State Of The Game: Boxing Is In Great Shape

It is a great time for boxing fans. The best fighters are actually fighting each other, rather than talking about it. The coverage on major sports networks, such as ESPN, is reaching an all time high. And for the first time since Lennox Lewis retired, we are going to have two of the four alphabet titles unified in the heavyweight division. But best of all is that in America, it is beginning to look like boxing is the cleanest sport of them all.

For years our great sport has been mired in controversy. Allegations of fixed fights and drug abuse plagued the fight game, and led to the eventual slide in popularity among American sports fans. But with the diligence of a few great promoters and the hawk like watchful eye of some state athletic commissions, the sweet science is gaining a full head of steam with the mainstream sports press.

Much of this rise can to be attributed to the decline in recent months, of the big three American sports. There has never been a worse time to be the commissioner of Major League Baseball, the NFL or worst of all, the NBA. All three men who rule those faltering leagues are wishing today they had any other job in sports.

Baseball has been fighting a steroids problem over the past four years that can only be described as despicable. When the allegations first surfaced during the home run chase of McGuire and Sosa, Major League Baseball dug its head in the sand and said, “Nothing going on over here. Don’t look at the man behind the curtain.” And with Barry Bonds only two home runs away from the holy grail of baseball records, the vast majority of the public agree that the mark will be tainted.

Although boxing has had its fair share of steroid troubles, the state commissions have done a wonderful job in cracking down on the problem. Most recently, James Toney has tested positive twice in the last three years, but the scrutiny on the sport was minimal at best with regards to his fights. He was quickly called out, fined and suspended, a punishment that has yet to occur to ANY of the top hitters in baseball.

Football is facing somewhat of a different crisis. Many of its top players are being arrested and convicted of numerous crimes. The image of that league is in jeopardy and the NFL is failing to crack down on its worst offenders. Adam “Pacman” Jones was suspended by the NFL for the entire season and has yet to be convicted of a single crime. Yet Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons and a spokesman for Nike, is under federal indictment for his involvement with an illicit dog fighting ring. The hypocrisy of the NFL is shining through extremely bright.

I am never one to convict a person in the court of public opinion before he/she has had their day in court. But the recent allegations against Michael Vick are so horrendous that my perception of him can only be dark. A recent report about the case suggested that the evidence against the star quarterback is so damaging that it is possible he could opt out of the season on his own, without the nudge by the NFL.

Boxing treats its biggest stars better than the journeymen, I will give them that. But when it comes to handing out punishment or suspensions, the biggest fighters in the sport get no special treatment. Case in point; Zab Judah. After the brawl during the Floyd Mayweather fight, Judah was suspended for an entire year. That goes to show the diligence of the Nevada State Boxing Commission to crack down on the image problem that could surface. The bad boy image of the boxer has been falling as of late, with nice guy fighters like Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton getting more of the big money fights and public attention.

But neither the NFL nor MLB problems can compare to that of the NBA. A recent report in the New York Post disclosed that a 13 year veteran ref, Tim Donaghy is being investigated by the FBI for wagering on games that he was officiating. He was making calls to manipulate point spreads for an organized betting ring. The allegations are some of the worst in the history of American sports and could cost the NBA millions of fans. The trust factor of the league will be ruined for years to come.

Boxing has a checkered past of fixed fights. But in the last forty years the public has once again gained a trust in the sport, due to great promoters who understand that if a fight is fixed it will affect their money more in the long run. If the public doesn’t trust the game they will not buy tickets or PPV’s. We as fight fans need to stay diligent in this realm of the sport. We need to keep the little promoters and smaller venue fights in check so they do not hurt the reputation that many have worked so hard for over the last half century.

The argument of MMA versus boxing has also been on the lips of many sports pundits. But the UFC recently had to suspend its newest star and lightweight champion, Sean Sherk, for testing positive for a banned substance. The UFC has come out against the use of illegal drugs but it wasn’t until recent years that the organization even had a drug policy. And when they finally enacted one, many of the game’s top fighters immediately tested positive.

Overall, boxing is in great shape. It has been working hard in the gym and in the court of public opinion to get its reputation to the way that it is. Over the last few years, ESPN Sportscenter has shown hardly any boxing coverage on their telecasts. But this past weekend, they had over five minutes devoted to the bout between Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright. The reason for this is obvious. The all sports network is sick of talking endlessly about these other controversies. They needed to talk sports, and the only sport that was not mired in these problems was boxing.

I know that boxing is not perfect, it is far from it. But the troubles our sport faces today are tiny in comparison to the others in America.