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Boxing: A Car Without A Driver
By David Harrington
It’s hard to believe anyone in the boxing business. Morality
isn’t sacred, it’s almost laughed at. Accountability doesn’t
seem to exist on any level, leaving the door open for
boxing’s regulators to act as they please.
On the other hand we expect more from fighters. Their image
and marketability are influenced by the characteristics
people identify with good or bad. Much like other sports
boxing fans want to personally connect to their star
athletes. It would be hard to fathom boxing having any
attraction at all if its athletes constantly held out for
more money and avoided every challenge they could. Fans can
only remain fans so long before they must evaluate what they
are watching and question how pure what they’re watching
really is. Some see boxing as a clearly corrupt sport, one
that needs total reform. Boxing may not be like that yet but
its credibility is waning. That much is clear.
The element of cheating exists in all sports, but few
outside of fighting contain the same amount of risk. Taking
drugs, altering hand-wraps or gloves, cheating the scale;
all these things create significantly more risk to an
already vulnerable life. All these methods have been used
even in the most high-profile fights within the last 20-30
years. The burden falls on the fighter’s entire team to
oversee all aspects of weigh-in procedures, hand wrapping,
or any other commission mandated requirement like urine or
blood testing. The team’s job is to protect it’s fighter
from what could possibly happen. Knowledgeable professionals
are imperative for when cheating is most available, and can
make the difference between a fair fight and a traumatic
event.
Not many people associate mortality with sports, but boxing
is viewed differently. Other athletes acquire far more
financially but can hardly convince anyone they take the
risks a professional fighter does. Today, those risks seem
magnified. Chemically enhanced athletes pose a great threat
to boxing, one that must be addressed. There is really no
telling how level the playing field is anymore.
The idea that performance enhancing drugs are running
rampant in boxing is a disturbing thought. An insufficient
testing system already creates doubt for those who pay
attention. This isn’t baseball, where all the damage happens
in the record books. This is boxing, the hurt business. Fair
play is crucial when lives are at risk. Fighters know what
they are up against, it’s no secret. They know how much of
themselves they’re trading in return for a good living. One
loss on a fighter’s record can financially affect them for
years, they can’t afford to quit. Giving up isn’t what made
them successful. Actually, the refusal to give in is what
made their success possible. Promoters and TV executives
can’t identify with that. Money and ratings are as far as
they think.
Having faith in a corrupt system may have gotten the sport
to where it is today. Where the sport truly stands is
anyone’s guess. Some of the worst decisions possible have
occurred in boxing’s last few years. Judge Pierre Benoist’s
119-110 scorecard for Paul Williams 2009 match-up against
Sergio Martinez was unexplainable. Referee Jorge Alonso’s
decision to not save Ricky Quiles during his 2007 fight with
Nate Campbell remains a mystery. The judging of the Ben
Rabah/Juan Urango title-eliminator in 2006 disregards logic
as well. The actions made or not made in these three fights
defy any rationale. Even the respected trainer Teddy Atlas
brought criticism on himself for berating the referee of the
Campbell/Quiles fight for what he saw was clearly negligent
action. Occasionally these type decisions can cost a fighter
his life, a fact no one can ignore. Yet accountability
remains absent. Consequences promote the right kind of
change and hold the sport above the people in it. Blindly
believing in the one’s who control boxing hasn’t
accomplished much.
Introducing blood testing as the new protocol for boxing
would be a good start. Proving the athletes are clean helps
build a case for boxing’s evolvement into the era of
designer steroids. Men’s lives are at stake, if blood
testing is rational enough for Olympic athletes then it’s
only appropriate Floyd Mayweather jr. and Manny Pacquiao
embrace it as well.
The potential match-up between Mayweather and Pacquiao has
brought performance enhancing drugs back to national
attention. People were already aware; this problem isn’t
new. But it will remain one if the powers that be don’t do
something about it. Having faith just isn’t enough.
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