BOXING...GOD'S SPORT?

Okay, I’m hooked on boxing when it’s a slugfest. There’s a part of me that likes to see gladiators go to battle, with a knockout ending the fight.

However, I remember watching the 1962 match on TV when the up and coming boxer, Emile Griffith, beat the champion, Benny “the Kid” Paret. Beat him to death, that is. Well, actually Paret never did regain consciousness, and died nine days later.

I didn’t “like” that fight.

In fact, I can still remember thinking, Why isn’t this fight being stopped? Griffith was allowed to keep slugging the already unconscious Paret as the fallen champion was propped up on the ropes in the corner.

Now, in dealing with the question, “Is boxing God’s sport?” I won’t even take into consideration the tragic, but few, deaths in the ring, or as a result of a recent fight. Let’s just consider the goal of a boxer, and the condition in which many fighters end up.

Ultimately, the goal of a fight is to render the opponent unconscious, which can only happen by a jarring impact to the brain. Sure, we have the finesse fighters who win on points. However, even the best of the finesse boxers wouldn’t mind scoring a knockout, and they would go for it if given the opportunity.

We also only have to look at the rather long list of fighters who end up having what’s called “dementia pugilistica.” We used to humorously call it being “punch drunk.” Yet, there’s no humor in the condition. It happens over a period of years by being hit on the head so many times. Among those on the list include Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali (pugilistic Parkinson's syndrome), Floyd Patterson, Mike and Jerry Quarry, Sugar Ray Robinson, and, yes, even Emile Griffith. Those are just the more famous boxers, not nearly an exhaustive list of the not-so-famous fighters.

So, in my opinion, boxing is one sport that does not have God’s approval. How can I be so extreme as to say that? Simple. God isn’t about doing damage to people. He’s all about bringing them vital health.

I can almost hear some of you thinking, But, that’s the only way some people can make a living. OR, How can you deprive someone of the joy that comes from working their craft?

First, boxing isn’t the only way some people can make a living. It might be their most enjoyable way, but God doesn’t equip a person to contribute to society only one way. Second, if boxing wasn’t ever “invented,” there definitely would be other ways to earn a living. The same qualities that a successful fighter must have can be carried over to a variety of ways to make a living.

Yes, part of me is still hooked on a good fight.

But, not when I consider how, in my opinion, it’s in stark contrast to God’s ways, and the condition in which so many boxers end up.

That was My Turn.

Now, it’s Your Turn to tell me what you think about whether God approves of boxing.