The last time I went to a live boxing match, I was with my father. I couldn’t remember how old I was then. I just knew that we were watching one of our neighbors in the ring try to take his opponents head off. The following day, I tried to give it a go with the same neighbor’s son. Thinking that since he had a bad leg, it would affect his other limbs as well. It did not. I ended up having a black eye, and some folks had to separate us as we rolled round and round on a muddy street. Guess who initiated the wrestling match.
Last Sunday, after bringing the SO to the airport, I quickly changed my clothes and rushed to the Araneta Coliseum to watch Gerry Penalosa and the rest of the gang take on the invading boxers. The event was named such– Invasion. There were a lot of boxers from other parts of the planet who came to the Philippines to ply their wares. If you think about it, it wasn’t such a bad deal for them. The guy from Uruguay for example, despite losing his cherry (it was his first loss) to AJ Banal was paid $30K. Not bad for the beating he got.
It’s easy to watch a boxing match on TV and just think of it as another sport. Seeing it live provides a whole new dimension to this pugilistic sport. Sometimes, in the opening bell, you could almost smell the fear that the thought of an impending pain gives to these ring gladiators. But then once they taste their first leather, all these things fly out of the ring. All you see is pure tenacity and agression for these boxers. It’s not hard to see why. Apart from the fact that this is their bread and butter, getting bested by another human being in the most manly of ways is how do I put this… humiliating.
I cannot help but think of the great Hercules when he was about to do battle with another who was then full of wit and clearly with a much developed intellect. The guy wanted to engage Hercules on a war of words, but the hero would have none of it. He said something to the effect that the guy could win the war on words but he will definitely win the fight. And he did. At the end of the day, winning a debate can be satisfying, but much more so is the picture of your raised hand while your opponent lies moaning on the ground bloodied from the battle where you emerged victorious.
One of the ‘invaders’ that showed the most heart during Sunday’s event was the kid from Korea. He was clearly very young having fought only 7 boxing matches, winning them all but 1. He also KO’d three of his opponents en route to winning. Unfortunately for him, he was up against Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales, a vicious fighter if ever there was one. Ciso was only more experienced than the Korean by around 5 bouts, but he was brutal and a very good boxer. The Korean did his best and showed a lot of heart until the referee mercifully ended the match. Ciso had a lump under his right eye, but the Korean was bleeding in a lot of places. The Korean would come out aggressive in the middle rounds but Ciso would come out with his scythe-like jabs and just as easily the cuts, that the Korean’s corner tried to patch up in between rounds, would open up. It was terrible to see blood gushing out from the young Koreans cuts and you could clearly see all these blood covering his face.
Although I was alone in watching the fight, I couldn’t help but shout to the referee that he ask the ring physician to check out the cut. He really should have. It’s the normal thing to do in a boxing match when a fighter is bleeding profusely. But he did more than that. He stopped the fight. And I could only sigh in relief.
I don’t know if I would want to go to another live boxing event again. Somehow, watching a fight on TV dulls the sensation of seeing a fighter being pummelled to submission. The feed and the distance seems to provide some sort of a cushion for our humane instincts, fooling us into thinking that we are only watching a show. But watching a fight live makes you more in touch with your humanity, and truly, compassion, however buried it may be by all the callousness that you’ve experienced in life, rises up to the surface and makes you afraid for your fellow man.
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