"You
dream of fights like this, but this is more than you could ever dream
of"
"Stop
it Frank, you can stop it at anytime"
"I
am humbled by watching these two guys taking the punishment they are
taking"
These are
just a few memorable quotes from ringside commentators Jim Lampley, Larry
Merchant and the late great Emanuel Steward at Arturo Gatti vs Micky Ward's
first fight. I remember screaming at my television OH MY GOD THIS IS CRAZY!
These guys were beating each other’s brains in and I was loving it. I
remember after the legendary 9th round Arturo’s trainer told him
“I’m not going to let you take this punishment”. He was threatening Gatti with
stopping the fight. I remember screaming NOOO DON’T STOP IT PLEASE!! Arturo
pleaded with Buddy not to stop it and he didn’t. I think at the end of the day
Buddy knew he was witnessing history and there was no way he was truly going to
stop this fight, even at the cost of his fighter potentially suffering life
threatening injuries. Micky Ward’s trainer (also brother) said a couple times
he was on the edge of the ring about to throw the towel in.
Frank
Cappuccino, the referee for the fight was quoted in a recently released
documentary from HBO Legendary Nights: The Tale of Gatti-Ward as saying “I
would have got killed if I would have stopped that fight”.
Had
anyone of these men stopped the fight this wouldn’t have gone down as one of the
best fights in history. There would be no documentary and who knows, as great
as he was, maybe Arturo Gatti doesn’t even get into Canastota’s Boxing hall of
fame.
It’s the
excitement/rush we get through our veins when we watch the brutality in contact
sports. It’s the allure we get watching warriors do something that most of us
could never do. In 2007, Kevin Everett of the Buffalo Bills was paralyzed on the
football field on the opening kickoff after a head to head collision with
another player. How many times watching a football game do we hold our breath and cringe
when we see a vicious hit, but in the same breath we say WHAT A GREAT HIT!
Has the
NFL taken some “necessary” steps to protect its players? Sure, it has moved the
kickoff line up thus preventing most kickoff returns. It has implemented such
rules as “not being able to hit a defenseless receiver”. Two rules that have
football fans and players alike disgusted. I hear it all the time from fans and
the media. We all say the same thing…they are killing the game. In boxing
nowadays fights are being stopped way more quickly than we could have ever
imagined. Even the NBA has gotten soft. I remember growing up watching teams
like the “Bad Boy Pistons” with bully’s like Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Rick
Mahorn. How about the Knicks with Ewing, Oakley, Starks. The Pacers with the
Davis brothers, Ric Smits, and another guy named ummm Reggie Miller. This was a
time in the NBA where teams made it far by being bully’s and wearing down their
opponents. Now if you breath on a guy there are whistles blowing, flags flying
and heavy punishments being handed down.
Some say
its politics, some say its money, but the people putting these rules in place
say its simply to protect the athletes. As a fan we say this is bullshit, but
have we really stopped to examine the facts?
Ex
football player and hall of famer Tony Dorsett was recently part of an Outside
the lines special detailing former football players suffering from chronic
traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. A
degenerative condition caused by head trauma and linked to depression,
aggression and dementia.
Due to
his condition a teary eyed Dorsett says he suffers from depression and has
become aggressive to the point that his daughters are scared of him.
There has
even been suicide cases such as Junior Seau, Paul Oliver, David Duerson (former
NFL players) and even kids like Nathan Stiles, a high school senior who
collapsed at halftime and died or Owen Thomas, a Penn University junior who
hung himself. All were found to have CTE.
As harsh
as this sounds we probably don’t think about the effects and consequences these
sports have on peoples lives because we are being so caught up with being
entertained. And when the powers that be in these sports implement these
“senseless rules” as we call them, we feel like they are ruining the sport just
to protect their financial investments.
I recently watched a classic boxing match with a friend of mine between Mike
Alvarado and Ruslan Provodnikov. Two warriors known for their brawling style.
It was a brutal fight and after the 10th round Alvarado retired on
his stool. Prior to this fight Alvarado’s last 4 fights were absolute brutal
wars. After the fight he was quoted as saying that he had taken enough
punishment and risking his health wasn’t worth it. I remember my friend loving
the fight but heavily criticizing Alvarado for quitting and not finishing the
fight. He said that is not what boxing is about. How could I argue with him, he
was right. My conscious said this was wrong and I felt bad but at the end of
the day who wants to watch a boring fight?
That was
2 weeks ago. Since then Mexican boxer Frankie Leal died as a result of head
trauma in his fight and Magomed Abdusalamov suffered a stroke while in an
induced coma due to his injuries in his fight against Mike Perez. Maybe
Alvarado saved his own life. Maybe one more round could have landed him in ICU
in a coma.
As a fan, I personally think all the rules and penalties implemented in these sports
ruin the game. As a fan, when a fighter quits on the stool I tend to judge as
well. The sad part is that as long as I’m being entertained, everything else
seems irrelevant. Nothing will ever change from a fans perspective but for some
reason I don’t think it’s the same with Dorsetts daughters, Stiles Parents, and
the doctor’s who are currently trying to save Abdusalamov’s life.
