THE FIGHT DOCTOR HOW
structured behavior, but not damaging in the way that an eating disorder takes over your life and results in guilt, anxiety and depression. Dr. David Conant-Norville, an Oregon-based psychiatrist who has worked with countless athletes, notes, “To understand the difference between the two disorders [it] can be compared to a heavy drinker versus an addiction to alcohol. It’s obsessive behavior no one wants to discuss.” Former U.S. Olympic team member Danny O’Connor amassed 31 wins in 34 professional fights. He became an advocate for mental health and
Norville. “Those around them don’t understand the problem and say, ‘Just do it’ (or stop), but that never works.” Although there is little data on prevention, surroundings are crucial. Conant-Norville advises several athletes on the Professional Golfers’ Association Tour: “Golfers travel constantly, but they always have healthy food available. It’s most important for fighters to have a healthy environment that supports healthy eating.” That may not be their coach, trainer or friend. We all know fighters who balloon up in weight between bouts and use camp as “fat farms,” leaving little time to actually train. O’Connor explained that after brutally cutting weight for every fight, he would compulsively overeat and rapidly regain the lost weight, which led to spirals of shame, self-loathing and isolation. In many, this can progress to depression, binge eating or bulimia. Bulimia is a serious eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating followed by inappropriate behavior to prevent weight gain, including using laxatives, excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting or fasting. Making weight too often requires a Herculean effort, resulting in a career that is probably less successful than it would be if a fighter was dropping weight gradually or maintaining a weight close to their division. You only have to look at former world champions Bernard Hopkins, who always treated his body as a temple, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. as examples of maintaining healthy diets irrespective of what weight classes they chose. Dr. Philip Goglia, author of the acclaimed best seller Turn up the Heat, “nutritionist to the stars” and founder of Performance Fitness Concepts in Santa Monica, California, has counseled many fighters to gain control over poor nutrition and weight issues. Goglia, who recovered from osteosarcoma in the ’70s and later went on to win Mr. North America bodybuilding championships, says, “Manage your body weight at least
two weeks before your event.” He recommends that it be a staged process (as opposed to drastic weakening weight cuts) and that nutrition should be phased to maintain strength and health. “There are all kinds of cool legal mechanisms on- or offseason for fighters. You can cheat LEGALLY!” Effectively treating athletes with eating disorders requires a multidisciplinary team that includes a therapist, dietician and a mental performance coach working together. It shouldn’t end there. Prior to retirement, every fighter must find a sense of identity and purpose outside of boxing. Too often, boxing can become a fighter’s only coping mechanism so that when they do retire, it can lead to substance abuse, depression or worse. Whether you are a boxer or not, if you are suffering from disordered eating or an eating disorder, you are not alone. There are resources: the National Eating Disorders Association (nationaleatingdisorders.org). They can offer confidential screening. Or contact O’Connor’s DO Boxing Academy at DOBoxingAcademy.com for guidance. “I want to be a voice for other athletes, especially men, who feel like they have to suffer in silence,” he said. “And I want to shed light on the dangerous, normalized weight- cutting practices that too many of us endure without questioning the long- term impact.”
commissioner Dr. Flip Homansky and I lobbied commissioners to recognize the fact that combat sports, like every other sport, desperately needed more effective and expanded PED testing. Two individuals were exceptionally helpful and generous in sharing their knowledge when we formed the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA). One was Dr. Don Catlin, who many consider the father of the anti-doping movement and the man who set up the first U.S. anti-doping lab – UCLA’s Olympic Analytical Laboratory. The other was Victor Conte, who had been imprisoned for developing and providing PEDs to athletes. Ironically, the two men had crossed paths in 2003 when Dr. Catlin identified and developed a test to detect tetrahydrogestrinone (“The Clear”) in an athlete’s system – a product produced by Conte in his BALCO facility in San Marcos, California. Without Dr. Catlin’s efforts, Conte might have never been caught. Dr. Catlin served as VADA’s scientific adviser from its inception until his death in 2024. Victor, from his prison release until the day he died on November 4, served as a forceful advocate for clean sports. Conte advised the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the World Anti-Doping Agency and many others, including VADA, in an effort to curb illegal PED use in sports. He pushed to keep the topic of PEDs in the forefront of conversations about boxing. He also required that any fighter he worked with
PREVALENT IS DISORDERED EATING IN BOXERS? By Dr. Margaret Goodman
awareness of eating disorders in men and the danger of weight- cutting in combat sports. In an article published June 9, 2025, on the National Eating Disorders website, “Boxed In: My Battle With an Eating Disorder as a Male Athlete,” O’Connor noted, “For most of my life, I was fighting in and out of the ring. […] But there was one fight I didn’t know how to win, and I was too ashamed to talk about it: my battle with an eating disorder. [...] I did whatever it took – skipping meals, dehydrating myself and taking pharmaceutical laxatives – all in pursuit of an arbitrary number on a scale.” O’Connor thought he could manage this on his own, but little by little his body broke down: “In 2018, my body had reached its limit. What should have been the biggest fight of my career – an opportunity against world champion Jose Ramirez – ended
H H H H
Victor Conte (1950-2025) A True Story When I was working as a Nevada State Athletic Commission ring physician and
M aking weight is an unending problem for fighters. As amateurs and young adults, they are often placed in weight classes below their natural body weight, and then they’re poorly guided to move up as their growing bodies mature. This relegates them to dieting between contests, drastic weight cuts and chronically poor
(and advocated for those he didn’t) to demonstrate their
eating habits. We all have trouble surrounding food, what to eat, how to lose weight – and for some, how to gain weight – but disordered eating and eating disorders are more prevalent in elite athletes than the rest of us. The International Olympic Committee published a consensus statement in 2019 called “Mental Health in Elite Athletes.” They defined disordered eating as unhealthy
in a hospital room just hours before the bout. I was suffering from severe dehydration, the result of pushing my body beyond its breaking point.” “It is similar to people who don’t understand depression,” says Conant-
commitment to clean sport by enrolling in VADA. May Victor rest
later as chair of the commission’s medical advisory
in peace. We have one less outspoken
board, it was clear that mixed martial arts had a serious PED problem. But boxing was not far behind. After leaving the commission, former NSAC
advocate for clean sports in a world where fighters risk their lives. And that
Danny O’Connor was hospitalized while cutting weight in 2018.
is very sad.
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