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| ON THE ROPES... What's your ruling on the Tyson bite? July 15, 1997 |
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Other questions asked in this forum:
How have the characters of fighters changed over the years? Why wasn't Tyson kicked out of boxing for his rape conviction? What is the historical link between the lower/working classes and boxing? Why is boxing's fate linked to Mike Tyson?
NewsHour Backgrounders
June 30, 1997:
Paul Solman examines the Tyson bite and the effect it will have on public support for boxing.
The NewsHour's sport coverage.
Outside Links
Excerpts from Joyce Carol Oates on Mike Tyson.
Mike Tyson's record.
Evander Holyfield's record.
A question from Barbara Carlson of Danbury, CT: Do you find boxing beautiful? I can't watch.....I find it repulsive.....but if you have devoted time and energy to writing about it.....you must find something valuable in it... What?
Joyce Carol Oates responds:
It's perhaps the history of boxing that interests me as a novelist of American scenes. On its highest level, boxing can be beautifully executed; not heavyweights (except for Muhammad Ali) but middleweights and lighter weights perform the most skillfully.
To see a first-rate fight of, for instance, the great Willie Pep, against a first-rate contender like Sandy Saddler, is to see a match of eerie, exquisite grace. But boxing isn't for everyone, obviously.
Professor Gorn responds:
I think that boxing is beautiful because it is repulsive.
When I wrote a book about boxing, I began by describing how my father, a serious fan, always said that if given the chance, he would vote to outlaw boxing. More than other sports, there is a sense of danger, of pushing limits, of watching something forbidden.
Compared to other sports, the ring seems so elemental; aggression and violence appear so unmediated. Of course the fact is that boxing requires tremendous training and self-control. And a smart fan is watching how a match unfolds from the point of view of defense. I believe that most real fans--and it is hard to be one today, given that the ring has been subsumed to occasional television spectacles that market violence--especially love the blend of aggressiveness and restraint.
In other words, the beauty is in the skill that copes with violence.
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