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Wednesday, June 30, 1999

The time and the place for federal involvement in people's lives

By BART WRIGHT
Sports Editor

The most politically incorrect idea of the decade is finally beginning to rev up its engines in Washington, D.C.
   With just a smidgen of rational thought by congress, there's a chance it could gain traction before the end of the year.
   Federal intervention - an idea whose time has come.
   In terms of the future of boxing, it is also the best idea, not in this decade, but since the first champion punched out the first tomato can for profit.
   Imagine in this bumper-sticker era of loathing government and all it represents that people with brains and jobs are considering a new layer of federal intrusion.
   I'm not saying boxing needs to be immediately reformed with tough laws and fair standards. By the end of the week would be fine.
   A boxing promoter was in congress Tuesday suggesting to a House Commerce subcommittee - get this - "There is a few bad seeds out there that give all of us a bad reputation."
   A closer inspection of audio tape from the subcommittee hearings might have revealed what the promoter actually said:
   "Dere's dese guys out dere who're holding dese boxuhs up, dey lie to 'em, dey make promises dey can't keep - dese guys'll say anything - den dey steal duh prize money and tell 'em de'll get dere money after da next fight, see.
   "I'm tellin' ya dese guys are making us all look bad and sumptins gotta be done about it."
   You imagine the elected officials with gap-jawed stares, shocked to hear that corruption is rampant at the promotional level of boxing.
   Then you imagine them recalling the farce that was the Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield fight and wondering if maybe this guy might be on to something.
   Say what you will about needless governmental bureaucracy and inefficiency. We all know it's there and has been running pretty much unchecked for longer than we care to even consider.
   There are still some areas here in the Fruited Plain that desperately need government help.
   The boxing industry in this country has been a ringing tribute for all that can go wrong with unchecked private commerce.
   The rules change from state-to-state, sometimes from town-to-town within a state. For a couple hundred bucks, you can get knocked out in one state on Tuesday and in another on Saturday.
   Show up on time and look to be in good shape and you can get yourself a reservation on Queer Street 10 or 20 times a year.
   The more talent you once displayed, the more you can make while they hammer your brain into oatmeal. The more willing you are to cash in all your yesterdays, the more likely you are to be fleeced of all your tomorrows.
   You could have asked Jerry Quarry for details, but even before his premature death, he wouldn't have been able to enunciate a response.
   Quarry fought them all, from Ali on down in what was at one time a distinguished career. But when he went over the hill, when the head had been mushed one too many times, there was no one there to tell Quarry he'd had enough.
   He died a pitiful, embarrassing death, victimized by the sport that sucked out of him everything that made him human.
   Boxing has a place on the sporting calendar.
   Those of us who care about it consider it to be the first and the last sport, the most elemental contest between two athletes.
   There's a safety zone in boxing, a place people go to stay in condition, to spar with protective headgear and feel that rush of fear and adrenaline. There's a place in boxing for young kids to learn some things about self-defense and respect.
   There should be no place in boxing for promoters to set their own rules and feed off the athletes.
   More than any other sport, this is the one that demands a national governing body, rules that apply in all states, a computerized records system, detailed medical checks and the rest.
   And this is the one sport farther away from those things than all the other sports.
   This is one place where government can get involved and actually help make things better. The one place where governmental exclusion can only dig the wounds deeper.
   You just hope congress is listening this time.

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