WIPED OUT? LAUNCH: ‘BOXING AT ITS BEST’

WIPED OUT? LAUNCH: ‘BOXING AT ITS BEST’

This Saturday saw the Sheffield launch of Wiped Out?, the groundbreaking new boxing book by Mark Turley and Jerome Wilson, which covers Jerome’s return from the brink after suffering brain injuries in a light-welterweight contest in the city exactly one year before.

 

Who better to put the publication of the book, Jerome’s personal battle and the values of the fight game into perspective than Mark Turley himself, writing today on InstantBoxing.com:

 

Known as ‘Wipeout’ Wilson, Jerome was a gifted operator who never got to realise his potential after suffering major brain trauma and a ten day coma from ring injuries last September. Despite his lack of name or fame and his natural self-effacing humility, Jerome is held in such high regard in his home city that boxing legends such as WBO Light-Middleweight champion Paul ‘Silky’ Jones, former British and European champ Ryan Rhodes, Ex British light-welter titlist Curtis Woodhouse, one time British cruiserweight champ Jon ‘Buster’ Keeton, along with top trainer Glyn Rhodes MBE and current fighters like Ross ‘the boss’ Burkinshaw, Navid Mansouri and Sam O’Maison, came to support their fallen comrade and purchase signed copies.

 

The overall turnout was truly impressive and the level of good-will for Jerome poignant. The store manager remarked it was the best attended and most successful launch event they had held there. Never mind the authorities or the media giants. They have their own concerns. Boxers look after each other.

 

For Jerome the release of the book, coming shortly after a final operation to repair his skull with a titanium plate, finally gives him the chance to move on and look to the future. Yet throughout the wider boxing world, the response to the launch has been mixed, with some high profile figures and media outlets shying away from offering support – a great shame. For them, serious injury and near death belong to a side of the game they prefer to brush under the carpet. It doesn’t suit their product, or their bottom-line. All they want is hype, hype, hype.

 

But for anyone who understands, knows and loves the sport, this event really was boxing at its best, exactly a year on from a night of boxing at its worst.

 

With thanks to InstantBoxing.com. Click here if you’d like to read the full text of today’s ‘Turley On Tuesday’ column.

 

Click here for more information, or to read a sample from Wiped Out? The Jerome Wilson Story