Boxing: Not Only A Sport But A Way Of Life

I was at one of those things your wife drags you to one night, you know, the dinner party type thing where you can’t stand anyone there, her friends or their husbands, but go just to keep the peace. Then I looked at the clock after what seemed like forever and realized that I was going to be late for the fight. It was Corrales vs. Castillo 2 and for all of you out there who had seen the first fight, you know you didn’t want to miss the second.

So, as my wife and I had agreed before I came, it would be okay if I bowed out at 9:30 PM, in time to make it home for the fight. When I stood up and tried to say my goodbyes, one of her friend’s annoying husbands said to me “Stay and enjoy the company! I mean it’s only a fight, you can watch them anytime”.

With a look that must have said are you A %#^&*%, didn’t you just hear what I said? CORRALES VS. CASTILLO 2! But I refrained, instead I said to him “Why don’t you guys come watch it?” Something that I hoped they wouldn’t respond to with a yes, but I was being polite. I didn’t get the yes I was dreading, instead I got “Why are you so wrapped up in that boxing? You can watch guys hit each other anytime”.

With this I knew it was my cue to go before I insulted him. My wife must have seen this coming because she stepped in with a “He would, but he is expecting company; they made plans ages ago”. With that, she walked me to the door and we kissed goodbye.

My wife knows my love for the sport. Some women get stuck with baseball husbands, some football or basketball. Others get stuck with the guy who watches them all. Mine? Well, she knew long before we were married that I was a boxing fanatic and most of the time she is good about it unless she knows it is something I have already seen.

Later on, I was watching the fight, still thinking what an ass the guy was but I also knew if I had to explain why I love the sport so much, he wouldn’t have understood even if I told him.

Boxing is more than just a sport; it is a lifestyle. People who are just casual fans or observers of only the big name fights, such as when Tyson was on his reign and everyone watched the show, cannot fully understand all that boxing is about. Throughout the years, boxing has meant so much to so many people.

What many don’t understand is the violence and actual fighting part of it is not the big picture. In fact, those 45 or so minutes that a full 12 round fight lasts is just a small part of it all. As a matter of fact, those 12 rounds may be the least important part when you look at it in its full perspective.You have to know its history to really know the sport.

The reasons why most guys step into the ring to fight in the first place and don the gloves to take their chances in the sport, isn’t to see how much abuse they can take or how much they can hurt another man. There are so many more reasons. Every man has a different one, yet they all, in a way, have the same one. Some way or another, it is for the need to accomplish something; each one has the need in a different way.

There are lives spent chasing a dream that is seldom met. Sometimes it isn’t even a dream that is chased, it is a necessity. A necessity that can only be taken care of by fighting in the ring and hoping you can manage to make it successful. During this quest, men are made into legends. Others are turned into solemn people who end up facing a reality that forever haunts them.

Some even end up hating everything they accomplish, although it is what they sought. Finally, there are those who can’t understand why their dreams are never met or when they are, they don’t know enough to leave when the time has come for them to walk away.

These men become our heroes;we love them for their triumphs and hate them for their failure. Somehow they become important to us, yet we don’t know them. We understand them but don’t have a clue what goes through their heads. It is their stories that we fall for. In an unexplainable way, we almost feel as though we at times are part of them. This is the sport of boxing and always has been. It always will be.

Jack Johnson was the first African American heavyweight champion, years before any of us were around, but when we read about his tale of struggle, we can understand how hard it was for him. When you hear about how he did things his own way, just to prove that he was his own man, you can’t help to feel as though he is accomplishing something relevant to you.

You root for him and the color barrier being broken in the sport. When you watch tapes of him beating his opponents who taunted him and called him names, you are almost glad. When he was exiled, you feel as though an injustice was done not only to him but also to all men like him.

When Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling, “The Brown Bomber” wasn’t alone, he was America for those minutes he was in the ring. When Louis lost, it was almost as though America lost. When he won the rematch, we cheered for him because he proved we really were on the side of right and in a way, it was almost like a guarantee that the US would win the war.

