Is Boxing Barbaric?

[balintawak]

I enjoy the drama when warriors of contrasting backgrounds and styles train and compete in one of the last bastions of pure battle. In the epic matches, often the difference lies not in the fighters skill and strength, but in their strength of character.

Over the years, as we watch these fine athletes rise and fall, we feel a sense of loss. Of course age plays a factor in their deterioration, but we also realize that each blow chips a little piece from the man, and eventually there comes a defining moment when it becomes apparent when a fighter should hang up their gloves.

What's not so obvious to us fans is how these accumulated blows affects not just the fighter in the ring, but the complete person. This is more apparent when you hear the slur in their speech.

Th irony and the dilemma is that the skills and character that we admire in these athletes is located exactly where they are also trained to aim all of their violent energy towards destroying. A knockout is the most exciting part of boxing, yet what we are cheering is the moment when an athlete's brain has been so badly injured that it has to shut itself down.

I love boxing, but it's also tough knowing that these fighters lose a little bit of themselves every time they step into the ring.

[Chups]

My pubic hair is barbaric.

[-EX-]

**** outta here wit ur 2 posts *****...
































j/k. And yes boxing is barbaric but nobody's forcing these guys to get into the ring.

[Kelly Robinson]

I enjoy the drama when warriors of contrasting backgrounds and styles train and compete in one of the last bastions of pure battle. In the epic matches, often the difference lies not in the fighters skill and strength, but in their strength of character.

Over the years, as we watch these fine athletes rise and fall, we feel a sense of loss. Of course age plays a factor in their deterioration, but we also realize that each blow chips a little piece from the man, and eventually there comes a defining moment when it becomes apparent when a fighter should hang up their gloves.

What's not so obvious to us fans is how these accumulated blows affects not just the fighter in the ring, but the complete person. This is more apparent when you hear the slur in their speech.

Th irony and the dilemma is that the skills and character that we admire in these athletes is located exactly where they are also trained to aim all of their violent energy towards destroying. A knockout is the most exciting part of boxing, yet what we are cheering is the moment when an athlete's brain has been so badly injured that it has to shut itself down.

I love boxing, but it's also tough knowing that these fighters lose a little bit of themselves every time they step into the ring.

These cats ain't taking your post serious.

Before I became a boxing fan, I thought that the sport was indeed barbaric. I started training recently and I'm learning about it's discipline. Boxers don't just go in the ring and start throwing punches. It's more like an art.

The goal in a boxing match isn't to kill someone.

[larryx]

of course it is!!!!!!!!!!! wtf is your point

[Sick/]

it turns me on

[Oasis_Lad]

About as Barbaric as picking flowers with puppies.

[Spacey1991]

It is a violent sport admittedly but it has rules and has become a lot safer over the years, about 75 years ago it was A LOT worst. I wouldn't say it is barbaric, as somebody else said it is a disciplined art... which admittedly has some violence.

Nobody goes to the ring trying to kill another fighter, it is a sport and that is the way all proper Boxing fans look at it as; a sport! Not a street fight or attempting to kill another guy.

So my answer is no it isn't "barbaric" just a little bit violent, you could say the same about Mixed Martial Arts... is that barbaric?

[Maidana vs Rios]

Of course it is.

One recent example that had me thinking about this is Victor Ortiz. Some months after the Maidana fight, he gave this post fight interview:

http://www.istandnfight.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=157:video-excusive-victor-ortiz&catid=37:videos&Itemid=67

Ortiz has always seemed like an honest dude, so I believe him when he says he doesn't remember anything about that fight after Maidana knocked him down in the first round.

Maidana hit him so hard it gave him short term memory loss.


That's ****ed up.


It happens in other sports, too. I remember when Big Baby Davis got elbow dropped by Dwight Howard and he later couldn't recall the hit that caused his concussion.

It happens outside sports, like when Ron Artest slipped outside his house, fell and hit his head. On his way to the hospital, he texted Kobe that he was on his way to the hospital, but he couldn't remember exactly why.

But in these situations, the head injuries are accidental. Even in the NFL this year they've stepped up efforts to minimize head injuries (stricter defenseless receiver penalties, etc)

In boxing, causing these types of head injuries to the opponent is not an accident, it's a goal. When a fighter puts the opponent on ***** street (or worse), like the TS said, they're shutting off the opponent's brain. And when it happens, it is celebrated and revered. How is that not barbaric?

I don't blame the various medical associations around the world for thinking boxing is inhumane and should be banned.

Will I still watch boxing? Of course I will, because like most people in the real world, I'm morally lax and just don't think about it all the time. But hell yes boxing is barbaric when you think about it.