The Art Of Laziness Essay, Research Paper

Fighting the FaultsThe fight of the decade was at hand. The underdog British fighter Lennox Lewis was slowly on his way to the first title unification in almost a decade. Fans were standing on their feet as round after round it seemed certain that “The Real Deal” Evander Holyfield had no more tricks up his sleeve. When the fight came to an end, the crowd gave one last round of applause as the Brit stood up on the turnbuckle, showing that he too knew the night was his. But when this fight of the ages ended in a dubious draw, it prompted more allegations that the sport is rife with dishonesty and corruption. This New York showdown, featuring the best that the heavyweight division can offer, should have been a glorious showdown. Instead it will be remembered as a farce, and orders for a rematch have done little to heal boxing’s battered integrity. But in a sport where controversy is common, was the draw such a surprise? During the past decade fight fans have watched with disappointment as big cards have ended with horrible outcomes. No one dare forget the latest Tyson drama, where an angry “Iron Mike” took his frustrations out on the right ear of Evander Holyfield. A former champion Oliver McCall began crying midmatch after continually refusing to protect himself. Riddick Bowe’s mental and financial breakdown topped the headlines a little less than a year ago. With some of their man figureheads such as Mike Tyson, Oliver McCall, Fernando Vargas, and even Don King himself spending several jail sentences during my lifetime, it seems like boxing today has cowered over it’s former self. To place blame on any one man would seem to be fairly difficult considering the size of professional boxing, but analyst, writers, and even the common fan would probably tell you that the promoter Don King has ruined the sport. This wily, wire-haired boxing promoter always seems to be connected to boxing’s biggest scandals, and his fingerprints would also seem to be all over the Lewis-Holyfield fiasco. Many presume that King paid off the judges in order to get a favorable ruling, assuring him a rematch and possibly twice the purse that the first fight brought in. You would think by King, who has made a career out of dodging the rules and dashing to the bank, is far too sly to attempt such an overt act. But this is the man who supposivly paid off jurors with vacation trips after being found not guilty of tax evasion several years ago.

If you don’t blame the big time promoters of the game, analyst also like to place blame on the sanctioning bodies themselves. Today, there is not a consensus in the boxing industry or among fans who the real champion is. Because there are so many boxing organizations–WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF–many fans are confused about which boxer is the champion of which organization. This confusion has led to fighters “ducking” fights and fighting lesser opponents in hopes of making more money. Then again, the promoters are more concerned with getting a bigger share of the profits than arranging the fight the public wants to see. Through the entire downfall, there always seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Just this past week, the first title unification in 9 years did happen to occur. Arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world, light heavyweight champ Roy Jones Jr. came to an easy win as he now holds all three sanctioned titles. Other promising bouts feature a lesser known featherweight bout featuring British sensation Nassem “the Prince” Hamed and England’s Paul Engle will battle it out for the unification of that title later this year. Easily the fight of the year between Welterweights Felix Trinidad and “Golden Boy” Oscar de la Hoya seems to be on the go within the next few months for yet another unification. Sadly enough the heavyweight division will have to wait until November to see the Rematch between Evander and Lewis. Given that these 3 fights do indeed happen and escape the controversy that seems to plague the sport, it might seem that boxing can start rebuilding its greatness for the new millenium.