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The question of second chances, and whether the heinous nature of certain crimes ought to prohibit them no matter how much time has gone by, is one which is currently splitting the sport in Canada.
It was announced earlier this month that the former WBC super-middleweight champion Davey Hilton, now aged 43, is to make a comeback on May 1 in his home city of Montreal.
Hilton was recently released after spending five years in prison for sexually assaulting his two daughters, aged between 12 and 15 at the time, who waived their right to anonymity to publicise his crimes.
Hilton, once a hugely popular figure in Canada's premier fight city, where his fights frequently sold out the old 20,000-capacity Montreal Forum, has always protested his innocence.
At a press conference earlier this month, he appeared in jocular mood and said of the expected reaction: "I hope it's good but to be honest I don't really care or think about the reaction because I am too worried about getting into shape."
Hilton is slated to fight local boy Adam Green, who has received his fair share of criticism for taking the fight. Two of Canada's biggest promoters, Interbox and Groupe Yvon Michel, have refused to let their fighters face Hilton.
The local Montreal Gazette has come out strongly against Hilton's comeback. Their respected columnist Jack Todd explained in an editorial: "As far as we are concerned, the crime is worse than a murder committed in the heat of the moment.
"Hilton stole the lives of his daughters, ruined them, and now he seems to think it is all a big joke. He doesn't deserve the ink and he doesn't deserve to be back in the ring. Ever."
The Hilton family - Davey and four brothers, one of whom, Stewart, was killed in a car accident in 1986 - and their disciplinarian father David snr, were always regarded as loveable rogues by the city's boxing fraternity.
Davey served frequent jail time for relatively minor offences and bail breaches, as well as battling alcohol addiction, before he outpointed Dingaan Thobela to win the WBC title in 2000, just three months before he was convicted.
His brother Matthew briefly held the IBF light-middleweight title, beating Buster Drayton in 1987 but, also afflicted by alcohol abuse, losing it the following year to Robert Hines.
Alex was, like his father before him, a Canadian middleweight champion, but was arrested on multiple occasions for driving under the influence, and later received a suspended sentence for robbing a convenience store.
"I think I'm sad, I have a lot of anger," said Davey Hilton recently. "But I feel I was on a self-destructive road anyway.
"I was drinking for years and years. I was an alcoholic. I was looking forward to the parties even before the fights."
Hilton's promoters do not appear to have helped his cause by publicly salivating about healthy ticket sales. It is even reported that Montreal superstar Arturo Gatti was approached as a potential Hilton comeback foe.
Gatti's sister, Anna Maria, is Hilton's ex-wife and the mother of the victims. Unsurprisingly Gatti categorically ruled out any involvement in Hilton's comeback, which he will undertake while still under strict bail rules imposed by the courts.
First, Hilton must pass a battery of physical tests by the Quebec Boxing Commission, who have been criticised in some quarters for their perceived readiness to grant him another licence.
But the commission are simply doing their job. It should not fall upon boxing authorities to make moral decisions on the future of a fighter who has, after all, been granted his liberty by the courts.
It is up to the prospective opponents, the media outlets and, above all, the ticket-buying public to decide whether they feel comfortable lending their support, financial or otherwise, to a convicted child ******er.
Perhaps they should first consider the testimonies of Hilton's daughters, Jeannie and Anne-Marie(Joe and Arturo's nieces), who published a book about their ordeal, La Coeur au Beurre Noir - The Heart With a Black Eye - in 2004.
At a press conference to publicise their book, Jeannie said: "In high school when (friends) were saying, 'Let's go to first base and kiss boys', I mean, I was already doing things with my father that was way beyond first base."
Anne Marie added: "When I see him on television, in prison, seated at a table with a bible in his hand, I want to throw up.
"My father is a piece of human trash, a criminal of the worst kind because he knew he was wrong to assault us." Canadian News article
(Hilton is a disgusting individual and his daughters have appeared on Montel and it was heartbreaking. It is good to see that promoters are not wanting to use this scum bag. I would love to see Gatti Murder this bum, but he doesn't deserve the payday.) CVD
It was announced earlier this month that the former WBC super-middleweight champion Davey Hilton, now aged 43, is to make a comeback on May 1 in his home city of Montreal.
