By: Sean Crose
Talk to FightHubMiddleweight competitor Keith Thurman – and possibly future – opens up about the anxiety and emotional problems that have plagued him.
“When you try to be elite…lack of greatness, it can frustrate you,” says Thurman. “And how great are we to be one of the most exciting fighters in the fighting industry today?” Thurman went on to say some of the suffering warriors go through is based on expectations. “It’s really pressure, it’s self-image, expectations come from ourselves, maybe from other people, but mostly what we expect of ourselves,” he added.
Thurman then went on to say that Garcia was certainly not alone in her struggles. “Danny isn’t the only one going through it,” he said. “I think a lot of it has to do with boxing in general… it’s a concussion-based sport.” Thurman points out that the dopamine problem, along with the rush to enter and engage in big fights, causes some psychological and emotional damage.
“There’s so much going on with the excitement of the fight that it ends up being this supreme dopamine rush,” he said. “You’ve got the construction of the fight, you’ve got the preparation for the fight, you’ve got the week of the fight which ends up amplifying all the excitement, then you have the fight itself, which at the end of the day – boom – it’s everything, everything at once, and then the next day whether you’re in New York, Las Vegas, Texas, the rush will be over. It’s gone.”
Thurman makes it clear that he believes things like a post-fight diet can help, as can a lack of exercise and other problems. Speaking of family time after the final war, Thurman admits everything came to him after a while. “A month later,” he said, “I realized I was starting to feel depressed again.” For Thurman, it at least partially solved the problems after the great war ended. “We need to recover better after the game,” he said. “There needs to be something going on in your everyday life.”
That’s probably something that non-professional boxers might note. After all, depression is a common thing. What works for one person may work for others.”
