David Whittom suffers brain hemorrhage after 24th professional loss

The hits just keep coming, as another boxer has suffered a traumatic brain injury. Canada’s David Whittom, knocked out for the twelfth time on Saturday by fellow club fighter Gary Kopas, is in the hospital for a brain hemorrhage. Whittom is reportedly “stable,” but his future is uncertain.

Worryingly, Whittom’s trainer allowed him to leave the arena without care despite initially being unable to name where he was or the current year.

Whittom (12-24-1, 8 KO) is a professional victim, currently on a 2-19 run wherein he fought everywhere from light heavyweight to heavyweight. The run includes losses to Adonis Stevenson, Adrian Diaconu, Ismayl Sillakh, Lateef Kayode, Eleider Alvarez, and a debuting Hughie Fury in 2013.

This isn’t meant to be a soapbox, but Whittom’s role is one of the things that makes it difficult to justify my love of the sport. I get that they’re compensated and that they recognize the risks, but this isn’t college football, where the D-III team you obliterate in your season opener can brush themselves off and come back next week. This is explicitly bringing a man into the ring to be broken.

We at Bad Left Hook wish Whittom and his family the best of luck.