Michael Kadish
Over the years, boxing has evolved from a free-for-all brawl to a sophisticated sport. Yet with its stated intention of knocking an opponent senseless for ten seconds(Oates, 1987), boxing is considered more brutal than other sports. However, to many fans, boxing is comparable to other popular sports. Boxing aficionados have heroes who lose and win, and cheer for their hometown heroes. To sports writers and fans in the know, the main problem with the sport is not the brutality, but instead is its legitimacy. The perception of boxing as a corrupt sport due to its questionable organizational motives is the subject this report intends to cover.
To the American media boxing is the sixth sport, following baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and tennis. It would be farther up, except that its events occur sporadically and in few locations.(Schwartz,1991) The history of boxing is much like the history of the other five sports. It has existed in some form since ancient times but was institutionalized only during the last two centuries in America. Rather than a distinctive honorable person to start the sport, for example, Abner Doubleday, modern boxing began with Rick Fox.
Rick Fox was an Irish immigrant whose job was editing the weekly National Police Gazette. This magazine was comparable to today's National Inquirer. Needing readers, Fox inserted a sports page that would attract the working man. The sports page included steeple climbing and oyster opening as the main highlights, along with other novelty activities.(Sammons, 1986) In New York, in the spring of 1881 at Harry Hill's Dance Hall and Boxing Emporium, Rick Fox met John L. Sullivan, a boxing great who offered fifty dollars to anyone who could stay with him for four rounds. Fox had been aware of this Vaudeville hero who had gained fame with his line, "I can lick any sonofabitch in the house."(Cox, 1984) Fox believed Sullivan would be a good athlethe for the National Police Gazette to turn into a hero. Fox approached Sullivan and proposed the idea of a partnership. With choice unprintable words, Sullivan refused.
This episode created the setting for American boxing's first important feud. In this case, as often occurs, competition was good for business. Rick Fox persuaded other good boxers in New York to commit to him as a promoter. With this roster of professionals, boxing became a sport. Nearly exclusive reporting of the fights gave the National Police Gazette a strong readership and a bank account of well over one million dollars.(Sammons, 1986)
Rick Fox became boxing's first major promoter. Boxing was a relatively simple organization, until the arrival of an electric media. Three entities were involved in every fight. The boxers, each of whom seriously believed he could beat the other, were brought together by a promoter. The third party involved was the gym. Generally, only the winner received prize money with a standard side bet between the two fighters. (Berger,1989) The promoter had almost a complete hold on the fight. All selling of the fight--tickets, publicity, bets, and bids went to the promoter. The bids came from a gym that wanted the publicity and the concessions. The winning boxer received a percentage and a prize given by the promoter.
Fox wanted revenge against Sullivan, not only because of Sullivan's ugly refusal to commit to Fox, but also because of Sullivan's continued public degradation of Fox. Fox needed to get Sullivan to fight, but Sullivan repeatedly refused. Fox then set a precedent by instituting the prize of a championship belt. In 1892, Fox gave his best fighter, Jake Kilrain, a solid gold belt studded with over 500 diamonds appraised at over ten thousand dollars. Pressured by both his fans begging him to fight and by Fox blasting him in the Gazette, Sullivan agreed to compete in the first American boxing title fight.
Sullivan won the bout, and this victory led to the standard fight system. Around Sullivan's retirement in 1896, boxing strived to be a sport more acceptable to the entire nation. More men entered the boxing arena seeking fame or lucrative prize money. As boxing became more popular, many laws on the various states' books were challenged. Since fights occasionally ended in the loss of life, prizefighting had been categorized in most American law books as attempted murder or as equivalent to a duel. (Sammons, 1986) Due to Fox's promotion, boxing was legalized in 1896 in New York. (Oates, 1987)
This legal status lasted until 1900, when fights began to be thrown. In 1902, boxing matches were legalized but only in private clubs. This status remained until 1906 when two untimely deaths led to a total ban of boxing in New York. Fortunately, during the ten year probationary period between 1896 and 1906 in New York, fights had moved out West where they sometimes, depending on the area, gained acceptance and generally were allowed.
