Sarah Liegmann – From the Ring Corner: A Major Shock!

Before I get started, I’m really glad you’re here to read my column. It’s going to be chaotic, funny, but mainly 100 percent real. I’ll be sharing lots of anecdotes and experiences from the world of boxing, but also giving you some exciting insights into my everyday madness. And now it’s time to clear the ring!

Sometimes your own body throws a wrench in all your plans. As hard as it is, you have no choice but to accept the situation and give your body the time it needs. After a somewhat rocky start to training camp, everything started to fall into place better with each passing week. Training was going well, I’d developed a good rapport with the coaches, and finally, a fight date had been set. Everything seemed to be slowly moving exactly in the direction I’d hoped for.

But as soon as the fight date was set, it had to be postponed again due to organizational issues with my opponent’s work visa. That meant I had to adjust my training plan, since the training camp would now last a full four weeks longer. Eight weeks of preparation thus turned into twelve. In the sixth week, I experienced my first physical problems when I pinched a nerve in my lower back during sparring. As a result, I walked around with a posture like a question mark for two days.

The pain radiated down both legs until I finally decided to see a chiropractor. The office and the practitioner took some getting used to, but the result proved once again: Never judge a book by its cover. Right after the treatment, I was able to stand and walk normally again. So nothing stood in the way of some light training for the rest of the week. The training camp continued as usual. I felt fit again. But in week 8, I suffered an injury I never would have expected. A sparring session was scheduled for Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. Everything went as usual. I warmed up and, aside from a little muscle soreness, stepped into the ring feeling fit.

Cruciate Ligament Diagnosis

In the fifth round, however, something happened that no one could explain. I pinned my opponent against the ropes, took a step forward, and the next moment everything went black around me. All I could feel was pain and myself falling to the side. I screamed in pain. Suddenly, five people were standing around me, trying to figure out what had happened. It was my right knee. It felt as if nothing was in its proper place anymore. As I stepped forward, my knee had apparently given way during a slight pivoting motion. But even on the video of the sparring session, it wasn’t possible to tell exactly what had ultimately caused the injury.

Within two minutes, I had a huge ice pack on my knee, which numbed everything and allowed me to get up about 30 minutes later. My knee wasn’t swollen, nor was it bruised. Everyone thought nothing serious had happened and that I had “just” twisted my knee. Still, it was important to us to see an orthopedist that same day and have an MRI done. Two hours after the injury, the orthopedist also said that, at most, the ligaments were slightly overstretched, since I hadn’t reacted to any of the tests and the knee still looked pretty normal.

The next day, when we had the radiologist’s report in hand, things looked different—just like my knee, which had swollen to twice its size overnight. Together with the orthopedic surgeon, we now faced an 80% tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, damaged menisci, a slightly injured lateral ligament, and a large bone hematoma. Further treatment in the U.S. was out of the question for me, as I wanted to go home with this diagnosis. So three days later, I was on a plane heading home. Already at the airport in Miami, I was planning my upcoming doctor’s appointments in Germany. Just one week after the accident, I had the preliminary consultations for the surgery, which took place two days later.

It’s been just under four weeks since the surgery; the worst is behind me, but I still have a long road ahead of me. A break that my body apparently craved more than I wanted to admit.