HIV-positive boxer cleared to fight - how do you feel about this?

[The Fake Shemp]

Sources: Morrison medically cleared to fight

Former heavyweight contender Tommy Morrison, 38, who hasn't fought since 1996, will fight Thursday night in Chester, W.Va.

Sources told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael that Morrison, who tested HIV-positive during a pre-fight blood test in 1996, has been medically cleared to fight and that the announcement will come late Tuesday afternoon.

Morrison (46-3-1, 40 KOs) is scheduled to box John Castle in a four-rounder.

Morrison, whose professional boxing career began in 1988, was a well-known and popular heavyweight. He co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky V" and his most notable victories were against George Foreman and Donovan "Razor" Ruddock.

In a sport where there's a lot of physical contact and where you can get bloody pretty quickly due to the amount of violence, I wonder what people feel about a HIV-positive boxer going at it?

[Madrun Badrun]

the bigger the risk the bigger the excitement.  This is like the 21st century version of a gladiator match.  You could die - but in 10 years or so.     

[Flannel Boy]

the bigger the risk the bigger the excitement.  This is like the 21st century version of a gladiator match.  You could die - but in 10 years or so.     

[The Fake Shemp]

I'm kind of surprised, a little bit.  Heavyweight boxers in particular use the strategy of leaning into one another (that dumb looking hug bit), where they've got skin-to-skin contact with the chest and arms and face.  All of those parts could have cuts or blood or what have you.  I wonder if his opponent has to sign a waiver.

[Madrun Badrun]

hiv isn't really that easy to transmit, I don't think, I mean blood to blood contact might do it but there is a small chance of it happening.  Though this reminds me of the episode of degrassi where joey fights the bully, and the bullys like "don't touch me I'm bleeding!"

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, but my point is that of all sports, this is the one where it's most likely that blood-to-blood contact would occur - especially since they're heavyweights.  Heavyweight boxers bite each other, for Christ's sake!  And they most certainly bleed on one another.

[Madrun Badrun]

what do you mean of all sports?  they don't let people with hiv play in other sports?

[The Fake Shemp]

No, I'm saying that HIV-positive players have played in all sports, and occasionally you get a Hardaway-esque ignorant comment about it.  I mean, we all remember the shenanigans when Magic announced he was HIV-positive.  But heavyweight boxing is the only sport I can think of where some kind of fear of transmission is remotely feasible.

[TVC15]

Do we know the details of the situation?  Is it possible the dude is in the same boat as Magic and that the disease has an extremely low presence in his blood?

[The Fake Shemp]

Do we know the details of the situation?  Is it possible the dude is in the same boat as Magic and that the disease has an extremely low presence in his blood?

No, I'm assuming they'll go over that when they officially announce his comeback this afternoon.

[TVC15]

Do we know the details of the situation?  Is it possible the dude is in the same boat as Magic and that the disease has an extremely low presence in his blood?

No, I'm assuming they'll go over that when they officially announce his comeback this afternoon.

It's probably a safe assumption.  If he's healthy enough to box heavyweight, and he's had a disease known for making people waste away for the past 11 years, he had to have been seeing Magic's doctors or something.

[Phoenix Dark]

There'd be little to no chance of contracting HIV from him in the ring though, so it's a moot issue. Is this 1994 again?

Merely being in contact with HIV infected blood is not enough to contract it. It's the same with saliva: you could drink more than a bucket worth of saliva from an HIV infected person and not contract anything (note: I'm not saying you could drink a bucket of HIV infected blood and not get infected). With respect to blood, it's contracted only through being exposed to a sufficient amount. So for instance something like unprotected anal sex would expose you to many weak blood vessels as well as the rectum lining (which is rather...thin).

[Tauntaun]

There'd be little to no chance of contracting HIV from him in the ring though, so it's a moot issue. Is this 1994 again?

Merely being in contact with HIV infected blood is not enough to contract it. It's the same with saliva: you could drink more than a bucket worth of saliva from an HIV infected person and not contract anything (note: I'm not saying you could drink a bucket of HIV infected blood and not get infected). With respect to blood, it's contracted only through being exposed to a sufficient amount. So for instance something like unprotected anal sex would expose you to many weak blood vessels as well as the rectum lining (which is rather...thin).