Boxing - Yes, Boxing...

                                     Boxing? Yes Boxing!!! Here's why...

 

The guests:Andrew O’Toole, "Sweet William" - Joe Layden, "The Last Great Fight" and OTHERS!! 

One of my favorite parts of hosting the Greater Voice is interviewing people about issues I know very little – and possibly care very little – about. Take science: my interests have always been in the liberal arts – and frankly, I hardly know the difference between a gene and a gem. But my interview with Moria Gunn, an NPR science host who wrote a book on Biotechnology is one of my top ten. And there was Ron Jeremy – a porn star – whose life style couldn’t be further from the one I live and every wanted. Interesting guy? Oh yeah. Nice guy, too.

Still, when we decided to host a show which featured boxing, I was stuck. I want to make the greater voice as interesting as I can for listeners and boxing is, if nothing else - interesting. But I didn’t get it:  why do people set themselves up for a sport where the foundation is totally counter-intuitive. We run from pain and bloodshed – we don’t jump into it. And why do people enjoy watching other people basically pound each other to pulp? I couldn’t figure it out.

The facts about boxing didn’t help. Boxers, typically guys from 17 to around 34 years old, win not because of the grace, dexterity, or even the intelligence of their style but the amount of destruction they can inflict. For example, to win by a knockout, you must knock your opponent unconscious until the count of ten. To outclass your opponent, you must make him endure what Wikipedia calls “excessive punishment…”  Or you can send the fighter into retirement, where he has to stop because his injuries are too severe.

The results are more than prize dollars or the respect of guys at the gym. Being unconscious or even suffering a concussion can cause permanent brain damage- the AMA says that three out of four boxers with 20 professional fights suffer from brain deterioration. The amount of force required to knock a person out is about the same as it takes to kill a person. In fact, more than 200 boxers have died from injuries in roughly 25 years.  The American Medical Association was so alarmed, they called for a ban on boxing as did the Norway, Iceland, Cuba, Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea where boxing is outlawed.

Granted, one 1984 report says other sports are more dangerous. 128 jockeys, 123 skydivers, 56 hang gliders, and three college football players of every 100,000 get killed participating in their sport. Compare that to the 1.3 professional boxers.

Still, that statistic doesn’t address the bigger question: why do some people box? And others enjoy watching it. In preparing for this show, I did get an answer, though. I found that boxing has a remarkably long history. Homer discusses it in the Iliad and boxing became an Olympic sport in 688 BCE. Throughout its history, boxing remained popular, in spite of numerous efforts to ban it, including the Christian emperor Theodeesius in 393 CE. Now, not only has boxing persisted in its popularity but it’s expanded with more and more women boxers participating from the US to Zambia – much to the chagrin of many who consider it a manly sport.

And, no question, even the most disapproving among us know names like Jack Dempsey, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, and Sugar Ray Leonard.

 Then, there’s what I can only describe as the event of Mohammad Ali. Several years ago, my then four year old son and I were in Dupont Circle in Washington DC. A block away from us, I saw a gaggle of people and a stretch limousine in front of Starbucks. As we walked closer, I saw the limo belonged to Ali and the gaggle of people were fans surrounding him. He was signing autographs while smiling and chatting and looking as happy as his fans to experience the whole thing.

What does all this tell us? That boxing, in spite of its brutality, is part of our culture, our history, and our tradition. And why? Because we want it. Somehow boxing addresses something primal in us. Or maybe it unleashes impulses in a controlled setting – unlike, say, the chaotic violence of street fights. Boxing is real, too: so different from, say, the cartoonish wrestling matches we see on TV. And so, we get our ringside seats, place our bets, and continue watching one of the oldest professions around.