Boxing's Day

An absolutely exhilirating fight between Mexican Antonio Margarito and Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto ended last night with a new man atop the World Boxing Association's Welterweight table. The fight also made this writer think about the reasons why boxing, once arguably among the most universally appealing of all sports, has fallen so far. The reason may have more to do with the general topic of this blog than it does at first glance.

Of course, there could be several non-geopolitical factors behind boxing's flagging popularity. It could be that boxing has no two rivals like Ali and Frazier, who define this era. Maybe it's just that there is no great champion, or boredom with the same old formula, or even annoyance at the reduction of fifteen round fights (which tended to end in knockouts) to today's twelve-rounders. Many have criticized the boxing's ruling bodies for corruption, complexity, unfairness and the like. It could even be that Mixed Martial Arts is encroaching on the market. Boxing's ills could be attributed to all of these things. Or it could be attributed to far more grandiose factors.

In the days of boxing's rise, fighters were metaphors for their countries, and the squared circle a vicarious battlefield. When German Max Schmeling and American Joe Louis fought in 1936, they represented the core values and personalities of their respective nations, even if unwittingly. Then, in boxing's heyday of the 60s and 70s, the great champion, Muhammad Ali, transcended, and often transgressed against core tenants of his nation and in the process became an international phenom. When he spoke against war, when he traveled abroad for his fights and when he earned headlines in dozens of languages around the world after his knockouts, Ali became a truly universal champion. Boxers today may praise their native land after victories (as Margarito did last night after he came back from an early drubbing to stop Cotto in the eleventh) or have popularity the world over, but they simply do not hold the emotional weight that they once did with the world's population.

This boxing fan hopes, probably in vain, that the Olympics will renew interest in the sport on the international stage, or at the very least, in countries where boxers could become unlikely heroes by grabbing unexpected medals. Soccer now does for the world every four years what boxing used to do when it was popular. But unlike in soccer, success in boxing takes no induction into a national youth program. Unlike soccer, boxing is a sport that is genetically hardwired into every human being - fighting is as old as the species itself. And unlike in soccer, being a resident of a country with no successful national program does not significantly decrease your chances at international glory. The only requirements for boxers are a mean punch and a big heart, things that individuals the world over possess and ought to be proud of.

Now I acknowledge that boxing is a violent bloodsport which can often end in terrible tragedy, and respect those who stay away because of this fact. But considering the things that nations do to each other over land or culture, there is no shame in sending one of your best out to take on one of their best on that hallowed canvas.

UPDATE: Vijender Kumar, the Indian boxer who was mentioned as a potential medal winner from an unlikely nation in this article, did indeed capture the bronze in Beijing and came home to a hero's welcome.