At the time of Western expansion, boxing's organizations were simple but not uniform. The massive number of boxing groups and promoters demanded consistent regulations. Until the 1930's, neither an official federation nor state boxing federations govern the sport. Agents, managers, promoters, and trainers were in abundance. Each promoter had his own title fight, and each made money selling the fights of those who challenged for the belt.
As noted above, the promoter owned the fight. He rented the space and promoted the event. The rented gym received payment, publicity, some of the concession money, and sometimes a part of the bets.(Lodz, 1982) Depending on the fight, the winner would receive thirty to forty-five percent of the gate, plus a flat bonus. The loser received anywhere from nothing to a quarter of the gate proceeds. The boxer's manager would receive from twenty-five to sixty-five percent of the boxers' purse.
Although boxing continued to gain popularity in the 1900's, it nevertheless had a severe image problem. Due to a history of barbarism, many people believed the sport to be grotesque. In addition, boxing was legal in some states, semi-legal in others, and outright illegal in some states.
Boxing attempted to promote itself to the common man and to become less barbaric. However, it did not lobby to become legal in all states. Furthermore, it still lacked a unified national governing body.
By the thirties, boxing had changed again. Gloves were required to protect the boxer's knuckles and his opponent's face. A referee was installed in the 'teens.(Sammons, 1986) Weight classes were also instituted during this period. After all, it was hardly fair for a two-hundred pound warrior to fight a one hundred-eight pounder. More weight classes, including fly weight, bantam weight, welter weight and middle weight, were developed by the 1920's.
The economic distribution of fight proceeds had to be changed by the 1920's. The payment no longer could be based on a win or lose basis, because this could be construed as gambling. Instead this was avoided with the ranking process. In order to move up, and to eventually try for the belt, a Challenger had to challenge a Champion. The Challenger received eight to twenty percent of the gate, while the Champion received twenty to forty percent. The winner would become a higher champion, and lower rated boxers would presumably soon challenge them. Fair fights were not only encouraged but enforced. The referee could stop a blowout if he saw fit. However, even with boxing's new found "civilization," it was still lacking a centralized governing body.
Presently, boxing is a much more civilized sport. Recognizing its brutality, boxing officials have tried to tame it as much as possible. Technical knockouts, obligatory eight counts, pre-fight examinations, and ringside medical services preclude unlimited barbarism. Play does not go on until one falls for the count. Now a set number of rounds are established. Rarely is a fight set to go more than a maximum of twelve rounds. Hits are only allowed to be thrown in certain manners. Rabbit punching, slapping, punching below-the-belt, and other rule violations are severely penalized. Drug testing is mandatory.
While boxing is now a more sophisticated sport, and its rules are thoroughly propagated, several legal organizational problems remain. With the flooding of promoters, since the 1960's councils have been born imitating those of other sports. The WBF, WBO, IBF, IBA, ABA, and the WBA all have various rules and limitations but are unable to control scandalous behavior. By comparison, only one governing body, such as the PGA, the international soccer federation, and the international hockey board exist for other sports. In sports with a centralized governing board, participants can be banned for illegal activities.
Boxing tends to be lenient towards convicted felons. Pete Rose, Willie Mays, and Mickey Mantle were punished severely for participation in gambling. In football, Brian Blades was heavily disciplined by the NFL for the shooting death of his cousin, even though he was later acquitted. Gambling in boxing is more prevalent because the majority of the fights do take place in Atlantic City or Las Vegas.(Thomas, 1992) In boxing two leading figures, Don King and Mike Tyson, have been arrested for intentional manslaughter and rape, but neither man was penalized by any of the national or international boxing federations. Penalties are left up to local boxing councils to administer, although they have little or no power. For example, Buster Mathis was set to fight Mike Tyson in Atlantic City. The New Jersey Boxing Commission forbade the fight due to Don King's manslaughter charge. King picked up the fight and moved it to Philadelphia.
