At what cost?

HOLLYWOOD is littered with stories of confused and often troubled protagonists stuck in either institutions they can’t leave or a headspace they can’t figure out and it’s no stretch to say boxing, this other factory of shattered dreams, boasts just as many.

In the world of make-believe, you might have something like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, or Rosemary’s Baby, or Seconds, or Girl, Interrupted, or Shutter Island, all films in which the lead is unsure of their state of mind and therefore susceptible to gaslighting, whether by loved ones or enemies. In boxing, on the other hand, we have ‘characters’ or ‘entertainers’, men whose best days are behind them yet are convinced, either by clever matchmaking, attractive paydays, or the manipulative words of cheerleaders, both that retirement is a ridiculous idea and that brain damage is an old