Jimmy Doyle in 1942 (Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Daily News).
Boxers dying in the ring or as a direct result of boxing injuries is prevalent enough; it’s more or less the norm, not the exception. If we added on players who die after tragic deaths related to neurocognitive decline and other health problems a little later on in life from boxing, we would have even more. Probably more than we could count. Let’s get into the two stories we highlight today of people who literally died in the ring.
Boxing Death Stats
13 boxers on average die in the ring or from injuries sustained in the ring every year. Between 1720 and 2011, research found that 1,865 people died. This is likely an underestimate. Since 2011, we have been sitting over 2000. The average boxer will die roughly five years before the average American citizen, likely because of brain trauma. They will live 13 years less than the average tennis player (a non-contact sport).
Two Victims of the Ring
The majority of players did not die directly in the ring. We did find an individual who did. The majority of the boxers who competed when healthcare was more readily available died in hospitals, often in a coma, after several days.
Jimmy Doyle
Doyle didn’t technically pass away in the ring, but his story is so iconic and noteworthy that he made it on my list. Jimmy was boxing Sugar Ray Robinson in 1947 at the World Welterweight Championship. Jimmy Doyle was knocked out in the 8th round and never woke up again. He later passed away at a hospital.
What makes this fight unique? Sugar Ray Robinson had a dream that he would kill someone, so he stayed away from the ring like it carried the plague. For an unclear reason, his priest and clergymen encouraged him to take on Jimmy Doyle despite his fears. I guess the men of the cloth didn’t have the same dream, but ideally they should have.
Robinson almost got in legal trouble for taking Jimmy Doyle’s life, but it was later determined that it was just a typical match that went wrong. Sugar Ray was cleared. However, one positive is that the rules changed. Referees were forced to step in sooner when one person was compromised. They could also create less terrifying-looking stretchers and update the method of crowd surfing players to safety.
Henri Piet
Despite the fact that Henri Piet literally died in the ring, there’s not much information about the boxer or his boxing career. We know the Frenchman died at 27 years old in 1915. Piet was named the French Welterweight Belt in 1912. Henry Piet is likely not the only individual who died in the ring itself, but he’s the only case that was documented.
Can the Sport Be Made Safer
My gut answer is no. A sport that is so physically traumatic to the brain and other body parts is not definable as safe.
For people who are more optimistic than me, they do have some suggestions here. Basically, less strict weigh-ins and more of an emphasis on hydration are easy ideas that can prevent a lot of injuries. Better ring-side physicians would help. Would a good doctor want to work there through? And lastly, better medical record management so a history of major injuries over time is not ignored or alarming health conditions are overlooked.
Those actually do sound like solid ideas that are simple to implement. We should try those. It won’t make boxing safe, but it would make it “safer.”
For more articles that are more fun in the Punch Drunk and Boxing Free series, check here.
