This writer has interviewed many boxers over the past nearly twenty years and doesn’t have to tell you how many have been knocked out, can’t remember.
A few years ago, I fell, exiting a Wal-Mart and landed on my head, causing what doctors called a “mild concussion,” which left me with what’s known as brain fog, a form of memory loss.
I once did an article on two Coatesville, PA boxers suffering from this. One was former IBF featherweight champion Calvin “Silky Smooth” Grove, 49-10 with 18 stoppages, who was stopped seven times. I met him in a rehab center where he lives in Phoenixville, PA. They have to watch him because he tries to leave the facility on his own.
Grove looks good even now, much heavier than his 126-pound fighting weight. He was stopped by technical stoppage six times and was knocked out by then IBF super lightweight champion Kostya Tszyu in April 1998 in Australia in his last fight.
The other was former National Golden Gloves champion Jimmy Clark, who went 18-1 as a pro before being stopped by Reggie Gross via technical stoppage in March 1985 in Scranton, PA.
I met with Clark in a Norristown, PA rehab center. When asked about his past career, including losing three times to Olympic gold medalist Teofilo Stevenson and being stopped once, he showed a lack of memory regarding his career. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame this past October, a year after myself. He didn’t say anything when he received the award, if my memory serves me right.
What many years ago a former boxer called being “punchy” is now referred to as brain fog.
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Last updated on 22/12/2025
