Damage

Shortlisted for the 2021 William Hill Sports Book of The Year award.

“Given that this remarkable, long-overdue treatise on the mental and physical ravages of boxing doesn’t hold anything back, it’s fitting that Mr. Dixon’s book lands with power and precision…Dixon tackles his subject with great compassion.”—T. J. English, Wall Street Journal
“Dixon [has] published an important book about boxing, one that all boxing fans should read, precisely because some of them may find that it affects their fandom.”—Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker
«There have been many great books about boxing but Tris Dixon, a former editor of Boxing News, may have a claim to have written the most important…it should be compulsory reading for ringside doctors, fighters, trainers and promoters…it should be read by every fan of the sport who roars on one boxer to smack another in the head, and to rattle a soft brain inside a hard skull.”—Matt Dickinson, Chief Sportswriter, The Times

It’s an old story—a fighter gains fame, drives fast cars, makes piles of cash, and dates beautiful women. Then comes the fall—booze, drugs, depression, poverty, illness. This dark narrative has been playing out for a hundred years.
Doctors first identified “Punch Drunk Syndrome” in 1928. It later became known as “Dementia Pugilistica.” Today, we call it CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). The secret history of this disease in boxing has never been fully told— until now.
In Damage, Tris Dixon uncovers the difficult truths of boxing and CTE and chronicles the lives of fighters affected by it. He interviews some of the sport’s biggest names, some lesser-known journeymen, and highly respected trainers and other figures to try to understand why no one wants to discuss CTE or take responsibility for it. Ultimately, Dixon takes aim at what boxing can do to help the warriors who sacrifice their health seeking glory in the ring. Will this book finally drive the sport to address the issue and help fighters get the help they deserve?