Joyce Carol Oates: The Cruelest Sport

Mike Tyson was on top of the world, winning the WBC boxing title in 1986 at age 20 (“Sports”). Although Tyson is acclaimed to be one of the best boxers to ever live, he had a dark side to his character. Much like Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, Tyson was, in a way, was publicly shunned.Something they both share in common is what they were punished for. It could be said both were shunned because of committing adultery. Tyson’s hyper aggressiveness led to many runs-in with the law and being suspended from boxing.

American writer Joyce Carol Oates is an expository writer that provides a successful informative piece about the dangers of boxing. This sport has been shadowed by events that influence athletes to prolong their careers with dangerous intuitions. In “The Cruelest Sport,” Oates implements exposition, narration, modes, and tone to effectively persuade her audience of the threats boxing impose.

Throughout world history people have enjoyed watching two men compete in hand to hand combat. Professional boxing made its debut here in America around the turn of the 20th century. Unlike boxing, mixed martial arts is a relatively new sport. Both sports are very technical and require their fighters to be in superb condition. Many fighters train all their life to make it big, but few ever get there. Although both sports are immensely popular, one stands alone as the dominant sport. In this paper I 'll prove that the sport of MMA is more technical, more exciting, and much safer than boxing.

Boxing had always been around in which its origin started back in Ancient Greece where Greeks found the sport of violence very entertaining (Hirsley par. 17). Despite its huge popularity at that time, it soon died off with the rest of Greece to where it would not be revived until the 1600’s. Medieval Europe played around with the idea of boxing, but it would later perish due to the rise of the Salem Witch Trials (Hirsley par. 18). Boxing would then come back around once more, but only this time being the most effective. The 1920’s eventually came around, and with the rise of entertainment, boxing was born again. It was previously

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

Domestic violence in sports is threatening to affect the integrity of the sporting world in many different dimensions. True sportsmanship is rare to find in the sporting arenas in the US. Domestic violence is one of the most common crimes committed among male athletes. The statement is worrying considering that the violent crime rate in America has been steadily reducing. The issue is indeed a highly divisive one considering that the opinions are many and varied. One of the arguments is that the sportsmen should be viewed solely for their actions on the ground. Domestic issues should not be an issue for these people. However, there needs to be a careful consideration that players are human beings and with that comes the mandate to take care

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.

Gorn goes to discuss the rules and regulations of boxing, stating; “The two athletes settle on a site for the fight. Strip to their shirts, roll their sleeves up…” (Gorn, pg.37) By adding this information and going to such detail as he does; “At the end of the fight the boxers are bruised, disfigured, and covered with blood, which they spit out, vomit out, or drip from the nose.” allows the reader to get a feel for how violent these fights were but also to allow readers to dive into the fight with their feet first. Gorn goes on to discuss more fights and discusses ‘The Great

The Manly Art provides a new and refreshing perspective on life for a man in Early America, especially one of the working class. When discussing the sport of bare-knuckle prize fighting, it is essential to include the violent tendencies, just as Gorn does. He takes the time to explain his appreciation towards prize fighting and its cultural impact; he also explains the barbarous tendencies of the sport. He writes that “as men tripped off their clothes for a prize fight, symbolically, they also stripped of layers of civilization” (p. 90). The monograph likely is not a recreational read for anyone other than researchers, however, Gorn keeps readers captivated with his in-depth recaps of matches. Gorn does a fantastic job of emphasizing

Using the analogy “take a punch on the chin”, Murphy draws attention to the similarities between Adam Goodes and Muhammad Ali, how they were both fighters and held much respect from their fellows and well as their opponents. To further demonstrate the comparison between the two, Murphy utilizes the alliteration “hardest hits” to emphasize the strength and resilience of both Adam Goodes and Muhammad Ali and their unwavering belief in their heritage and culture and how they would always stand up against the emotional hits they would receive. Through this, Murphy is able to point out the similarities between Adam Goodes and a universally acknowledged fighting legend such as Muhammad Ali and get readers part of the booing crowd to view him as a

In 1997, the injury rate predicted in the sport of boxing was 7,257 injuries and 10.8% of those injuries were estimated to have affected people between the ages of five and fourteen. 1.3% of those injuries were predicted to be in the ages between zero and four, and 55.8% of those injuries were in the group of ages from fifteen to twenty-four.( National Electronic Injury Surveillance System et al., Estimates for Sports Injuries 1997) Boxing can be a safe and fun sport as long as it is practiced and played properly. Boxing should not be banned because it can help relieve stress, and like running it is a good addition for getting in shape. It should also not be banned because boxers know the risks and they still choose to do it ; it is their

Furthermore, Guttmann suggests that “Poliakoff’s stipulation that the criteria for determining victory in sports must be “different from those that mark success in everyday life”...one can nevertheless assert that the rules...were sufficiently different from the rules of war...to allow us to distinguish the two forms of combat.” Combat sports in the modern world benefit much greater from this definition, considering the rules of modern warfare don’t hold much for hand-to-hand combat nor fencing or other forms thereof. However, a modern equivalent can possibly be found in Poliakoff’s reasoning in the difference between a martial art and a combat sport, where the move from sparring into competition distanced martial arts from their combat-oriented origins.

For some people its boxing to save their life, and for others its as simple as getting out of bed. Everybody faces different kinds of adversity in their lives and they conquer these in different ways. Some people never face the adversity they are presented with while others can't wait to have it gone. Adversity is the challenges and difficulties people face in their lives. Adversity could be as simple as deciding what you want to eat for lunch, or as complicated as trying to save one’s life. But no matter what level of adversity, it is, you need to find a way to get past it. Some people choose to take a physical approach, such as things like fighting or physically moving something in your way. Other people choose to take a different

Boxing, also known as pugilism, is a very old and famous type of combat sport which was invented few centuries BC. It is an ever-changing sport which develops into different styles through time and it is regarded as one of the most popular and exciting types of sports nowadays. Some people make it their profession and fight for prizes, and money while some enjoy it as a hobby and a way to be physically active and have a healthy lifestyle. As it is a very entertaining kind of sport and it is part of the Olympic Games, the sport has garnered many fans worldwide. A lot of people prefer watching it and following championships and different athletes.