One of the major remaining problems of boxing is its tainted image. Since Mohammed Ali, all but one of the heavyweight champions, Buster Douglas, have been under contract with Don King. The distribution of funds is essentially unchanged since the thirties, but the dollar amounts have increased exponentially. Most fights appear in large arenas or in casinos. With pay-per-view television and post-fight endorsements, an average televised heavyweight fight can generate upwards of twenty million to the winner and five million to the loser. With Don King usually owning both the winner and the loser, he is making the majority of the money in the sport.(JET, 1993)
Notwithstanding the federal charges and large connections to the Mafia (Putnam, 1992), questionable motives still prevail throughout the game. These have occurred more often in the sport since King has come into dominance.
In order for a boxer to be in contention, a mere winning record is not sufficient. A boxer must have a won-loss ratio of approximately twenty to one. This is not as big a problem as it may appear. The Ring, a monthly magazine that lists the ranking of professional boxers, includes some who are one named boxers like Johnny D. (1-25). These men, known as "opponents," "stiffs," or "bums," have records that account for well known boxers' records. These "stiffs" pyramid to make a champ. Looking at the Tyson-McNeely fight shows Tyson with a record of forty-one wins and one loss, whereas McNeely boasts a record of twenty and zero. On paper, not knowing whom they had fought, it would appear to be an even fight. Instead, the line on the game was forty-four to one, in Tyson's favor.(Madden, 1995) This was due to the fact McNeely had fought a bunch of "bums," which made him a fourth level opponent. First level consists of total losers, who have easily lost at least fifteen in a row. Second levels have won five fights; third level has won ten; and fourth level has won in excess of twenty straight. After a boxer makes the fourth level he fights against ranked contenders. If he wins, he becomes a contender.
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This entire system is flawed. If a "stiff" is fought to fatten a newcomer's record (a common practice), the fight is little more than a paid sparring match. The purpose of sports is to see two parties fight in their particular arena on an even playing surface, both trying to win. If the winner had been predetermined in any other true sport before the event, all involved would at least be suspended, penalized, or even charged with fraud. In boxing, no one is empowered to declare that a match is fixed.
Another reason exists why boxing promoters would want to fix a fight. If a sport is going to be a blowout with one obvious and constant winner, its attendance declines. This was true in baseball when the Yankees could kill any other team. When this unbeatable team broke up, interest around the country increased for other teams. The same can be said with the Celtics reign in basketball. In boxing, when more famous all-stars are active, more people watch the games. When the heavyweight crown changes hands quickly, many boxers come into the public eye and become heroes. Fights with public heroes like Evander Hollyfield, Mike Tyson, and George Foreman demand public interest and make future all-stars out of their opponents.
Centering a sport around a few heroes could lead to a problem. If one boxer could eliminate the competition, then little interest would remain in the game. This supposition was proved when Mike Tyson was jailed. According to most people, this boxer who was behind bars from 1991 to 1994, had dominated the sport.(Brown, 1995) Since the bout in which Mike Tyson had defeated former world heavyweight champion Michael Spinks in under two minutes, Tyson had demolished all but one of his opponents, and that was a questionable fight with Buster Douglas. When Tyson was in jail, boxing received much more attention since no heavyweight champion won even four consecutive contests. Although this is mere speculation, it does seem curious that Tyson was removed from the public for three years due to a crime nearly impossible to prove. He even got Alan Dershowitz to represent him, who had been successful in defending many other apparently guilty parties, to represent him.(Leonard, 1993) It is intriguing as well as disturbing to suggest that with Don King's shady past, certain powerful figures may have been capable of influencing a judicial decision.
Modern boxing certainly is recognized as a legitimate sport. However, to improve its reputation, boxing needs to be overhauled. Examples such as legal fights that cannot be considered sporting events, large connections to the mob, and being equated with gambling, all show boxing to be a sport that can be and is easily exploited. So many quasi-legal areas of the sport remain that unless it is reformed, boxing will never receive the respect given to an honest sport.
