Is fighting with an injury brave or just plain stupid??

Evening chaps,

After hearing that Ricky Burns Fractured or Broke (depending on sources) his jaw, should the corner have pulled him out? Arthur Abraham was lauded for fighting on with a broken jaw in the first fight with Miranda, but the long term effects are far worse and in boxing, the most important thing is your health.

This got me thinking, why didn't the corner pull Ricky Burns out last night? A broken jaw must give you unbelievable pain, but to top that off you are getting caught with punches for 10 rounds as well.

I'm no doctor but that could (and may) have caused Ricky Burns some serious long term damage. A lot of people in the boxing community blasted Ortiz for retiring when Lopez broke his jaw, but in my opinion he was totally correct to do so. There is no point in risking your career for one fight. I think I can actually remember Ricky Burns complaining about something in between rounds, so the corner clearly knew.

Should the corner have pulled him out? In my opinion they should have.

Sounds like BS to me..........

No they shouldn't have pulled him out...Because he was garbage the last time he fought too...

They'll have to look at the wbo rankings to see who he can beat..

If a fighter is able to continue as Burns was then why not especially in a world title fight. They wouldn't have known the severity of the injury at the time.

It's spin...He looked garbage in his last fight too...

Hearn should milk him while he can..

Just a good solid pro..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Sounds like BS to me..........

No they shouldn't have pulled him out...Because he was garbage the last time he fought too...

They'll have to look at the wbo rankings to see who he can beat..

Very solid logic there. Makes no odds if he was rubbish last time he fought the question was should a fighter be pulled out of fights when they're injured. Did you see or hear him after the fight Dr Truss? Can you back up how you know he wasn't injured and its just a smokescreen for another poor performance? Poor response from someone who seems to jump on others for the exact same thing in his own threads.

Talk on the SSN app this morning that Burns may be forced to retire. Hopefully that's not true but Beltran said he heard him squeal everytime he landed or got in to a clinch.

hampo171 wrote:Talk on the SSN app this morning that Burns may be forced to retire. Hopefully that's not true but Beltran said he heard him squeal everytime he landed or got in to a clinch.

Clearly retiring as he's been found out....

Whether its spin, whether its garbage, whether it effected his performance is a separate argument.

Should a fighter carry on injured? Well obviously it depends on the nature of the injury and the situation in the fight... Risk of further injury? how handicapped by it are they? Do they have a hope of winning?

If a fighter breaks his jaw in a fight... And if he/his corner are aware of it, it's lunacy to continue. The potential damage of further punches on a broken bone in the head in a boxing match?

Ali broke his jaw against norton, and could move it around with his tongue, despite this he didn't realise what he had done and said had he realised he would have quit. No- one would ever question his bravery.

In general if you quit, you might get labelled a quitter... Klitschko Byrd, if you continue and lose no-one is interested in the excuse... So it's no win. Most professional sportsmen play on with injuries, but when it's seriously hampering you, in a boxing match its putting your health at serious risk.

I can see why guys fight on as even 1 defeat can be costly to your livelihood, but something like a broken jaw? Madness.

BoxingFan88 wrote:I think I can actually remember Ricky Burns complaining about something in between rounds, so the corner clearly knew.

It was after the ninth or the tenth I think, something along the lines of "The right side of my jaw is f****d", and the cornerman told him "Worry about that later just get back out there and keep your title", and he moaned about it the round after and was told "Six more minutes then you can worry about it."

Perhaps the corner clearly knew that he only had to see the final bell to keep his title...

Just watched it. I think round 2 claims are a bit disingenuous. Problems only noticeable in the last 3 or rounds.

How did you score it Sean?

How likely is it to do serious damage fighting with a broken jaw? It's not unheard of. I assume further damage would be to the jaw area only as the mandible hangs down independently from the jaw socket. I don't imagine that the jaw provides stability to the skull only being held in place by ligaments and muscle.

I honestly believe Hearns, in this fight, has not only got into the dark arts of the sport but also a bit of amateur dramatics.

seanmichaels wrote:Just watched it. I think round 2 claims are a bit disingenuous. Problems only noticeable in the last 3 or rounds.

