Boxing, the devil's game?

My favorite sport is basketball, although I have not played the game at all. Boxing too, attracts me, although I never had a fight with anyone, even in my salad days. Whenever there's a bout on tv, I seldom miss it. In my bachelor days when there were monthly slugfests in the Cebu Coliseum, I was always there, staying as late as midnight.

In those days the name Flash Elorde was the magic name for boxing fans. A Cebuano, he was a junior lightweight champion from 1960 and for six years thereafter, having defended his title - hold your breath - ten times! When he fought in Cebu in 1965 against a Japanese challenger, I was of course there.

What is in boxing that entertains? Two people shocking each other with leathered fists, jabbing, dancing, then throwing a punch, while other fellow backpedals, swaying left and right, the while covering his face, then stepping forward and counter-punches triggering an exchange of straights, then again the jab, the stab at the midsection, and jab again towards the face... it's all a feat of wit and wile, strategy and strength, and he who has the better of these wins.

But again, why does boxing entertain? Is it the struggle to survive which we identify with our own struggle in life? Or is it the bout's appeal to our primitive instinct to destroy those who stand in our way, similar to the motive that makes man wolf to man?

A year ago a priest said in a homily that boxing and other martial arts are anti-God, and that he had not been watching these games even on tv. For a time this gave me second thoughts about my favorite sport.

But try as I do, I cannot help but prefer a boxing bout to any other programs - which displeases the wife who routs for Tagalog movies. The latest Pacquiao blockbuster, however, caught the interest of everyone in the house, and when the people's champion delivered it, everyone was happy.

Anyway, thinking about what that priest said, one gets a sobering thought whenever he reflects on boxing in the context of the New Testament. The first thing that hits him between the eyes is the matter of humility. Blessed are the meek, says Jesus, for they shall inherit the earth. He also said, Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. But this one should be a shocker to Christian boxers: "If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn and offer him the other... "

Now, who is the boxer who will offer his cheek after getting a punch on the other side? And if he clobbers the other guy, could he say, "kalooy sad?"

Pride is the mother of all sins, says the Catholic catechism. Lucifer became God's nemesis because of pride. Adam and Eve had paradise all to themselves until pride destroyed everything. But for boxers pride is everything. Thirst for title starts with pride. Determination and endurance are built on pride. Without it, how could a boxer hope to prevail?

But pride is only a sin if one forgets God and acts like God. As long as a boxer plays it fair, dedicates what he is doing to God, and thanks God whether he wins or lose, God is most likely to be pleased.

This point considered, there is still one thing that bother's a boxing fan's conscience. Somewhere in the Bible, there is a passage which says that one's body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. God dwells in every person, it says, hence one should take very good care of his body. In a sport that involves physical harm, is this precept not violated? If so, then the boxer, and all of us who delight in the spectacle, must have committed a sin.

Is boxing then the devil's game? Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. But since the Church is quiet about it, we presume it's not. Otherwise, if we go to the confessional something like this will happen:

We: Father, I have sinned, I watched a boxing bout.

Priest: Whaaat? You watched a bout and you sinned?

We: Yes, Father.

Priest: Go, watch more bouts, but don't come back!

We: Why, Father?

Priest: Because I'll be watching boxing too!

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