NEVER saw so many macho TV commercials until I watched the Morales-Pacquiao fight of a lifetime last Sunday! Never saw a boxer endorse so many commercial products on one show as Laban Pacman did last Sunday, when the TV spots were interrupted by the bruising battle of champions.
Just as interesting, my eyes were opened to the reality of men being told by a TV commercial, over and over again, to use whitening lotion to improve their looks and attract the girls. You learn something new every day.
What you can’t unlearn, no matter how many times you’ve seen boxers go at each other like fighting cocks inside the arena, is that boxing is a deadly sport. Should it be banned? How is a dedicated, impassioned boxer today different from a dedicated, win-to-survive gladiator during the time of the Caesars?
It’s a very thin line that divides the two. Gladiators were the superstars and superheroes of their time, and they had a short lifespan. Today’s boxers are the superstars and superheroes of their time – Laban Pacman in our time – and even without a Caesar giving him the thumbsdown that would send him off to the Elysian Fields, we know Manny is not going to grow old as an aging boxer.
Champions don’t grow old, they just fade away young.
Boxing is a blood sport, no less, that demands the deliberate and focused pummeling, maiming, or destruction of the opponent. Inside the ring that is a square, the two men who have been trained to go for the kill spar and parry each other’s blows, providing entertainment of blood and pain, while the spectators cheer them on. They want no mercy.
Ban boxing? Where would poor boys go when they’re searching for a future? Aye, and that’s the tragedy.