Hilton was recently released after spending five years in prison for sexually assaulting his two daughters, aged between 12 and 15 at the time, who waived their right to anonymity to publicise his crimes.
Hilton, once a hugely popular figure in Canada's premier fight city, where his fights frequently sold out the old 20,000-capacity Montreal Forum, has always protested his innocence.
At a press conference earlier this month, he appeared in jocular mood and said of the expected reaction: "I hope it's good but to be honest I don't really care or think about the reaction because I am too worried about getting into shape."
Hilton is slated to fight local boy Adam Green, who has received his fair share of criticism for taking the fight. Two of Canada's biggest promoters, Interbox and Groupe Yvon Michel, have refused to let their fighters face Hilton.
The local Montreal Gazette has come out strongly against Hilton's comeback. Their respected columnist Jack Todd explained in an editorial: "As far as we are concerned, the crime is worse than a murder committed in the heat of the moment.
"Hilton stole the lives of his daughters, ruined them, and now he seems to think it is all a big joke. He doesn't deserve the ink and he doesn't deserve to be back in the ring. Ever."
The Hilton family - Davey and four brothers, one of whom, Stewart, was killed in a car accident in 1986 - and their disciplinarian father David snr, were always regarded as loveable rogues by the city's boxing fraternity.
Davey served frequent jail time for relatively minor offences and bail breaches, as well as battling alcohol addiction, before he outpointed Dingaan Thobela to win the WBC title in 2000, just three months before he was convicted.
His brother Matthew briefly held the IBF light-middleweight title, beating Buster Drayton in 1987 but, also afflicted by alcohol abuse, losing it the following year to Robert Hines.
Alex was, like his father before him, a Canadian middleweight champion, but was arrested on multiple occasions for driving under the influence, and later received a suspended sentence for robbing a convenience store.
"I think I'm sad, I have a lot of anger," said Davey Hilton recently. "But I feel I was on a self-destructive road anyway.
"I was drinking for years and years. I was an alcoholic. I was looking forward to the parties even before the fights."
Hilton's promoters do not appear to have helped his cause by publicly salivating about healthy ticket sales. It is even reported that Montreal superstar Arturo Gatti was approached as a potential Hilton comeback foe.
Gatti's sister, Anna Maria, is Hilton's ex-wife and the mother of the victims. Unsurprisingly Gatti categorically ruled out any involvement in Hilton's comeback, which he will undertake while still under strict bail rules imposed by the courts.
First, Hilton must pass a battery of physical tests by the Quebec Boxing Commission, who have been criticised in some quarters for their perceived readiness to grant him another licence.
But the commission are simply doing their job. It should not fall upon boxing authorities to make moral decisions on the future of a fighter who has, after all, been granted his liberty by the courts.
It is up to the prospective opponents, the media outlets and, above all, the ticket-buying public to decide whether they feel comfortable lending their support, financial or otherwise, to a convicted child ******er.
Perhaps they should first consider the testimonies of Hilton's daughters, Jeannie and Anne-Marie(Joe and Arturo's nieces), who published a book about their ordeal, La Coeur au Beurre Noir - The Heart With a Black Eye - in 2004.
At a press conference to publicise their book, Jeannie said: "In high school when (friends) were saying, 'Let's go to first base and kiss boys', I mean, I was already doing things with my father that was way beyond first base."
Anne Marie added: "When I see him on television, in prison, seated at a table with a bible in his hand, I want to throw up.
"My father is a piece of human trash, a criminal of the worst kind because he knew he was wrong to assault us." Canadian News article
(Hilton is a disgusting individual and his daughters have appeared on Montel and it was heartbreaking. It is good to see that promoters are not wanting to use this scum bag. I would love to see Gatti Murder this bum, but he doesn't deserve the payday.) CVD