the ring. But we were never told what might happen to us in the future. It may not have made any difference, I probably would have continued anyway, but I wish I had been warned that it could end like this.”
This need for education was emphasized by one of the speakers at the event, Tris Dixon, former BN editor and author of Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing.
“I still talk to boxers today, on both sides of the Atlantic, who don’t know what CTE is. [chronic traumatic encephalopathy] is, and I haven’t heard of him,” Dixon said. “That’s not right. Fighters will say they know the risks, but many only talk about what can go wrong on fight night, and not many years after the final bell rings. It’s time to box, and the the way it’s structured, it changes and stops taking so much from our warriors and starts giving back.
“Here and now, [RCT’s] Dave Harris is drawing a line in the sand and saying that we need to do more. And we have to, our voices have to be heard. We still have a chance to deal with this problem, to show that we are doing something, but I am afraid that time is running out. Other sports do much more to help their athletes, but we see the junk piling up. Our fighters deserve more. I ask boxing, the promoters, the fighters, the fans and everyone who loves the sport, or claims to love it, to support Dave Harris and the Ringside Charitable Trust, to ensure that our heroes remain champions and warriors, once finished the bell has rung.
Many boxers go through their careers without thinking about tomorrow. By the time the blows and years of hard combat catch up with them suddenly, and it can happen quickly, it’s already too late. That’s why the Ringside Charitable Trust is so important. They can provide the much-needed aftercare system for boxing. Harris spoke of the wall of silence that he constantly fights against. He’s not asking for a penny from promoters, just his attention, to discuss new ideas, like putting QR codes on fight tickets so punters can donate. He simply wants the industry to work together.
The call to unity should be deafening by now. Many, however, are not willing to listen. Too many in the industry, including top trainers, will admit they don’t want to read Dixon’s book for fear of what they might find. It is understandable up to a point, but ignorance is not the answer.
Robert Smith, whose work to improve safety procedures in boxing is to be admired, pointed out that times may be changing. “We’re talking here about fighters who retired a long time ago,” he said. “We are working hard to educate today’s fighters and I am confident that, in the years to come, we will see the benefits of that education.”
In recent years, we’ve seen fighters like Carl Frampton, George Groves, Anthony Crolla and Darren Barker walk away when they were young, citing concerns about their futures as one of the reasons behind their retirements. They could be described as the lucky ones, who retire with financial security after a satisfying career. However, futures are never guaranteed. Just ask Jimmy Batten, who was 27 when he had his last fight.
