Page 10 Portland Observer, January 7, 1982
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Sugar Ray Leonard, right, interviews finalists in
the Budweiser-sponsored Sugar Ray Leonard
Golden Gloves Gournament. the championships
Amateur boxing booms in U.S.
Across the c o u n try last year,
more than 20,000 boys between the
ages o f 10-15 slipped on gloves and
climbed into a ring.
M ost o f them were w hite and
m iddle class, the products o f o r
ganized boxing program s sanc
tioned by this country’ s ruling body
o f am ateur boxing. But the sport
still has its roots in the ghetto, where
the a ction in the ring has always
been more than just another form o f
childhood recreation and where, o f
ten, nobody’ s sanction is sought.
It begins on troubled corners or
the hallways o f housing projects.
They fight to answer a challenge, to
pass a test, to win their place in the
pecking order o f youth. Then they
wander into a gym and turn the sat
isfaction and skill o f a sport.
L e t’ s set the scene: It is F rid a y
night in the c ity , any c ity in the
U.S. A . The club is ro c k in g . The
heavy bags and ju m p ropes have
been locked away. Rows o f metal
folding chairs flank the ring, and at
a nominal fee, usually around 2 or 3
d o lla rs a head, the neighborhood
has filed in for some real head-bang
ing e n te rta in m e n t. Some o f the
crow d o f about 150 people are
fa m ily and friends o f the boxers;
others, just partisans o f the ring.
Tonight, the local talent faces visi
tors from eastern Oregon.
The gym is located in a building
that reeks with tradition. The walls
are adorned with fight posters and
portraits o f some o f Portland’ s fin
est amateurs: “ No sm oking” signs
are posted, but the crow d ignores
them; and soon a while haze begins
to form around the network o f pipes
that hang low overhead.
As com m on as these bouts are,
they are ille g itim a te . Bouts like
these non-sanctioned ones are called
“ smokers” or bootleg bouts. Often
at these events there is no doctor at
ringside, no seasoned referee, and
no one to insist thast the young
fighters wear protective headgear.
Still, it is not these m inor infractions
o f the law, or the g ritty m ilieu the
young fighters box in, that concerns
the people w ho regulate am ateur
boxing. What troubles them is the
safety o f the growing boys, the in
ju rie s to w hich they are exposed.
M ost doctors agree th a t i f young
boys are properly trained, equipped
and supervised, and i f th e ir bouts
are stopped at the first sign o f trou
ble, the danger o f sustaining a
CURTIS RAMSAY
serious injury in the ring is minimal.
Recently, doctors fo r the U nited
States Amateur Boxing Federation,
three one-m inute rounds; 12- and
which sets rules for amateur boxing.
13-year-olds fig h t I'A -m in u te
conducted a national survey o f in
rounds. For those 16 years o f age
juries over a two-year period, p ri
and older, the time is increased to a
m arily involving boxers from ages
fu ll th re e -m in u te ro u n d . In each
10 to 26.
case, there is a minute’ s rest between
The survey showed th a t 78 per
rounds.
cent o f the head in ju rie s reported
Some trainees pace their boxers,
were among those fighters who did
a llow ing them to box only once a
not wear protective headgear. One
m onth or less, but it is not uncom
death was reported from heart fail-
mon for a 15-year-old who has been
ue, in a teenager w ith a sickle-cell
fighting fo r five years in both boot
trait that had not been picked up in
leg and sanctioned bouts to have 300
a pre-fight physical.
fights to his credit. At this rate psy
chogenic effects, the loss o f memory
Even though the survey was based
on a random survey and involved
and learning disabilities could take
place in 10 or 15 years.
' *
voluntary injuries instead o f a com
These young gladiators sweat and
pulsory submission o f records, the
survey clearly showed that substan
toil endlessly, and some even dream
tia lly fewer boys suffer serious in
o f one day becoming a Sugar Ray
Leonard or a Larry Holmes.
ju rie s boxing than com parable
The dream o f becom ing cham
groups in fo o tb a ll and baseball.
pion could hurt them ; let us hope
Still, there is no way to guage the ef
that negligence in the ring never
fect o f repeated poundings over a
w ill.
long period on young fighters. U n
der fe d e ra tio n rules fo r c o m p e ti
tio n , 10- and ll- y e a r - o ld s fig h t
Route to the Super Bowl
W ild-C ard
Team s
D®«- 27
w
Divisional
Playoffs
Jan 23
a
*
* ♦w
aa *. *
Buriato
Buffalo
*
C incinnati
N.V. Jefs
Cincinnati
★ ★★★
San Diego
San D iego
Miami
Super Bowl XVI
N.V. Giants
Silver dome
Pontiac. Mich.
Jan. 24
N Y . Giants
Phttadetphia
San Francisco
San Francisco
AFL Playoffs
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San Francisco is on a ro ll. Tony
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C ham pionsh ip
Gam es
Jan 10
DOWN ON APPROVED CREDIT
of which were fought recently in Des Moines. The
television tournament will be broadcast in more
than 150 cities coast to coast.
know you
B lLL.C Q geg
9 th & C • V a n c o u v e r, W a s h . •
Î4 C
2860641