By: JOSEPH LEE
Boxing is a violent and often commercialized sport that involves the unfair treatment of bodies that have been racialized and devalued. Brain-injured boxers are frequently neglected. Although awareness of concussions has increased, research on the long-term effects of brain injuries on boxers, their families, social networks, and life after retirement remains rare, especially for minorities and marginalized communities. There are opportunities for anthropological investigation and intervention. This article draws insights from the interactions between smoking, cancer, and tobacco companies, comparing them with boxing and brain injuries, to promote greater advocacy and action for athletes and their futures. The article examines the concept of liberty, which proves illusory as it conceals harms to minorities. The freedom to be harmed also serves as a freedom to cause harm. Next, we analyze the conflicted positions of those with medical knowledge, who act as activists in patient care but also as experts advising in tobacco litigation and serving the sport of boxing. Finally, medical data and its anthropological use are reimagined through visual alternatives to present the human stories of injury and sociocultural backgrounds, which in boxing lack metrics. A transformative agenda can be set for injured athletes and their futures.
