Sports
Jimmy Young: In your corner, my man...
By Jacquie Richardson, Executive Director -- Retired Boxers Foundation
Feb 26, 2005

The Retired Boxers Foundation and many others tried to save Jimmy Young, but he had given up.

In the middle of the year, 2004, the Retired Boxers Foundation received a call from an unlikely source:  The Public Defender’s Office in Philadelphia.   On the other end of the line was a man by the name of Geoff Kilroy.  Geoff was a relatively new Public Defender, assigned to a “very nice guy who was a professional fighter” --Jimmy Young.   He told us that in the course of his work of representing folks who are poor and in trouble with the law, he met this amazing guy, Jimmy Young.   He could of just done his job—show up in court and do the best to defend this down and our fighter, OR, he could try to find a way to help him.  He chose the latter and found the Retired Boxers Foundation on the Internet.  

Geoff Kilroy called Alex Ramos, the Founder and President of the Retired Boxers Foundation and they talked about Jimmy—who he was and where he was now."   When Alex turned pro in 1980, he trained in Philly and he knew Jimmy Young very well, but had not heard from him for quite some time.  

Geoff told us that Jimmy had some income (source unknown) and was living in his own place, but without electricity.  He said that even though Jimmy had money, he forgot to pay his utilities and maybe we—the Retired Boxers Foundation—could find someone to check in on him to make sure he paid his electric bill.   He also told us that Jimmy had a court date coming up for public intoxication, but with potential serious consequences, i.e., possible jail time.

Alex Ramos, President and Founder of the Retired Boxers Foundation, put out an “APB” looking for someone to check on Jimmy.  Two friends of the Retired Boxers Foundation who live in the area,  Thomas Jess and Harrin Platzner, got back to us immediately.   They told us that Jimmy had a place to stay, but it looked like he preferred the streets.  He was in far worse condition than we expected.  Through some great detective work, Platzner and Jess got us phone numbers for Jimmy’s son.  

As the RBF worked to find Jimmy and to get him some resources, we received another call from Public Defender, Geoff Kilroy.   Jimmy had a court date and the only way he could avoid being locked up, would be to get Jimmy to his court appointment and to have a plan to help Jimmy get cleaned up.  We did our homework and wrote the following letter to the Judge:

October 7, 2004

RE:    Jimmy Young

To Whom It May Concern:

We are writing about a condition that may be affecting Jimmy Young, a retired professional boxer with over 56 professional fights as a heavyweight.  Mr. Young fought world champion prizefighters and many of them were absolute wars.  I am attaching his professional boxing record to give you a perspective of this man’s incredible career in the sport of boxing.

Unfortunately, it is likely that Mr. Young is suffering from the onset of dementia pugilistica (the medical term for being “punch drunk”) as well as from Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury.  Based on our experience, he more than likely has damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, resulting in emotional problems, anxiety, severe alcoholism, rage, and an inability to comprehend the consequences for his actions. 

Chronic traumatic brain injury (CTBI), which occurs primarily among retired boxers after long exposure to the sport, is also known as dementia pugilistica, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or "punch-drunk" syndrome. The condition represents the cumulative long-term neurologic consequence of repetitive concussive and subconcussive blows to the head. Clinically, CTBI is characterized by slurred speech, gait ataxia, memory impairment, behavior and/or personality changes, Parkinsonism, and/or incoordination.

Another characteristic that is all too common, is self-medication with alcohol or drugs.   While we have not had an opportunity to evaluate Mr. Young, we have been told that he has many characteristics of CTBI as well as a problem with alcohol consumption. 

While Mr. Young’s problems would seem insurmountable to the ordinary person, we have had success with chronic alcoholics who are also retired professional boxers.   We would be able to help Mr. Young and can assure the court that if he is willing to work with us, our suggestions will probably benefit Mr. Young (and society) far more than incarceration.  

The Retired Boxers Foundation is an IRS 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation whose mission is to assist retired professional boxers in the transition from their glorious days in the ring.  For others like Mr. Young, we have the following case management plan that works, especially if we are able to monitor the client effectively.                                                                     

                                    Alex “The Bronx Bomber” Ramos

                                                Founder & President

We worked closely with Thomas Jess, Harrin Platzner and Jimmy’s son to make sure that Jimmy showed up for the court date.  We were in constant communication with Geoff Kilroy, who by now had demonstrated his respect for this tired, hurting fighter.   The letter along with the hard work of Geoff Kilroy worked.  The judge ordered “non-reporting probation” which meant that as long as Jimmy followed through with the plan outlined in the letter, he would not have to report to the probation officer.  What looked like good news, deteriorated to a bad dream for all of us who were working to get Jimmy the help he needed, but obviously, did not want.   No longer could Jimmy be found at the dumpy apartment he called home.  His kid quit returning phone calls and we almost ran out of options.  Alex Ramos found a retired professional boxer who was now with the Philly Police Department, Tyrone Crawley, and he called him.   Tyrone, along with Lt. Mike Indri of the West New York Police Department (and is the East Coast Representative for the Retired Boxers Foundation) worked with other cops intent on finding Jimmy and getting him to the Public Defenders office so that he could start a treatment plan.  Thomas Jess and Harrin Platzner went above and beyond to help find Jimmy and deliver him to the PD’s office. 

We were all worried and at the same time, looking at the only options for saving Jimmy’s butt (we didn’t know it was his LIFE at the time):  Getting him to voluntarily enter the treatment program, or worst case, getting him arrested which would at least give him a break from drugs and alcohol.   Alex talked to Jimmy on the phone and told him how much we all cared for him.  Alex told him about his own path from homelessness and alcoholism to nearly six years of sobriety.  He told him about the brotherhood of fighters who were there to help him make this same journey and that people really cared about him.  

Ramos went to New York in early December, but could not get to Philly.  He made more phone calls to no avail.  Finally, Ramos came to terms with the fact that Jimmy Young was not ready to face his demons and that recovery from substance abuse comes only to those who want it.  Ramos lives by the words that he believes: “God don’t make no mistakes!”   

“I knew we were going to lose him when I talked to him,” said Ramos.  “I think Jimmy gave up ever thinking he could have a life without the pain and the hurt he had in his heart.  None of us knows what it was, but Jimmy turned to drugs and alcohol to bury that pain.  'Dignity' doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, and in a strange way, it meant that I needed to give Jimmy the right to do what he wanted.  He wasn’t no fool.  He was a fighter and he died fighting the battle that only he knew.  Rest in peace, my brother.”  

Early this week, Alex Ramos received an email from Geoff Kilroy, the Public Defender who showed Young the love and respect the old fighter deserved. 

Kilroy said, “It is unfortunate that we were unable to help Jimmy.  I only got to spend a couple of hours with him, but from what I saw, he was a beautiful person with a big heart.  I just want to keep you informed.  You have an incredible organization with wonderful people.  I hope I have the pleasure of working with you guys again and helping the great people in the boxing community.”

The Retired Boxers Foundation wants to publicly thank the good people who worked so hard to help Jimmy Young.  First and foremost, Geoff Kilroy deserves our respect and admiration for his concern and extraordinary efforts to help Jimmy.   Thanks also go to Harrin Platzner and Thomas Jess who worked to locate Jimmy and his family members, as well as Lt. Mike Indri who stayed on top of the effort to help Jimmy.   Thanks to Tyrone Crawley and the other police officers who tried to help Jimmy and people like Kent Appel who sent money to help Jimmy.  Jimmy young died of a broken heart on February 22, 2005.  

For more information on the Retired Boxers Foundation, go to http://www.retiredboxers.org/.