EDITORIAL - Gorres' gift to boxing: Lessons from tragedy

One look at Z Gorres now and you know immediately that his is a tragic tale of a failed search for glory in the very dangerous sport of boxing. After his near-fatal brain injury in Las Vegas in a bout that he actually won, Gorres is not the same man anymore.

Gorres could never have imagined that the monicker he chose for himself, “The Dream,” could one day turn out to be just that — the dream — and a failed one too. His only consolation is that he emerged from a harrowing experience with his life, but only just barely.

Had it not been for the timely surgery, undertaken by true experts of the craft, and aided by superb medical facilities using the latest technologies, Gorres would have been just another sorry statistic in a sport that has already claimed so many lives.

But what Gorres may have lost could very well be his contribution to the sport. He may not have won fame and riches for himself, but from his tragic experience could spring priceless gems of wisdom from which all boxers, and all those involved in the sport, could benefit from.

New standards on the conditioning of boxers could be imposed after a careful study of his experience. More stringent rules to ensure the safety of boxers could be put in place. Match-ups must be done more carefully and not as a blind grab for prize money.

A lot of good samaritans and official well-wishers have come forward to help Gorres, and for that he and his family should be eternally gratefully. At the end of the day, though, the belated wish would still be — if only it didn’t happen.

But it did. And while it was clearly an accident, it was not entirely unforeseen. Many of the dangers that led to the accident were not exactly hidden but actually apparent long before they happened.

That they happened at the time that they did was the real accident. Boxing as a sport is an accident waiting to happen. We only think otherwise for as long as we are titillated by the adrenalin rush of the sport. But when tragedy strikes, boxing shall have left yet another orphan.