Why do decent folks like boxing?
Lately, friends have asked me why I don’t write more about boxing, since I once regarded the game at the top of my list. Before I get into it, boxing has become a source of sadness to me. What was once the noblest of all sports has gone steadily downhill, a sad spectacle of greed, warped egos and meaningless “champions.” The little guys, like Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton, are still a lure, but that big guy who has always led the parade has not been seen since Mike Tyson. Oh, there were Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe but they didn’t quite completely capture fan interest like Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Max Baer, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and the like. There were other regal fighters, such as Ezzard Charles, Floyd Patterson and Larry Holmes. Those were the stars who grabbed the fan by the lapels as if to say, “You gotta see this fight! You don’t want to miss it!” That kind of heavyweight hasn’t made the scene since Tyson. Every time I hear an old fight w
