“Going to the movies” is non-existent in our lives since we joined Netflix. In my opinion the pros outweigh the cons, which I have written about several months ago. The other day we watched “Fist of the Reich,” a movie about Max Schmeling, Germany’s champion boxer during World War II. Although I heard of him, I didn’t quite know what a great man he actually was. What impressed me was the “farewell to boxing” speech he gave in the ring immediately after his last match. His thought was to walk away from this sport as a participant while he was still vertical.
That’s all I needed to hear to spark my mind for a subject to rant about. Boxing is such a barbaric sport even though there are rules to protect the fighters. In 1997, the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians was established to create medical protocols through research and education to prevent injuries in boxing. I would like to know what this organization is doing since the majority of boxers end their careers with cauliflower ears, flat noses, busted eyebrows, busted lips, crossed eyes, blindness, broken hands, liver damage and kidney damage. What’s worse is the brain damage that so many of them suffer, along with dementia, slurred speech and death, in some cases.
We, as a society, have come so far, but there are plenty of people who get a thrill out of seeing two men in a roped ring punching each other to the point of blood running down their faces, teeth flying out of their mouths, or even passing out unconsciously.
Cock fighting is banned in all 50 states, so why not boxing? Yes, these boxers have free wills but at the end of the day, who actually are these men? Harvard graduates with business degrees? No, they are typically men from lower socio-economic backgrounds who fall into the clutches of money-hungry managers who see them as big business.
I see no difference between this sport and the sport enjoyed by the Romans when they threw the Christians to the lions. And while I am on this subject, let me just say that football players are in this same category. Like the coliseum, these huge stadiums are packed with thousands of fans watching the players run after a ball. Serious injuries are not reserved for the professional players who have come to accept lower extremedy injuries as “part of the game”, but to all age groups who participate in football. Recently a 16-year-old high school running back succumbed to his injuries from a helmet-to-helmet collision.
I know this is all big business involving the almighty dollar, but what about tennis, golf and bowling. To my knowledge no one has died from any these fun, healthy and safe sports.
