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Page 6 Portland Observer, January 5.1983
Can Boxing Be Saved?
Where Have You Gone, Muhammad Ah, George Foreman A nd Sugar Ray Leonard?
by Robert Eller
Remember when M uham m ad A li
was beatin g the like» o f G eorge
F o re m a n , Joe F ra zie r and ev ery
body else in the boxing w orld after
co m in g out o f hi» forced re tire
ment?
O r when Sugar Ray L eo nard
topped W ilfredo Benitez?
O r Leonard*» classic bouts with
Roberto Duran?
A h , those were the good ol' day»
when the fan », sp o rtsw riter» and
broadcasters, not to mention fight
ers and promoters who were making
millions, adored the sport of gladia
tors.
W ell, let’s see what happened to
the boxing, its fans and it» power
brokers now that A li has failed in
his last com eback against L a rry
Holmes, Sugar Ray Leonard has de
cided to hang his gloves up and Ro
berto Duran is no longer saying "n o
m as" w ith his m outh but w ith his
performances in the ring.
The biggest fight o f this year, as
far as this w riter is concerned, was
the m atch betw een Benitez and
Thomas Hearns, both of whom had
only lost one bout each in their ca
reers. both to the great Leonard It
was the kind of match-up that made
p ro m o te r D o n K in g ’ s h air cu rl.
(Y o u can be sure, however, that he
didn’t let anyone see it that way.) It
was to be a classic b attle between
two o f the best fighters in the world
and w ith Leonard gone and Larry
Holm e’, never to get the credit he de
serves, possibly a battle for "K in g
o f the R in g ."
The winner would make millions
and »o w o u ld the loser, and King
would again be smiling and sticking
his diamond covered fingers in front
o f the cameras.
So w hat happened? Just a few
short days before the fight, the box
ers were n o tifie d th at they w ou ld
have to take a small cut in their ex
pected purses. T h e tickets just
weren't selling.
A nd why w eren 't tickets to this
historic battle being gobbled up like
hotcakes at a Salvation Arm y break
fast? There was the D uk K oo Kim
tragedy for one thing. Ray "B o o m
B o o m " M ancini's punches directly
or ind irected ly leading to the K o
rean fighter’s death certainly d id n ’ t
help the sp o rt, but the news th at
ticket sales were not going well was
out long b efo re that u n fo rtu n a te
bout.
C o u ld it have been the te rrib le
mismatch that occurred on national
T V when L a rry H o lm es carried
" T e x ” Cobb fo r 15 rounds? That
may have had something to do with
it, too. But what are the underlying
facts that have boxing on its sick-, if
not death-, bed?
W hy are the same people— H o w
ard Cosell, for example— who were
so high on boxing a few years ago
now turning on the sport? Coseli re
cently announced that he would no
longer do co m m en tary on fights
( I ’m not complaining— are you?).
Maybe it’s the bandwagon effect.
Boxing has gotten some really black
eyes over the past few years. A li's
admission that he used a drug to get
his w eight d o w n , the death o f a
num ber o f lesser-know n figh ters
than Kim in less-publicized fights,
the d ep artu re o f A li and Leonard
fro m the rin g, the question o f the
rankings the two governing bodies
th at have d iffe re n t title -h o ld e rs
(W o rld Boxing A ssociation and
W orld Boxing Council) are among
boxing’s recent setbacks.
C all me a racist if you want, but
the feeling here is that one o f the
main reasons boxing has lost some
o f its support is the lack o f o u t
standing w hite fig h ters. (T h a t's
right, I said it.) Had Gerry Cooney
won the heavyw eight title fro m
L arry H olm es, boxing would have
been in much better shape I f there
were a n o th e r leg itim a te " G re a t
W hite H o p e " on the horizon, that
would certainly help, too, or even if
Don King were not the biggest and
most successful promoter and Bob
A ru m , a w hite m an, instead were
the man who could pull the strings,
things might be different.
T h e tru th o f the m a tter is that
boxing, like pro basketball, another
sport that is suffering from the ra
cism o f fans, has become too dom i
nated by blacks.
T h a t, along w ith the attitude o f
fans who are subject to throw bot
tles, cans or other objects and possi
bly even riot at almost any time, is
the biggest problem with the sport.
not the possibility o f death in the
ring.
M u h a m m a d A li once defended
boxing's right to exist by drawing an
analogy with auto racing. Just how
m any d rivers have been kille d in
auto races over the past year? Has
anyone called fo r a ban on that
sport? M otorsports is by far more
dangerous th an boxing and a l
though I am one who loves auto rac-
Joe Fraxler
Sugar Ray Leonard
Muhammad All
ing w ith a passion, just how many
top auto racers are black?
As fo r the cries o f fixed fights,
why should the sport be banned be
cause some say that fights are fixed?
Nobody has called for the abolition
of professional wrestling, and there,
the men in the ring go strictly be a
sc rip t, kn o w n in g when to punch,
when to fall and when to get pinned.
O r what about college basketball?
FOR SALES
W asn ’ t it proven that players on a
m a jo r college team w ere shaving
points just a year or tw o ago? Is
anyone calling for a ban on college
basketball?
So w hat w ill it take to stem the
tide and keep professional boxing
alive? This w riter isn't sure, but a
couple o f white champs and a big-
tim e w hite p ro m o ter w ou ld sure
help.
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NATIONAL AMATEUR BOXING CHAM PS —The U S A. Amateur
Boxing Federation national championship tournament was held re
cently in Indianapolis, Ind. It produced soma naw faces to the na
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The naw champion« with weight claaa Dated in parentheela are from
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Md. Budwaiaar ia the aponaor of local, regional and national ama
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Olympic Boxing team to compete in the 1984 Olympic« In Loa An
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JACK ROBERTS PRESENTS
SAT., JAN. 22 - 7 P.M.
OSU gymnasts face first trial
W ith an optimistic eye on the sea
son ahead. Oregon State's gymnas
tics team w ill open the 1983 cam
paign this weekend in Seattle in the
W ashington In v ita tio n a l M eet on
Saturday, Jan. 8.
T h e meet w ill p it the Beavers
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w ill be a good early-season test for
O S U , the defending regional chant-
There are an estimated 61 varieties of chili peppers in
pion ranked fifth nationally this sea
son in pre-season polls. Ron L ud
wig's team, which finished fourth in
the national tournament a year ago,
w ill be fav o red in the eig h t-team
meet this Saturday but the coach fi
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nastics in the Northw est w ill o ffe r
the Beavers enough challenge.
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