Boxing fans are a different breed, cut from a different cloth. When all is said and done, it’s legalized violence. It requires us to enjoy something most people strive to avoid, hand-to-hand combat. Boxing challenges us to face the natural instinct of fight or flight. There was a great dialogue in the movie ‘Million Dollar Baby’ from Morgan Freeman where he said (and I paraphrase) that everything in boxing is backwards. To go left you have to go right; when most people try to get away from the pain, you have to go towards it. But as all boxing fans know, it’s more than just savagery. It’s more than just two gladiators pummeling one another into submission. Boxing is an art, The Sweet Science. It’s a thinking man’s game, where how well you can read or adapt to an opponent means just as much as how hard you hit or how fast you are. It’s the combination of muscular strength, testicular fortitude, and sheer will power.
But why do we love it so much? I for one love the individuality. You have no teammates to turn to, no timeouts, no one coming off the bench. It’s you versus him. Who’s better? Who trained harder? Who wants it more? I like that one punch can change an entire fight. Where a man can be out-boxed for 12 rounds and at the very end, land that one home-run punch. I like watching the greats when they are truly at the top of their game, adjusting to their opponent, using his strengths against him, and showing how a fight can be more like a chess match then a display of violence. I like the art of the knockout. Watching true KO artists break their opponent down, and create their own opportunities to land that one blow to turn the lights out. I like the inspirational stories of a fighter who brought himself up from nothing, and through hard work and determination made himself world champion. In the end I think it’s different for everybody. I became a boxing fan many years ago from watching Roy Jones Jr. It didn’t take long for me to become a hardcore fan, rarely missing a televised or local live fight. Whatever got you into boxing, we all come together for the same reason. It’s the sport we’ve grown to love so much. And in the end…it’s for the love of the game. - Raymond Vipond
