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Boxing: entertainment or savagery?

post #1 of 9
6/4/05 at 10:09pm
Thread Starter 
In the 21st century is it still "fun" to watch two men bludgeon each other to oblivion or is it about time we said – no, this isn’t where humanity should be heading?
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post #2 of 9
6/5/05 at 12:20am
Actually, Boxing is a painfully boring sport to watch if you ask me. Heavyweight boxing in particular. Its too slow.

I love Ali and find him to be one of the most important sports figures of all time, but damnit I can never get through a full match (on an ESPN classic rerun for example). I appreciate the "sweet science" and understand a great deal of it. But i feel it just never was a great TV sport.

As far as savagery, nah. Two men attacking each other for the pleasure of an audience has been going on for thousands of years. Sure there are rules and modern medicine involved now, but there is still a visceral enjoyment many (not all) people get out of seeing two competitors put their bodies on the line for the sake of sport. Save for golf and baseball, most of our modern sports involve intense physical combat with some groundwork of rules governing over the field.
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post #3 of 9
6/5/05 at 2:08am
What he said. Have you ever seen football?
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post #4 of 9
6/5/05 at 5:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff Foster
In the 21st century is it still "fun" to watch two men bludgeon each other to oblivion or is it about time we said – no, this isn’t where humanity should be heading?
You know you're right, UFC is way more kick-ass. Just because you don't like it doesn't always mean it's a bad thing.
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post #5 of 9
6/5/05 at 7:33am
Thread Starter 
Don’t misunderstand me – I’m not one of those self-righteous “nanny state” proselytisers who thinks boxing should be banned. I can say hand-on-heart that I’ve looked forward to and enjoyed many a tear-up over the years. It’s just that whilst watching Ricky Hatton and Kostya Tszyu knock lumps out of each other last night I became increasingly aware of the facial expressions and gestures expressed by many in the front row seats. It wasn’t a particularly edifying spectacle.

I remember thinking something similar when Gerald McClelland left the ring unconscious, to hoots of delight, after his fight with Nigel Benn years ago. A fight that subsequently left him severely handicapped.

Yes, most sports are rough - some perhaps more so than boxing. But I can't help but feel there's nothing ennobling about watching two people attempting to inflict brain damage on each other.
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post #6 of 9
6/5/05 at 2:01pm
I have to admit, as a former boxing fan, I've had similar misgivings. I gave up watching boxing about the time Mike Tyson came along (so it's been awhile). There was a period after Ali that lasted just a bit after Holmes, in which boxing was still held in decent regard, and you'd watch a match expecting to see some skill on display. Tyson brought the whole sport down into the toilet with him, and brought it back to the idea of a human tank with too little brain to damage knocking the piss out of some schmuck.

So yeah, Tyson's made me think twice about the sport. I still enjoy a good boxing movie.
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post #7 of 9
6/5/05 at 5:09pm
That Hatton fight last night was great. No slow-moving heavyweights, just two short guys beatin' the crap out of each other in the UK. The other guy (I can't remember his name) elected not to come out to the bell of the 12th round. It was an unbelievable fight. There are crap fights, though.

And I'm probably a bit biased, since I box for exercise. Once you've trained in it, you start to see more of the nuances of what fighters are trying to do. And that above comment is correct--what sport today isn't really a bit on the "savage" side every now and then? Even in baseball, you have guys getting beaned, slides into bases where they try to take out each other, bench-clearing brawls, etc.

I don't seek out boxing to watch, but if it's on TV, I'll watch it, just to see the stuff that I've been learning applied in the ring. In last night's fight, there was no dipping and dodging punches and guys feeling each other out. They just really seemed to dislike each other. The one guy kept hitting Hatton right at his belt line, and got warned a few times, then after a clean break, Hatton jumped right at the guy and punched him right in the nads. Ouch. I was surprised he didn't get DQ'd for it.
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post #8 of 9
6/24/05 at 4:10am
I think a lot of sports, especially boxing are entertainly savage. Or savagely entertaining. Boxing just gets bad, due to the fact that guys are essentially punching each other in the heads non-stop over a 36 minute period.

MMA is very entertaining as well with the UFC and Pride FC. But as great as the all around fighting is there, no sports can match the excitement of a great boxing match. Whether it's a slugfest or a boxing clinic. It's the best of sports. But styels make fights, so a lot of times you get boring fights with lots of clinching and dancing around.
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post #9 of 9
10/14/05 at 11:04pm
You guys are just pussys.
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