7:40am Thursday 4th February 2010
By Sam Morshead
FOLLOWING the recent tragic death of journeyman boxer Ernie Smith, Swindon fighter Marlon Reid has spoken out about the mental strains of their shared profession.
Smith is rumoured to have taken his own life last week, news which has shocked the boxing community.
And speaking to the Advertiser, Reid revealed that life as a professional athlete, and boxing in particular, can lend itself to stress and depression, and that fighting those demons can prove more of a test than any bout in the ring.
“The news about Ernie is very sad indeed, although I don’t know too much about what has happened,” said Reid, who was Smith’s final opponent back in July.
“We boxed last year, but I have never really spoken to him.
“But this kind of thing can happen to most sportsmen, it’s all about the stress of the job and how you handle it.”
Smith was admired across the country for his contribution to the sport, despite holding an uninspiring record of 13-142-5, and just last year the man known on the circuit as ‘Gypsy Boy’ gave an interview in which he planned a life well beyond the ring.
Smith’s answers to questions posed by an online boxing forum had very little to suggest that the brawler had anything to hide.
When asked about his thoughts for the future, Smith had replied: “Personally, I’m only going to about 180 [fights] then I’m finishing, but when I do I plan to open a gym to give my knowledge to others.
“Having the new training course helps – anything that gives boxers an advantage is good.”
But Reid claimed that while fighters can appear calm and content in public, private emotions can be a very different matter.
“Just look at Darren Sutherland (the Irish boxer who took his own life in September after winning Olympic bronze in Beijing in 2008),” he said.
“You don’t know what is going on behind closed doors.”
After Sutherland’s death it was revealed that the young starlet was suffering from depression.
And Reid concedes that unless properly handled, that mental strain can be seriously dangerous to a boxer’s well-being.
Reid admitted that he is no stranger to such emotions, saying: “I’m feeling a lot of stress, but I don’t let it get to me.
“As a boxer you have to try to keep your head up and deal with it all.
“It’s quite hard to explain, but it is something you just have to do.”
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