Boxing & the Pacman

Boxing as a violent contact sport has not changed basically since the Greek and Roman times 4,000 years ago : hand-to-hand, one-on-one contact pitting a boxer against another of relative strength and size to amuse a crowd or millions of spectators. Boxing is as archaic and uncivilized as violence itself. Perhaps, the safety measures have improved over time such as the form – fitted mouthpiece, the headgear in the Olympics, the presence of skilled referees who may stop a bout when one or both boxers are injured and ringside physicians who may stop a fight or bout at their own professional discretion and determination at any point in time. It is true, we are awed at a rare boxing gift. Not anybody can be a Manny Pacquiao, fondly called the PACMAN, the only Filipino boxer who has won seven world titles in seven different weight classes. Millions of Filipinos covet the fame and glory of an ordinary Manny Pacquiao. We admire all the discipline that goes with the preparation for this sport, as we saw in our own Manny Pacquiao : fitness endurance, pain endurance, strength, mental stamina, skill and speed. It is true that most sports like horse racing, fencing, football, basketball, martial arts, hockey, soccer, etc are most likely to result in injury or disability and thus banning boxing as a violent sport will not prevent or limit the incidence of sports related injury. But, I would classify injuries to these sports as sport related accidents.

Not so with boxing where the goal is to deliver the violent punches that is sure to cause injury. For me, boxing is a legalized way of attacking another person, a bloodthirsty sport, uncivilized, a money-driven scheme and all these for amusement. Millions of people cheer for the punches of a potential killer, or pay to watch the maiming and injuring and all in the name of sports and entertainment. Someone described a strong punch to one’s head as akin to “ one’s soft brain being rammed into a rigid skull much like an egg yolk slammed into the side of an egg shell.’’ Time magazine has, accordingly, reported that in the last decade, over 70 boxers have died from boxing related causes. All these are so relevant as we witnessed our own boxer, Z Gorres, a rising boxer who is reportedly in critical condition and in medical induced coma to relieve a brain swelling or even the boxing star himself, Manny Pacquiao, who is suffering from an ear injury. It was sad to see Manny Pacquiao, soon after he defeated Miguel Cotto, feeling powerless to freely turn his head because of his ear injury. As expected of ever protective mothers, Aling Dionisia, Pacquiao’s mother, was heard as saying that she has had some clairvoyant feelings that something will happen to his son in the next bout and so if it her up to her, she will not let her son fight in the ring anymore.

Kaye, my only daughter who is very much into sports ( tennis, surfing and skimboarding) says of the recent Manny Pacquiao – Miguel Cotto ( Puerto Rican boxer) boxing “my views about boxing is different now, and it is a reaction to people’s comments on various social networking sites saying that the fight should not have been stopped prematurely at that round yet because people wanted to see a total knockout. Boxing is barbaric and the people who enjoy it are no different from the Roman masses who enjoyed the Gladiator fights.” This sounds to me like the centuries’ old discrimination and violence against women that is still with us in this day and age.