The book of Ecclesiastes states, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven?” Surely this does not exclude boxing which has “a time to weep and a time to laugh” and “a time for war and a time for peace.”
A time to weep and a time to laugh
Oscar De la Hoya-Shane Mosley: Oscar “wept”, Shane “laughed”. Shane Mosley – Vernon Forrest: Shane “wept”, Vernon “laughed”. Vernon Forrest-Ricardo Mayorga: Vernon “wept”, Ricardo “laughed”. Ricardo-Mayorga-Cory Spinks: Ricardo “wept”, Cory “laughed”.
And so on. After a fight, one sulks while the other exults.
Diego Corrales was furious when his fight with Floyd Mayweather, JR. was stopped. Although he had been hitting the deck and looked beaten, he felt he could still go on with the fight. Floyd rejoiced, having established himself as the undisputed king of the junior lightweights and listed as one of the 10 best pound-for-pound fighters.
Floyd has yet to weep. Roy Jones, JR. “wept” after his rematch with Antonio Tarver. Roy first wept in the 1988 Olympics in South Korea. He had since then been “laughing” up until Tarver I.
Sometimes the winner may also feel sorry for the loser. Larry Holmes was not all that happy in stopping an aging Muhammad Ali to successfully defend his title. He declared he loved Ali. Ali’s response: “Then why did you ‘whup’ me?”
The fight with Juan Manuel Marquez having been declared a draw, Manny Pacquiao wept. He thought he had done enough to win. He felt sorry for his failure to finish off Marquez after knocking him down thrice in the first round, letting his countrymen and fans worldwide down. The reason for the frustration was confirmed when the judge who scored the fight a draw admitted that he erred in his scoring of the first round. A denied win is a time to weep.
A time for war and a time for peace
Unlike in a track relay where one runner willingly hands over the baton to the next runner, the would be successor to a boxing glory has to fight a war against the present holder-defender. One has to knock the crown off the head of the present king. It is war!
As in all other great fights, the Pacman-JMM fight was a classic war. They were battling for recognition as the best featherweight at the moment. When the “dust” of the fighting settled, their aching bodies and swollen faces tell all what a furious war it was that they fought.
The contrasts are the sights of Manny and Juan Manuel together before and after the fight. They had mutual respect for each other. No pre-fight trash talk by one against the other to draw fights fans to the fight. Only expressions of how one highly regards the other as a champion. Then they embraced in the post-fight press conference. A time for peace. But not for long.
The fight outcome being unsettled, there is yet another war to settle once and for all the war they have begun and the ongoing “wars” of their respective fight fans in boxing forums. If only to gain “peace” in these forums, Manny and Juan Manuel need to wage another war. Ironic, isn’t it? War to have Peace!
A time to box and a time to stop boxing.
This is not expressly stated in Ecclesiastes. But this is presumed since “there is a time for everything.”
It seems most fighters do not know when it is already time to hang up their gloves. They don’t listen to their bodies and they have to pay the price.
Sugar Ray Leonard thought he still had it at 40 when he fought Hector “Macho” Camacho. He should have known it was already past his time to stop boxing. The loss appears as an unnecessary blemish in an otherwise excellent boxing record and a disservice to his avid followers.
Rocky Marciano knew when to stop. Lennox Lewis likewise. George Foreman doesn’t seem to know he has stopped. Some regulators should tell Riddick Bowe he should not box again to protect his health.
“There is a time for everything?” But how could the fighters know which time is it?
