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THE SMART GIRL'S GUIDE TO SPORTS An Essential Handbook for Women Who Don't Know a Slam Dunk from a Grand Slam by Liz Hartman Musiker Plume July 2008 $15.00/paperback ISBN: 978-0452289505 Back to book information Printer-friendly page

The Sound: Pow!
The Look: Bare-chested men in amazing shape wearing shorts and oversized gloves.
The Place: Boxing rings (raised, square platforms with ropes around the perimeter) in venues ranging from local gyms to Las Vegas hotels to Madison Square Gardens.
The Organization: World Boxing Association (WBA), the World Boxing Council (WBC), the International Boxing Federation (IBF).*

The first thing you need to know about boxing is that it is the only "sport" in which the goal, the game if you will, is to cause harm to your opponent. The target for injury is the head — specifically, the brain — and the ultimate goal is to knock your opponent out. The next thing you should know about boxing is that it is the only major U.S. professional sport without a central regulatory authority. Professional football is governed by the NFL, baseball by the MLB, hockey by the NHL, and so on. Even Little League baseball has a governing body — Little League International Baseball and Softball, based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. But with boxing, we have a sport where the contenders are trying to knock each other out — to beat the bloody crap out of each other, really — and it's not regulated closely. A little creepy, no?

Boxing lives in a netherworld of shady characters and unsavory goings-on. In an article in USA Today John Sacareno called boxing "the illegitimate child of professional sports," but then goes on to address readers by saying, "Admit it. You kind of like that boxing walks on the wrong side of the street and hangs out under a lamppost. It's unpredictable, dangerous, sexy. That is part of its enduring appeal - even for highly educated people."

While, I must admit that I, personally, have a hard time finding anything sexy about 10,000 pounds of force to the head, about faces pummeled to resemble smashed fruit, and about sleazebag promoters exploiting boxers to their own advantage, many, many people feel differently… While I have little admiration for the sport, I do admire the champions (most of them, anyway) that it has produced. Their athleticism, courage, dedication to their sport, and competitiveness is impressive, to say the least….

*There are others but these are the predominant organizations.