Boxing, a sport?

I love sports and all sports events. During my college days we used to be really crazy about Cricket, one of the most popular games in India. Sometimes we would get hurt and all the players would run to our help. Medical assistance was immediately available. If a bowler bowled in an intimidating manner and tried to hurt the batsman he would be cautioned by the Umpire.

Spectators enjoy any game played in a friendly and a competitive spirit. Of course the crowd sometimes become partisan depending on where the game is played and who the players are. The spectators pay to watch a game well contested and any true sportsman/woman would want the better player to win. Watch any of the Grand Prix Tournaments, any of the World Cup games. See the crowd enjoying every minute of the game.

Now when it comes to boxing the story looks different. When the press meets the boxers before the fight...each boasts "I will kill the ....(do not want to use the words used by the boxers. I am afraid they would not be in good taste). I will tear him to pieces. I will knock him out in the first round ...". During the fight you may find one of the boxers bleeding from cuts to his eyelids or from the nose. I really wonder whether it can be called sport to be paid to injure another man. We are simply paying money to watch two human beings punch each other. How can the civilized world call this a sport and even raise it to the level of Olympics?

Is it not time to think what effect this has on the minds of the younger generation? Are we not tuning them to an atmosphere of cruelty?

I concede that the boxers need rare courage to enter the ring prepared for the worst. I also concede they need hard training to reach the level they are at, and that a boxer is entering a lion's den if he enters the ring to fight someone like mighty Mike Tyson or all-time great Muhammad Ali. At the same time I am sure they have more than enough willpower to do exceedingly well in any other sport. If they did this maybe they would be doing a yeoman service to the world of sports.

I know there may be many who do not agree with my views but I am sure at least a few will agree in calling this so-called sport..." A sadistic sport in which people derive pleasure watching two people punching each other with the animal instinct to hurt the other, where the aim of each contestant is to knock out the opponent, to make the other collapse, and to ensure that he does not get up before the count of ten." I am sure all those who watch this boxing and enjoy it so thoroughly would not like to see their child or friend be bitten by even an ant. So I wonder how they can derive pleasure from watching two people punch each other, with intent to cripple the opponent and make him unable to fight.

RAMAKRISHNA CHITRAPU

Bekasi, West Java