The Real Drama of Boxing vs. the Fake Drama of the WWE and the NBA
May 18, 2008 by Michael Sedor
Filed under MMA-UFC
I recently updated my b5 profile with the intention of explaining how www.jabandgrapple.com could cover both the scripted fun of pro wrestling entertainment and the unexpected life-threating tension of professional boxing. My answer wasn’t that they both take place in rings and involve some sort of combat.
No, my explanation was that they are bookends of the sporting world with everything else existing in between their emotional bounds. Friday night was evidence of this evocative breadth. WWE’s SmackDown and ESPN’s Friday Night Fights were broadcast simultaneously and my Motorola DVR only allowed me to watch one at a time while taping both. I was forced to delve into both without distraction.
First up was the glorious costumed cabaret fun of SmackDown. The Undertaker was trying to take revenge out on a supposedly wheelchair-bound lady. People were fired, lives were affected, fear, trouble, mayhem, betrayal and loss were the pervasive themes.
We all know, however, that the situations were fake. That in the end the performers’ lives aren’t affected as far as career longevity and/or actual intended danger. Sure, unexpected tragedies can and have occurred but The Undertaker’s choke slam really isn’t endangering opponents; the Great Khali wasn’t really bleeding profusely from the mouth a few weeks ago. Their career paths are decided by scriptwriters and their salary, however modest, isn’t dependent on them winning.
Once SmackDown ended I switched over to the very real career arc of Chris Byrd, a 37-year-old who had just lost 37 pounds in an attempt to compete at the light heavyweight level. Things didn’t work out that well for the former heavyweight champion as he was beaten badly and knocked out in the ninth round. Byrd then deliriously apologized to his wife and handsome young son; he felt he had let them down.
The drama was real, the pain evident, and the tragedy too much to bear. Here was a man who put his life on the line in the ring and couldn’t bear the failure that he wrongly perceived himself to be.
Shortly after the fight doctors diagnosed Byrd with a separated shoulder and administered painkillers. Then the situation nosedived. His wife explained to ESPN, “They gave him Valium and morphine and we couldn’t wake him up,” she continued. “I was so scared. We had to rush him to the hospital.”
Byrd was revived late Friday night and returned home but the psychological pain will not end. Byrd will presumably not fight again at least not on the same championship level he was accustomed. He understands that he should retire.
His opponent Shaun George added after the fight “There’s going to come a point where you have to give it up. That’s the hard part because you love the sport. It’s sad for anybody, but especially someone like Byrd who is a two-time heavyweight champion.”
For me, the pathos was too much to bear, especially after watching its polar opposite at SmackDown.
So I turned the channel to the end of the Boston Celtics-Cleveland Cavs playoff game. I love the NBA but after the Byrd fight it seemed so superficial and so far removed from man’s essential struggle. So scripted and so much closer to pro wrestling than what I had just viewed.
Lives aren’t going to be affected by the Celtics loss no matter how angsty Kevin Garnett portrays himself; no matter how aloof and affected Ray Allen appears to be. They’ll pull in their guaranteed million dollar contract accept their loss, continue performing to David Stern’s script, move on and compete until their bodies can’t move. Just like Bruno Sammartino, just like Hulk Hogan and just like Ric Flair.
If Chris Byrd were to go back in the ring he might be killed, the fact that he’s still an elite boxer doesn’t matter. His skills just aren’t elite enough.
Think I’m off base? Comment below and tell me what you think.
Photo Source: Newscom.com
We could say the same thing for boxing. The fights are, after all, scripted as well (I smell home cooking every time). Pro basketball may have its share of point-shaving controversies and wacky referees but at the end of each game, the team with the most points win. There’s no need for a judge to decide.
Boxing, on the other hand, is controlled by said judges. Knocking down an opponent is not a guarantee for a win. A judge and his subjective perceptions determine a match’s outcome–not performance. Boxers have their guaranteed pay as well, so losing and getting money isn’t exclusive to professional basketball.
And the injuries? The drama isn’t for boxing alone, and to presume so is erroneous. Who are we to say that there is no drama behind a basketball player’s injury when we don’t know what happens behind closed doors? I’ve read so many interviews about NBA players who could not seem to get out of the mental anguish brought by an injury despite having completely recovered.
I’ve even heard of a pro basketball player in the Philippines whose life was drastically changed because of a freak spinal injury during a game that not only affected his career, but his entire life as well.
Just because boxing is a full-contact sport (they say basketball is one too because of its roughness), it doesn’t mean its “drama” is real compared to other sports that don’t involve beating the living crap out of each other through the use of fists.
I’m just sayin’. ;)