It has been 31 years since two-time WBC middleweight world champion Gerald McClellan (31-3, 29 KOs) suffered a traumatic brain injury that changed the course of his career and his life. In a powerful admission, his sister and primary caretaker, Lisa McClellan, says her brother hasn’t stopped fighting since.
Talking to Andre Ward on The Art of Ward, McClellan gave an update on her brother’s health and how he has been responding to treatments.
“Since we started working with Dr. Mark Gordon, who is a doctor that works with patients with traumatic brain injuries, I have seen a lot of improvements. Before we started with Dr. Gordon, that hard of hearing was something that got misconstrued from the beginning, because he’s not actually hard of hearing. His brain wasn’t comprehending what you were saying,” she said. “But his hearing is fine. He’s completely blind because of the brain damage. He has a lot of behaviour issues. He requires 24-hour care. I have to pretty much do everything for him. So, he is 100 percent dependent upon me.”
February 25, 1995, will be a date forever etched in McClellan’s memory. His catastrophic fight against Nigel Benn that night saw his once promising career, and life as a whole, become a mere echo in a timeless void. Over the course of the brutal bout, McClellan absorbed repeated heavy blows, particularly after he began showing signs of distress, such as repeatedly dropping to one knee and blinking as if his vision was failing.
Shortly after the fight ended in the 10th round, he collapsed in his corner and was rushed to surgery to relieve pressure on the brain. Although surgeons saved his life, the injury left him permanently disabled.
There are still many “ifs” about the fight that continue to haunt Lisa. She feels that much more could have been done much sooner, and that this catastrophe could have been avoided altogether.
“It just seemed like nobody cared. That’s what it seemed like. Gerald was in the wrong place at the wrong time that night. He should’ve never been there,” she said.
“Give Them A Better Quality of Life”
Lisa has co-founded the Ring of Brotherhood Foundation, which advocates for fighters who have suffered traumatic brain injuries, CTE, and other life-altering damage from combat sports. McClellan says that working with her brother proved to be a major catalyst to pay heed to fighters in similar situations.
“We wanted to find these guys that were suffering and do stuff to make their life better. Do things to give them a better quality of life,” she said. “We started looking into what the fighters really needed and what they weren’t getting. So, we started the foundation, we got a team of doctors, a clinical research committee where we can give specialized treatments to a fighter even if he’s not suffering from brain trauma. It’s thing you can do to keep your brain healthy.”
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