The morning after another controversial night of boxing, the sounds are Oh. So. Contentious.
“BOXING IS CORRUPT.”
“WHAT’S A WOMAN DOING JUDGING BOXING, ANYWAYS?”
“ROBBERY!”
And of course, the now proverbial,
boxing fan’s dismissive talk to the hand,
end-game, final remark before hastily walking off, drop the mic, er, child’s tantrum:
“YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT ABOUT BOXING!”
Is this passion? Or is it simply our country’s inability to communicate like civilized folk?
It’s too easy to dismiss this as, “Hey, it’s sports. Fans are passionate.” (Naaaah, no way. Too convenient.)
Truth is, the problem about Saturday night’s score cards is rooted in the subjectivity of the rules. Nothing else.
“LOOK! A SQUIRREL…”
Dealing with loss is a personal one, and in the absence of reason and the ability to communicate, squirrels magically appear. And there are thousands of disgruntled fans looking to chase one.
Adalaide Byrd is today’s golden squirrel. Yet, at the end of the day, the disparity of her scoring card did not affect the result of the fight, and this is lost on many fans. (Speaking of squirrels…before you go and get your hand wraps all-in-a-twist, let me explain…) Two judges scored it within the cone of uncertainty, 114-114 and 115-113 GGG. Furthermore, it is clear Judge Byrd saw the fight in favor of Canelo. So, it would not have made one lick of difference to the final result if she would have scored it 114-114, or, 115-113 Canelo.
If Adalaide Byrd is today’s golden squirrel, then her score card is today’s pink squirrel in the room. When in fact, the only thing that should be in discussion, is boxing’s proverbial scoring pink elephant in the room, and that is:
“Should a judge reward for effective and damaging punches, or reward the busier fighter?”
This should be a relatively easy topic to discuss in a civilized manner. So why isn’t it? Why does every conversation on social media Sunday and Monday morning, regarding the Canelo-GGG fight, sound eerily akin to political Twitter wars on November 9, 2016?
After a fight like the other night, it’s easy to understand why this country’s politics are so divided. One admits to having scored it with a slight edge towards one competitor, yet makes a point to concede that it could easily go either way given the subjectivity of scoring (as is the obligation of a reasonable mind), AAAAAAND, the crazies come out!
Perhaps we need to make a giant push in American education to teach more classes in REASON. Our kids should come out of a free American education being beholden to reason, not emotion. Beholden to agreeable discourse, not to name calling when one doesn’t get their way. If our schools are not pushing REASON, then how do we expect our kids to be able to carry out intelligent discourse about more serious topics upon graduation? What are we sending out into the world if not for well reasoned graduates? Are our high school graduates prepared to discuss real issues like racial inequality and who pays what in taxes?
Perhaps, classrooms across America could replay the Canelo-GGG-Byrd fight to stimulate students’ knee jerk reactions, and then channel their energies in the right direction towards agreeable and reasoned conversations.
Perhaps the replay of the Canelo-GGG-Byrd fight can be used to teach our students that opposing sides actually share a lot in common, so why not start there and then civily figure out exactly what it is they disagree about?
Perhaps the Canelo-GGG-Byrd fight rebroadcast can be used to guide our students into the enlightenment that to agree to disagree is far more favorable to name calling.
Maybe, boxing is life, after all…
~Follow the writer Seis G. on Twitter @SeisGGonzalez or reach him at SeisGGonzalez@gmail.com
