Sport Gets a Black Eye When Old-Timers Put on the Gloves

Announcing the formation of the Senior Boxing Tour.

We don’t expect to draw fans. We don’t expect to interest television. We don’t expect to make money.

This venture is not for the enrichment of boxing. It is for the survival of the boxer.

Three events this week illustrate the need for such a tour:

* Despite the opinion of Arizona Sen. John McCain and boxing officials, the Arizona State Boxing Commission on Friday approved a July 29 fight between Julio Cesar Chavez and World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion Kostya Tszyu. McCain objected to the 37-year-old Chavez’s deteriorating skills and the weight loss he has been forced to undergo.

* Four-time champion Roberto Duran announced that he will fight on June 16, his 49th birthday.

* Former three-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, 37, postponed his June 10 fight against John Ruiz after suffering a rib injury.

The Chavez-Tszyu fight originally was planned for Las Vegas, but, when concerns were voiced by Lorenzo Fertitta of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, promoters pulled out without even going before the commission.

In a letter to Arizona Gov. Jane Hull, McCain wrote “the event would feature a bout that many experienced boxing industry officials believe is an illegitimate and potentially dangerous mismatch.”

Said Greg Sirb of the Assn. of Boxing Commissions, “There is no question that Mr. Chavez was a great champion and poses a Hall of Fame type of record and accomplishments. But today, the facts are that Mr. Chavez is a 37-year-old boxer who, in the past year, has not fought any boxer rated in the top 10 and was defeated by Willy Wise [last October], a boxer not even rated in the top 10.”

Although he has not fought at 140 pounds in two years, Chavez is the No. 1 contender for Tszyu’s 140-pound title?

How did that happen?

A cynic might say it is because the WBC is based in Mexico where Chavez, owner of a 103-4-2 record, is a living legend among his countryman.

Duran will be fighting Pat Lawlor, who knocked him out when they met nine years ago.

To use Duran’s words, no mas.

Holyfield already has won the heavyweight title three times. Does he really think he will gain more respect by winning the vacant World Boxing Assn. championship from Ruiz, a title that was unfairly stripped from Lennox Lewis? Holyfield already has shown in two matches that he can’t beat Lewis.

So what’s the point, Evander?

Athletes in every sport have a tough time letting go. People remember all too well Willie Mays stumbling around in the outfield for the New York Mets at the end of his career and Johnny Unitas fumbling around in the backfield for the San Diego Chargers at the end of his glorious run.

But at least these greats suffered only in terms of reputation. And even then only temporarily, with the luster of their golden years ultimately outshining the bitter end.

When a boxer past his prime puts on the gloves, the damage can be far more severe. And ever-lasting.

Journeyman Tex Cobb, once asked how long he was going to continue fighting, replied, “As long as they have the money, I have the brain cells.”

But pugilistic dementia is no laughing matter. Not to anyone who knows that Jerry Quarry had trouble dressing himself in his latter years, or that Bobby Chacon has had to carry a map of his neighborhood to remember how to get home.

Still, the spotlight in boxing is so bright, and the title “Champ” so alluring, that few are able to walk away while they can still walk straight. Of all the recent greats, only Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler come to mind as fighters who quit cold turkey and never seriously flirted with a comeback.

So perhaps a senior tour might serve as a halfway house to ease former fighters back to reality.

Fighters over the age of 35 would be required to undergo extensive testing of their physical and mental capabilities before each fight. Once they fall below a certain level of competence, the senior tour would be their only option.

Headgear would be required in senior fights. So would oversize gloves with extra padding. Fights would be limited to four rounds. Fighters would be given a standing 16-count to recover. And all fights would be stopped after one knockdown.

Sound too tame?

Let’s hope so. What would be lost in terms of interest just might be gained in terms of brain cells.

A REALLY FRIGHTENING THOUGHT

It is sad enough to see old male fighters stumbling around after having taken too many punches, their speech slurred, their gait unsteady, with cauliflower ears and scars around their eyes.

But many of those fighters wear their old wounds as badges of courage, regarded, at least in the boxing community, as proud warriors to be embraced and respected.

But what about the ever-growing generation of female boxers who are now accumulating scars of their own? The common denominator in women’s boxing, with only rare exceptions, is a lack of defense. Female fighters swing away at their opponents until their energy level fades.

What will happen several years from now when these women begin to show the effects of the damage they are doing to their brain cells? Will society also lovingly embrace them or shun them because women, unfair as it may be, are held to a higher standard in terms of attractiveness?