Legends of both the squared circles

Reading my brother's post on wrestling great Ric Flair and the recent bout in West Virginia with almost 49 year old former Cruiser and Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield,made me think a bit about how so many of the heroes of my youth from both boxing and wrestling have had such difficulties after leaving the ring both financially and otherwise.

When you think about it,veterans of both sports made plenty of money,although elite level boxers made more in their day than pro wrestlers and with a modicum of effort should have been able to put back enough money for a comfortable life after the ring.
There is no reason for a Ric Flair to have to not only be taking bumps at 62 years old,but he should not have to even be in the business unless he chooses to be,let alone having to live a "kayfabe" lifestyle even among the men in the wrestling profession.
Boxing is no different as more often than not,the warriors in the ring are often wheeled around to major fights on appearance fees to pay a few bills and relive a few past glories for a weekend.

Should there be more people interested in these men after their days are finished?
And not to grab a photo or a piece of memorablia either,to legitimately help some of these people that put their bodies (and in the case of boxing,often times minds) on the line for entertainment.
Could there be more education from the world of finance during the peak earning years and have a nest egg to provide an excellent retirement or at least a supplemental fund to add to a job that could help with medical issues etc?

Even if it was not financially based and was used as just a fund to help boxers with their various head injuries from taking shots or wrestlers with back and neck issues from taking slam after slam,would not a sliver of the money that these men worked for be worth putting back and taking care of the inevitable financial issues that are part of coming with both of these games?
This issue is not going away,it didn't go away with boxing as I remember watching a physically shot Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson being wheeled out for major fights as a kid  with the greats staring vacantly and looking twenty years older than they were and it isn't going away with wrestling as the harder and more punishing style is going to make Ric Flair look like a Fortune 500 executive with the damage that some of the wrestlers of the last fifteen years have done to their bodies and few of them will have made the money that Ric Flair has tossed away.

There would be difficulties with this plan.
In boxing,fighters often move from promoter to promoter and different promoters may or may not choose to invest in such a policy.
In the grappling game,this would be an expense for a public traded company such as Vince McMahon's WWE that some might not want to pay.
Not to mention that both of these games have an undercurrent that tends to pull its stars undertow unless said star has been smart from day one with his dollars.
Both of these games look at their athletes as time dated like on the milk carton,only their expiration dates comes when their body is shot.
Some of the hook is the sport itself,as one gets hooked by the game and the game doesn't let you go.The need to be recognized by the fans of the game,the need to be around the sport even if it is just to wave your hat and smile like the Tom Hanks played "Jimmy Dugan" in the film "A league of their own".
The sport is addictive and often times the overdose comes in various forms-financial issues,physical issues and often times emotional issues as men that arent equipped to deal with issues are forced to with a body and mind that cannot deal with them properly.
In the end,unless you have been smart with your money and smart on the physical end,taking care of your body,ending your career when your body tells you that it is time to leave and making sure that you are set with the inevitable issues that all people deal with retirement emotionally from a game that sinks its teeth into your soul-If you havent prepared yourself,things can go bad swiftly.

That is why Ric Flair is still taking bumps and basically panhandling in the wrestling business at 62 and Evander Holyfield is still swapping punches at going on 49.
No matter the reason,if you are still physically in these games at these ages-somewhere the athlete has a problem.
It is only a matter of looking for it.

One final line to think about if this has made you think in any way.
In the wrestling business,which I have been on the periphery,one saying tends to be gold-"A mark and his money are soon parted".
The problem is often times the biggest mark of all is the man in the ring.

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