SPECTATOR SPORT
Shame is the name
Simon Barnes
I PICKED up the papers on Monday morn- ing to learn that boxing had been 'shamed'. This was not the first time I had read such a thing. Perhaps, I mused, the words 'Box- ing's night of shame' should be set up as a 'stock block'. But you would have needed to use it twice on Monday morning. Boxing had a night of shame on Saturday and then it got up, dusted itself down and had anoth- er night of shame on Sunday.
The first involved that objectionable little eejit, 'Prince' Naseem. In a bout against Cesar Soto, Naseem changed disciplines and Performed a wrestling throw, body-slam- ming his opponent to the canvas, winding him and leaving him disorientated by the fall and the unorthodox nature of the assault.
In my view, Naseem violated the rules of boxing. If a tougher referee had been in charge, he would have been disqualified. However, the matter was glossed over and the big money circus rolls on. Next big box- office event scheduled for February.
The following night Mike Tyson was at it again. It was a surprisingly commonplace Infringement this time; Tyson seems to have lost something of his gift for originali- ty. His most famous crime committed in the boxing ring was, of course, his double biting of the ears of Evander Holyfield. In his previous fight he had seized his oppo- nent in an arm-lock and, according to the aggrieved Francois Botha, attempted to break his arm.
This time Tyson fell back on cliché for once and whacked his opponent, Orlin Norris, after the bell had gone. The punch was a beauty, one that recalled the young Tyson at his most ferocious. But it was late and deliberate and, some said, looked like the action of a man beyond his own control. By the laws of boxing he should have been disqualified but, of course, he wasn't. His opponent was unable to continue and the bout was abandoned as a no-contest.
The biggest night of shame in recent months was the bout between Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, which was scored as a draw despite Lewis's apparent superiority. Lewis has at least profited from his misfor- tune: American Express took him on for their high-profile 'Robbed in America' advertising campaign.
Boxing writers at this point start wringing their hands and wondering just how long boxing can continue as a serious sport, now that once again it has been shamed. It can continue, so far as I can see, quite indefi- nitely. This is partly because boxing is nei- ther serious nor a sport, and, more impor- tantly, because shame, far from being an unattractive and occasional problem in boxing, is in fact the life-blood and heart and soul of the game.
These nights of shame are an essential part of the package. The raw, the seamy, the untamed nature of the sport is what makes it irresistible to its audience. If boxing were cleaned up, its bouts more fair, the behaviour of boxers and their connections impeccable, the matches based on sporting prowess rather than box-office appeal, the rival gov- erning bodies unified and the whole business conducted with dignity, good sense and Corinthian sporting standards, then the sport could not survive for five minutes. Of course boxing was shamed — what else do people pay good money for?
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