I'm with you on that Sean. I think the knock down might have been when the break happened.


It was a 116-111 fight for me. Beltran bossed it.

Fighting with an injury...watched episode 3 of the Floyd/Canelo build up and whilst it was tedious in the extreme watching Mayweather parading his cars and women about the place, I did notice that whilst he was getting his poolside massage, he had a bowl of ice by his left hand.

Mayweather's hand trouble is no secret but I'm wondering if it's causing him more bother as time goes on. However, I'm also wondering if the bowl was ice was placed there for the cameras deliberately to make the Alvarez Camp think he has hand trouble and steer him towards another game plan come fight night

Strongback wrote:How likely is it to do serious damage fighting with a broken jaw? It's not unheard of.    I assume further damage would be to the jaw area only as the mandible hangs down independently from the jaw socket.  I don't imagine that the jaw provides stability to the skull only being held in place by ligaments and muscle.

I honestly believe Hearns, in this fight, has not only got into the dark arts of the sport but also a bit of amateur dramatics.

I guess that depends on your definition of serious damage strongy. It might be a long shot to have a piece of it driven up into the brain if that's what your benchmark for serious is. Somebody smacking an already broken jaw into further pieces could leave you having lunch through a straw for a considerable amount of time.

Union Cane wrote:How did you score it Sean?

It was closer than I thought it would be. Beltran really seemed to up it at the end of rounds with some eyecatching stuff. Thought there was an argument for Burns winning round 2 on that basis.

paperbag_puncher wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Sounds like BS to me..........

No they shouldn't have pulled him out...Because he was garbage the last time he fought too...

They'll have to look at the wbo rankings to see who he can beat..

Very solid logic there. Makes no odds if he was rubbish last time he fought the question was should a fighter be pulled out of fights when they're injured. Did you see or hear him after the fight Dr Truss? Can you back up how you know he wasn't injured and its just a smokescreen for another poor performance? Poor response from someone who seems to jump on others for the exact same thing in his own threads.

Spin so far as he was garbage last time...and they are blaming the injury for this performance..

When has he not lay up on the ropes and asked to be hit ??........Katsidis was past it...but Beltran and the last guy were up for it..

DAVE667 wrote:Fighting with an injury...watched episode 3 of the Floyd/Canelo build up and whilst it was tedious in the extreme watching Mayweather parading his cars and women about the place, I did notice that whilst he was getting his poolside massage, he had a bowl of ice by his left hand.

Mayweather's hand trouble is no secret but I'm wondering if it's causing him more bother as time goes on. However, I'm also wondering if the bowl was ice was placed there for the cameras deliberately to make the Alvarez Camp think he has hand trouble and steer him towards another game plan come fight night

Mayweather makes for a decent example. He nearly (some say should have) lost his 0, fighting with an injury and not many cut him slack for that. He won the return fairly comfortably. How would he be viewed had he quit, and then won the return? He'd have no '0' but he'd also have no fight where he'd ever been pushed really close.

Eddie Hearn had the x-ray pics on Twitter. Burns clearly had a very badly broken jaw.

Similar situation to Abraham v Miranda of a few years back.

fighting with a broken jaw will clearly become worse as the fight goes on, I thought Ricky looked ultra defensive from around the 2nd 3rd round so believe it happened from around then, and would have no doubt got allot worse as the fight went on.. I think as a fighter if you believe you can win rounds then by all means fight on, but if your just there to prove you wont quit then its stupid... its not only about how much you can take, its about risking your career, not to mention its a dangerous sport and you may risk getting a pasting due to just thinking about the injury and not your game..

looks like a brake to me  

Burns has a child on the way and just moved home, he needs the money and couldn't afford a loss so decided he had to continue. Truss, there are pictures of it on Twitter you muppet, shutup.

AlexHuckerby wrote:Burns has a child on the way and just moved home, he needs the money and couldn't afford a loss so decided he had to continue. Truss, there are pictures of it on Twitter you muppet, shutup.

Never said he wasn't injured.......Just saying the injury was spin to mask an ordinary fighter's......ordinary performance twice in a row..