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Violence in Boxing and Similar Sports

Decent Essays

In 1962, Norman Cousins wrote an essay about the dangers that came with sport of boxing called “Who Killed Benny Paret?”. His essay focused on a match that resulted in the death of a boxer named Benny Paret. The Investigations on Paret's death reflected on many aspects, such as the role of the referee who did not act in time to stop the fight, the doctor's examinations if he was really fit, the opponent who did not stop when Paret did not respond to his punches, and Paret's manager and boxing authorities who were criticized because they gave Paret clearance to fight even though they knew that he had two previous fights in less than six months. Cousins on the other hand, had a different argument, he blamed Paret’s death on the people that attended boxing matches because he agreed with Mark Jacobs, the prize-fight promoter, that people just came to see a man got hurt or knocked out. For Cousins, boxing was just a show of violence and the purpose of the sport was only to entertain the crowd. And as I looked at the growth of violence sports, which had been growing rapidly over the years, I agreed with Cousins argument that people just saw violence sports as an entertainment. One of the reasons I agreed with Cousins was because people were seeking for an excitement in their lives, and one of many sources to find that excitement was through watching violence sports. When people were watching violence sports, it pumped up their adrenaline, it also provided them with opportunities

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