When Rocky Marciano beat a aging Louis, many felt like “The Rock” was beating a friend. Without the sport of boxing, Louis would not have become the man he did, but boxing made him an icon and a part of our history, both in and out of the ring.

When we watch Sugar Ray Robinson in the ring, we see exactly how the science earned the name sweet. He puts us in awe of his ability, the way he moves, the way he throws his punches. You appreciate what it takes to have that ability.

When we look at Muhammad Ali, we see his speed and footwork, unable to grasp how a man that size can do such things. When he refused to fight in the war, many condemned him for being a coward. Today, we respect his decision and applaud his standing by his conviction. His catch phrases became trademarks. To this day he is possibly the most celebrated athlete ever. To the world, he is known as “The Greatest”.

Men like Roberto Duran, who came from nothing and had no education without a dollar in his pocket, used the sport to make something of himself. Mike Tyson, a street kid who would most likely ended up dead if not for a man named Cus D’Amato and his teachings. Over the years, we have stood on the edge of our seats, screaming Tyson’s name in approval and after he could please us no more, we have almost banished “Iron Mike” as a fraud.

We gave him no peace as a champion and now give him none as a has-been. Sonny Liston, a tragic figure in the world, made people fear him that never met him. He was like an animal in a cage that we had to see but didn’t want to get too close to. When he was alive, people looked at him as nothing more than a thug. With his passing, he is part of the sentimental culture of our history.

The sport in the ring has brought us moments of joy and moments of sadness. While we applaud the efforts and brutality of men like Tyson, Marciano, Foreman, Duran, Hearns and Liston, we cannot forget the tragedy that happened to men like Benny Peret and Du Ku Kim; tragedy that came from the same brutality that we applauded. We look at their deaths as moments of mishap.

We look at men like Gerald McClellan, Jerry Quarry and Meldrick Taylor like they are friends who have suffered more than they needed to. McClellan and his life of confusion frightens us. Quarry’s last days as a man who knew nothing of what went on day to day because he took too much abuse in the ring, is almost ignored because we don’t want to come to terms with what the sport we love had caused.

Meldrick Taylor, who is almost unintelligible due to his punchy slur, keeps us baffled on how a man who was once so skilled is now so lost.

We respect the dedication it takes to train. The loneliness that fighters endure away from their families and the fact that they put themselves through these things to make a better life for themselves and their loved ones. We can associate ourselves in a way with the young men who have nothing and come from nothing, seeking out their fame and fortune, knowing that they could never go to college due to their surroundings and circumstances.

They sought out the sport due to the heroes that came before them. With the same dreams as their heroes, many have accomplished what they did. Many have also suffered the same fates.

All of these things are what boxing is about; it’s more than just the fame and money, it is life. It isn’t a future that you need to have money to start with; you don’t need a scholarship to a college to make it in the big time. It is a sport that no one but you can decide if you fail or succeed. It is the ultimate dedication that gets you to the top and it’s the anticipation of seeing if a prospect has that dedication that makes us watch.

Yes, I watch boxing for the fights. I love it when two guys hit each other until one can no longer continue. I cherish those moments. I sit on the edge of my seat awaiting the judge’s decision in anticipation after a hard close fought battle to see who won. If I said that isn’t the reason I started watching it in the first place, I would be a liar.

It is a sport where you have to have a love for violence in the first place to even get acquainted with it. When you do get acquainted with it, and start to understand it, that’s when you develop your love for it. It is the real life soap opera. It is the reality show that has no prize for these men except the dreams of a kid fulfilled.

It betters the life of those who would have none without it. When they leave ,there is no pension. There is no medical insurance. There is nothing but what was accomplished in the short time that they were there. Some make enough money to last a life time, but some end up right back where they started.

Like the TV shows that we tune into every week to see who wins the ultimate prize, we tune our sets to the fights that take place to see who gets one step closer to theirs. Yes, boxing is more than just fights you can see anytime; it is life and nothing is more interesting than that.