Boxing Perspective: Farewell Old Friend

Ex-championship prizefighter Oscar De La Hoya, now an established promoter and businessman, has given boxing aficionados around the world ample reason to lament following his curious and highly controversial acquisition of the sport’s last remaining link to legitimacy.

For those of us who still give a damn, and who, for reasons perhaps unknown even to ourselves, still mourn the death of boxing as a mainstream sport, the sale of The Ring – a trade publication which bills itself as ‘The Bible of Boxing’ – to Sports & Entertainment Publications – a subsidiary of De La Hoya’s promotional outfit Golden Boy Enterprises – should have provided a sort of clarity to a troubling but increasingly unshakable suspicion: those well remembered glory days of the 60’s and 70’s are gone and will likely never be re-conjured, at least not in this lifetime.

Boxing has, for obvious reasons, always been an easy target for the pious, a Tony Montana-type bad guy to point a judging finger at and blame for all of society’s evils.

Unfortunately, just like the psychotic crime boss, enough misdeeds have been committed to fully warrant those judgements, and over the last 20 years or so the sport has found itself more or less abandoned by mainstream media and forced ever deeper into the fringes.

As a result, we now live in a country where WAGs – the wives and girlfriends of footballers, for those of you without a Heat subscription – enjoy considerably more fame than any of the current heavyweight titlists. A cold, hard fact that should inspire laughter through tears.

And now, to add to the downward spiral, we have just said farewell to the only truly pure thing that remained in the sport. Eyes are moist and heads are shaking in the boxing community following the sad news. Our sense of grief compounded by the fact that this was a bolt completely out of the blue; a sucker punch.

It is not all doom and gloom, however. The ambling career of Audley Harrison is expected to drift even further into self-parody later this year when he attempts to rebound from his most humiliating setback to date…perhaps he can lure Henry Cooper out of retirement and fight him for the vacant WBF title? The British public would lap it up.

Founded in 1922, The Ring is generally viewed upon as the sport’s conscience, and has built a large and dedicated readership by being a vehement advocator of objectivity and reform, and consistently bemoaning the malignant existence of corrupt and incompetent world sanctioning bodies.

It is a matter of deep regret then that, as a corollary of the dubious takeover, we must from now on approach each and every copy with suspicion and, yes, even a touch of cynicism. The faint air of virtuousness that clung to the famed magazine throughout all the controversies and turmoil of the last 80 years has been totally washed away.

To the casual observer who may still be wrestling with the significance of this change of management and wishes to fully grasp the magnitude of De La Hoya’s latest purchase within the boxing world, simply close your eyes and imagine a tie-less and ruffled Gordon Brown at the helm of a prominent broadsheet newspaper, barking orders at terrified reporters and frantically proof reading copy.

How much anti-war rhetoric do you think would find a home in that particular publication? Impartiality cannot survive anywhere there is a conflict of interests; the soil is unfertile and the air much too unclean. To try represents nothing more than an exercise in pointlessness. Prizefighter De La Hoya could have played the naivety card; magnate De La Hoya, on the other hand, is smart enough to know this.

Predictably, De La Hoya and his associates have been startlingly quick to dismiss any suggestion that their motives behind the acquisition were in any way conniving or unscrupulous, and in recent statements have stressed that the magazine will not be manipulated in any way, shape or form or turned into a vehicle through which to promote their own personal interests and agendas. The message has been loud and clear: extra profit was the incentive, not extra power.

Though very easy to denounce as a smokescreen, the claim that the magazine – along with sister publications KO, World Boxing and Pro Wrestling Illustrated – was acquired purely as a business investment is admittedly plausible enough, and when unaccompanied by scepticism and paranoia, actually exhales a fair amount of sincerity.

But then, so too did Thierry Henry’s ostensibly heartfelt pledge that he would never leave his beloved Arsenal for greener pastures – sadly, it doesn’t mean a thing. Genuine sincerity and mock sincerity sound far too much alike.

Despite being relatively new to the promoting game, De La Hoya is an old hand when it comes to political correctness and image. Throughout his illustrious fighting career, rarely if ever was a foot put out of place – he exploited his rugged good looks and ‘Golden Boy’ persona shrewdly and relentlessly, clearly favouring mainstream appeal over machismo and schmaltz over sincerity.

He was, in many ways, the master salesman. That is not to label him dishonest, though, only exceptionally understanding of the nuances of the mob and, of course, the pitfalls of controversy. Nothing has changed.

According to Golden Boy’s chief executive officer, Richard Schaefer, the magazine will retain complete editorial freedom and will continue to operate without any outside interference. Assurance has been given to editor-in-chief Nigel Collins and his small but talented staff of writers that they will not be bothered by anyone at Golden Boy.

It has been a recurring and resounding promise, one which, to repeat the point, does sound very genuine. And who knows, perhaps it is genuine. That is not the issue here.

Gross ethical compromise is the issue, for it is impossible for a supposedly impartial boxing publication to retain any semblance of credibility or independence if they are under the ownership of a major promotional company – bottom line.

All the promises in the world, therefore, will do extremely little if anything to placate the anger and anxiety felt amongst fans over the takeover. The acquisition of The Ring is terrible news for the sport and could well be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back.

How depressingly ironic that a magazine which has taken so much pride over the years in marketing itself as an opponent of the corrupt boxing establishment, should go from bitter enemy to bedfellow in the time it takes to sign a contract. But that is the reality of what has taken place, and everything that it produces from this point forward will inevitably be tainted by that fact. Good or noble intensions unfortunately safe-proof very little.

Though boxing still has a loyal following in this country – an unlikelihood that was proven as recently as May when 10,000 Brits flocked to Las Vegas to watch Ricky Hatton knock out Jose Luis Castillo – we are rapidly losing patience. Of course, nothing within the magazine’s content will change too dramatically since all concerned are shrewd enough to know how damaging flagrant interference would be to its popularity and profits.

But partiality will be shown to its paymaster – of that we can be certain. A steady increase in subtle but strategic omissions should also not come as a surprise. After all, Oscar and Co may one day have something to hide.