Friday Night Fights

The first thing I 'd like to discuss is how these sports structure their fights. Both boxing and MMA are scored using a ten-point must system. This

In Joyce Carol Oates’, The Cruelest Sport, she argues that boxing is a cruel and savage sport and that it should not be practiced or even considered a sport. The title of this work The Cruelest sport leads to the questions: Why is it the cruelest sport? Is it because of the physical injuries? Or is it because of the corruption? Oates argues that because the ultimate goal of boxing is to injury someone, it is a barbaric sport. Boxing is the only sport where two men climb into a ring and fight each other like animals. Boxing is harmful because of the injuries, wounds, and deaths that occur during every fight. Victory is usually when one of the fighters is knocked out. Victory is usually achieved when one fighter is unconscious. Boxers fight

Millions of people worldwide take part as spectators to the sport of prize fighting: better known as boxing. In a 1962 essay entitled “Who Killed Benny Paret?” the author, Norman Cousins, writes about the dangers that come with the sport of boxing. He especially talks about a match that resulted in the death of a boxer named Benny Paret. Cousins argues that boxing is just a show of violence and that boxers put themselves in the ring just for the simple purpose of entertaining a crowd. Even though investigations reflect the role of the referee, Paret’s manager, and the doctor’s examinations as the main cause of Paret’s death, Cousins blames Paret’s death on the people that attends boxing matches to see a man get hurt or knockout because he

Boxing in the 1960’s was ruled by one athlete, that was Muhammad Ali. He was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky (Owens 21). “Ali created one of the most controversial, personalities in the world of boxing” (Owens 7).

  The first aspect of an epic story that the movie demonstrates is with the other characters that Rocky interacts with. One of the first characters we see is Apollo Creed, Rocky’s training partner and one his best friends. Apollo is a retired boxer who still fights with Rocky but he comes out of retirement when a Russain announces his entrance in American boxing. An important characteristic worth noting here is how Apollo died. Apollo’s last name is Creed which is strikingly similar to the word greed. It’s apparent that Apollo has died because of how greedy he was, in wanted to prove to himself that he was still a good boxer even though he hadn’t fought in years. A different character that

Boxing is not limited to any specific country, nor does it follow any simple league structure. Both professional and amateur boxing exists, and there are many weight divisions in each format. Most of the big money is wagering on title fights, particularly in the heavyweight division. Boxing is also an Olympic Games sport, and just recently it was agreed that professional boxers (as opposed to the traditional amateur

amounts of money presented major obstacles, Jack Johnson tells the story himself in his autobiography “My Life and Battles,” finally moved up in rankings and eventually became the Colored Heavyweight champion in 1903, by defeating “Denver” Ed Martin February 3, 1903. (Jack Johnson 36-38, Roberts 28-29). Meanwhile, the heavyweight champion at this time was James Jeffries, who would continue the racist tradition of keeping the title within the White race by refusing to fight any boxer of color. (Roberts 17-19). Subsequent white champions also drew the color line, until after more than three years of stalking the new champion Tommy Burns around the world, Johnson finally received his opportunity to capture the Heavyweight crown. (Johnson 68). Memorable and historic, on December 26, 1908 Johnson easily pummeled Burns, mercifully the fight was stopped in the fourteenth round by policemen, and the filming of the fight was ordered to be stopped fearful of exposing the myth of White supremacy throughout the globe. (Runstedtler 56-62). Of larger concern that the film would encourage the Black community to seek equality in other societal matters the government banned the transport of fight films across state lines. The impetus to censure Johnson’s victory led to a government regulation of the content of all films as noted in the article, Fighting films: race, morality, and the governing of cinema, 1912-1915. (Lee Grieveson, Farr131-34). Triumphal, Jack Johnson had enduringly achieved

Boxing, an official sanctioned sport in the early 20th century, is a sport that is known as one of the most violent and physically demanding sports on the earth. Professional boxers that get paid to fight must be in top shape in order to preform at the highest level. Being a professional boxer is a tough life. Boxers train hard for many months leading up to one fight and either win, lose, knock out the opponent or even get knocked out. The sport has been around for centuries, but has most recently taken off over the last 100 years. It is a multibillion dollar industry with fighters taking home hundreds of thousands of dollars if not even millions of dollars for big matches. In his novel Papa Jack, Roberts tells the story of the famous African American boxer Jack Johnson. He details the boxers rise to fame and fortune and his downward spiral that would soon follow. In Papa Jack, Roberts displays life of a professional boxer through firsthand accounts with events that happened during Johnson’s life and shows how boxing not only influenced his life but also how he influenced the African American community.

Boxing - a violent cage fight, or a crowd pleasing sport? Boxing is a high intensified sport that can be seen as helping the fighter in life or permanently damaging the fighters future. Many say that boxing is one of the safest sports; however, boxing can leave permanent brain damage from constant punches to the skull. The sport boxing is for managers to earn money while their fighter is in the ring fighting against another human until one gives up, or gets knocked out. A fight could be the end of one’s career, or even one’s life. Boxing should be banned because the money earned does not trump the risk of death, the mixed messages from fighters in the ring confuse the laws regarding assault, and the constant punches to and athletes head leaves permanent damage.

Elliott J. Gorn’s The Manly Art is a unique book that tells readers the origins of boxing in American culture. The book was published in 1986 by Cornell University Press, the book discussed the development of boxing and American society. Gorn takes sport history, a commonly misunderstood and misinterpreted topic and wrote a book that not only was easy to read but allowed readers to gain knowledge on the sport. Gorn says “To understand prize fighting, I have discovered, is necessarily to understand something about nineteenth-century America. Ideology, ethnicity, social class formation, violence, urbanization, gender roles, religious world views, productive relationships, all are a part of sports history in general and boxing in particular.” (Gorn, pg. 12)

Sylvester Stallone, born to sever poverty, after seeing a heavyweight boxing fight, dreams up the idea for Rocky. The story of an underdog who gets a shot at the title. The conflict not being able to film the story with himself, playing the

directs, and stars in this war between nations in which the only battle is fought in a boxing ring. Rocky must defend his honor,

It is well known that boxing is a dangerous and violent sport, as the main concept of the sport is to knock out the opponent. Many boxers have been seriously injured or even died because of boxing. Many people believe the sport should be banned because of the violent and dangerous nature. However, there are others who believe that the sport could be made safer and will have no need to be banned.

Napoleon’s and Illya’s fighting style is a blend between traditional boxing and Judo. Known for mostly using punches and evasive footwork instead of an emphasis on kicking, boxing has evolved dramatically over history. Historians have found evidence that the earliest form of boxing was created in 4000 BCE in North Africa, spreading to Greece and Rome as a spectator sport. In 1681, boxing was first documented in Britain, and it was in 1743 when there were actual rules to prevent deaths in the sport.

     “Raging Bull” (1980) is not a so much a film about boxing but more of a story about a psychotically jealous, sexually insecure borderline homosexual, caged animal of a man, who encourages pain and suffering in his life as almost a form of reparation. Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece of a film drags you down into the seedy filth stenched world of former middleweight boxing champion Jake “The Bronx Bull” LaMotta. Masterfully he paints the picture of a beast whose sole drive is not boxing but an insatiable obsessive jealously over his wife and his fear of his own underling sexuality. The movie broke new ground with its brutal unadulterated no-holds-bard look at the vicious sport of boxing by bringing the camera