By It’s interesting that all three of the articles I have written for The Tattler have had to do with boxing in some way or another. I understand that you’re most likely getting INCREDIBLY bored with me at this point, but please, hear me out on this one, and I promise I’ll write about some other sport next time, like squash (shout-out to Mohamed El Shorbagy).
So why isn’t boxing a school sport? Well, the main reason seems almost painfully obvious. Boxing is a pretty dangerous activity. The idea of sending students into a ring to hit each other as hard as they can until one of them quits or the final bell rings does not seem like a “safe activity” to most people. The image of two bright high schoolers with lots of potential standing in the middle of a ring and essentially pretending to be Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots is one that many parents hope to never see. And to many people, that’s all boxing is: a barbaric, nonsensical, brutal sport reserved for boneheads, freaks, and people with violent tendencies. I remember telling someone that I had a fight scheduled and she responded in a passive-aggressive manner, saying, “Oh, that’s cool. I didn’t know you liked to beat people up.”
But that’s not what boxing is. Saying boxing is just two people punching each other is like saying basketball is just ten people trying to stick a ball in a metal hole that’s really high up, or that baseball is just hitting a small ball with a wooden stick as hard and as far as you can, or that chemistry is just pouring things in a test tube to see what explodes (shout-out to Tuori and Gefell). Yes, the overarching goal of boxing is to hit your opponent, but it runs deeper than that. Footwork, head movement, framing, combinations, and shot selection are all on the list of complex techniques one must learn and master before they can truly call themselves a boxer. Sure, you can slip on a pair of Everlast 12 oz gloves and try and reenact that one move you saw in Captain America, but that’s like getting a birdie in Wii Golf and calling yourself a golfer. Nah.
Okay, but that still doesn’t change the fact that boxing is a contact sport, and serious injuries do happen. Just do a quick image search of “boxing injuries” and you’ll find a plethora of black eyes, hematomas, broken noses, and cuts. So how do we prevent that? Well, professional boxing fights usually use 8 oz or 10 oz gloves, which are pretty darn thin. They can do a lot of damage, especially after 10 three-minute rounds, which is the standard length of fights. But that’s pro boxing. In amateur boxing, like in the Olympics, the rules are quite different. For example, amateur boxers are typically required to wear headgear and mouthpieces, and use 16 oz gloves (the 2016 Rio Olympics was the first Olympic Games to not require headgear when boxing). This really limits the amount of damage amateur fighters take during competition. If you were to get hit with an 8 oz glove, chances are you’d be able to feel the individual knuckles of your opponent, whereas boxing using 16 oz gloves is essentially a really serious pillow fight. Additionally, amateur boxing fights typically only last for about three three-minute rounds, although it can vary. I have personally kickboxed under these same rules. I used 16 oz gloves, wore headgear and thick shin guards, and fought for three two-minute rounds. I got caught with a couple good shots, but at the end of the night, I walked away with naught but a slight nosebleed and a twisted ankle. Even the amateur kickboxers weighing 200+ pounds had few injuries to speak of. That’s because these amateur rules are specifically designed to allow kids and teens to compete without taking too much damage or punishment.
That still might be too dangerous for some people, so let me ask you this. What about football? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trashing football—I think football’s a great sport—but isn’t football known for its association with concussions and brain damage? According to CNN, between 2012 and 2015, there were 967 diagnosed concussions in the NFL. There was even a class-action lawsuit on August 29, 2013, demanding that the NFL pay $765 million to cover all sorts of concussion-related compensation and medical fees to retired NFL players who had been affected by severe head trauma. A study done by the National Academy of Medicine in 2013 showed that high-school football players are almost twice as likely to sustain a concussion as are any other high-school athletes. Concussions have been and still are a glaring issue with football. In some ways, football is more dangerous than boxing, but it has been a varsity sport for years. Just this year, members of our football team such as Teddy Galanthay ’17 and Turner DePalma ’17 have sustained serious, season-ending injuries. So I ask you again, is boxing really that much more dangerous than other school sports?
There are definitely other issues and obstacles that prevent boxing from being a school sport, such as funding, trying to find coaching staff, and trying to find willing participants, but these issues can all be sorted with some time and patience. To wrap up, let me give you guys a personal story. I ran for IHS Cross Country my freshman and sophomore years, and I have to say that it was quite a radical time. Obviously, the running part was not quite fun (running is mad hard y’all; just ask anyone still on the Cross Country team like Jeremy Coyle ’17), but hanging out with a great group of people, having an astounding coach, and eating free bagels on Saturdays more than made up for it. I had a lot of fun as a student athlete, but after my sophomore season, I realized the running part really wasn’t for me. I didn’t have a passion for it. I was determined to improve and succeed, but I wasn’t determined to put in the work required to be where I wanted to be. It was hard for me to call it quits, but I knew that it wasn’t going to work out. I still want to represent my school and give back because IHS has really done a lot for me. I want to walk out wearing red and gold shorts. I want to have a senior night. I want to meet other students who also have an interest in boxing. I want to hold up a state title for IHS and add it to the collection. It all sounds selfish, but just think of other students yet to enter our great school who might want the same thing. I’m not saying we have to institute a varsity boxing program immediately and have everything ready by next year, but I’d really like to see this idea given some thought.