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GENETICS MAY EXPLAIN WHY SOME BOXERS GET BRAIN DAMAGE Oranjestad, Aruba (AP) A blood protein may explain why some boxers suffer brain damage while others can keep getting slugged and nevertheless stay healthy, a new study suggests. Cornell University neurologist Barry Jordan told colleagues at a boxing medicine conference that about one-fourth of boxers might be genetically predisposed to getting irreversible brain damage during their careers. "This could be the answer to a question that's been bugging the medical community for years: Why do only 20 percent of boxers have problems?" said Jordan, a medical adviser to Association of Boxing Commissions. Jordan's finding which he cautioned was "only preliminary" indicated a simple blood test may be able to determine who is at risk. That could raise questions about whether athletes should be screened before being allowed to box. "This could open a major can of worms" Jordan said. "Really, those people (who test positive) should never be allowed to fight." The four day conference, sponsored by the World Boxing Council, opened Thursday and drew doctors from 83 countries to this Caribbean Dutch island. Jordan said his study linked the recessive protein APO-E4, believed to increase the chances of contracting Alzheimer's disease with other types of brain degeneration. His research team conducted blood tests on 30 professional boxers in the New York area: All the fighters found to have a pair of E4 proteins in their blood had also developed chronic brain injury a permanent swelling of the brain that leads to memory loss and reduced mental capacity. And in some cases they died during the experiment. Jordan was reluctant to give details of the research pending publication in a medical journal. There is no precedent for mandatory testing of athletes before they are allowed to compete. But the finding could more realistically, lead trainers to keep a closer eye on boxers who test positive for the protein, thought to be present in about 20 percent of humans. "There're so manyu things that don't make sense, like why one guy can get hit seven times and have brain damage, and others are hit 150 (times) and they're fine," Detroit trainer Emmanuel Steward said Friday. Stewart - who has trained top fighters such as Thomas Hearns, Julio Cesar Chavez, and former Canadian Olympian Lennox Lewis- said he didn't believe a positive test for the protein would keep athletes away from boxing. But the test could replace pricey brain scans which generally have been ineffective, and alert trainers to give extra time between fights to boxers with the E4 protein. The test for E4 costs about $3000 US but would only have to be done once. eof