Discussion » Questions » Sports » Do you consider boxing (pugilism) to be a sport? If not a sport, under what category does it fall, in your opinion? ~
Randy D

Do you consider boxing (pugilism) to be a sport? If not a sport, under what category does it fall, in your opinion? ~

 


Posted - November 28, 2020
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Responses


  • 13277
    It qualifies as a sport since it has rules of engagement and requires athletic training. But since the sole objective is to beat the crap out of the opponent, I find it quite distasteful and disturbing to watch.
      November 28, 2020 6:15 PM MST
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  • 19937
    The only boxer I was able to watch was Mohammed Ali.  His bouts were never overly bloody matches, but as a rule, I don't care for that sport and I like mixed martial arts even less.
      November 28, 2020 9:31 PM MST
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  • 16763
    I take it you never saw the fight with Ken Norton, or the three epic bouts with Joe Frazier? Norton broke Ali's jaw, and the Ali v Frazier fights were bruising affairs that left both combatants battered senseless. There is a high possibility that the head trauma suffered by Ali, particularly late in his career, contributed significantly to the Parkinson's Disease which eventually killed him.
      November 29, 2020 5:18 PM MST
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  • 19937
    No, I didn't see those fights.  I'm not a boxing fan in general.  I just recall seeing some clips here and there on the news.  I personally don't think of beating another person to a pulp as being a sport.  I wouldn't at all be surprised if all those blows contributed to his Parkinson's.  
      November 30, 2020 8:29 AM MST
    1

  • 16763
    Amateur boxing is a sport, particularly in the lighter divisions where KOs are rare. I boxed flyweight, it's almost like a game of tag - the contestants can't put enough weight behind their punches to do any serious damage, so it's about speed and technique. Three rounds and no money on it, so an obviously outmatched boxer will likely get the towel thrown in.
    Professional boxing - longer bouts, the combatants tire. More time for a lapse of concentration, and a potentially lethal blow to land. Pros also tend to hang on too long, or go to the well once too often chasing the big bucks - and end up punchy, or blind, or both.
      November 29, 2020 12:20 AM MST
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  • 53504

     

      So are you stating that pro boxing is or is not a sport?
    ~

      November 29, 2020 2:26 PM MST
    0

  • 16763
    It's still a sport, but professional boxing is so corrupt that you can't call it a fair sport. It's brutal, dangerous and more than a few fighters get toasted by their promoters. Case in point, Australian Jeff Fenech, whose first fight with Azumah Nelson was obviously a fix - Blind Freddy would have called that one for the "Marrickville Mauler" but the promoter leaned on the judges to score it a draw to ensure a rematch. Fenech's hand was broken early in the second fight, rendering him incapable of punching properly or adequately defending himself.
      November 29, 2020 5:24 PM MST
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  • 53504

     

      Thank you for the detailed analysis. I’m merely asking whether or not respondents consider it to be a sport. As for the fairness of it or lack thereof, that is a separate issue.
    ~

      November 29, 2020 8:31 PM MST
    0

  • 17592
    Mental Illness
      November 29, 2020 11:02 AM MST
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  • 34251
    Boxing is a sport.
      November 29, 2020 11:08 AM MST
    3

  • 11102
    I think it is a sport because being active in sport's can help kids stay out of trouble and boxing  does that. Cheers!
      November 29, 2020 1:05 PM MST
    1

  • 53504

     

      (sport’s sports)

      November 29, 2020 2:27 PM MST
    1

  • 11102
    What do you want for nothing? A rubber biscuuit.?  I added a good point to a question and your answer is to pick out a little mistake so that will be the last time I bother to reply to any of your questions.
      November 29, 2020 4:38 PM MST
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  • 53504

     

      (biscuuit biscuit)

      November 29, 2020 8:28 PM MST
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  • 11102
    Tom  Petty?
      November 29, 2020 8:59 PM MST
    0

  • 4624
    I agree with Stu's answer.

    Slartibarfast's insider perspective is fascinating.

    I've sometimes briefly watched out of curiosity but it turns me off.

    Thriftymaid's right that it's mad.
    Why would anyone want to risk so many concussions that they're doomed to an early dementia?

    It seems to me that boys (and some girls) love to play-fight like puppies,
    and some grown-ups never grow out of it.


      November 30, 2020 8:43 AM MST
    1

  • 3719
    It is a sport in being a physical contest between nominally-matched "players", to a set of rules, until one wins in a specified way.

    I have never liked it though, and I wonder if it has much future. After all, others such as rugby and football are being looked at very carefully and critically for the litany of players left permanently damaged by blows to the head; some by accidents in play, some by long-term ball-headings.

    The difference being of course that football, and most sports generally, do not set out to injure anyone.

    Boxing is the only sport whose only point is deliberately to batter your opponent until he can't batter you any longer, or even can't get up.   

    The corruption is another matter.
      December 20, 2020 12:05 PM MST
    0