When Faith is not Enough

By Robert Aguilar

The sweet science is under scrutiny once again, the idea that the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs is running wild among fighters is a scary one. Especially in a sport where so much is at stake, not only dignity and pride but also the safety of the combatants. Forget records, although what fighter doesn’t like to brag about being undefeated, just listen to Floyd Mayweather Jr. speak for about ten seconds. In a sport that revolves around hurting your opponent, having an unfair advantage can be physically devastating and even life ending. Cheating probably occurs in many other sports, but the consequences of cheating in boxing are far more severe.
Some sports historians often narrate boxing’s past as being full of corruption, crooked referees and devious promoters. I would like to think that we’ve come a long way from those early dark days of boxing. Even still, some will argue that the sport is still a dirty one where boxing federations will play with rankings just to make fights; that judges and refs make ridiculous calls, all because of how much money those involved will take home.
Yet as dirty as boxing was or still might be we hold the fighters to a different standard. Humans are not perfect, the temptation is there and it is very real. Impressing fans, judges and the boxing community with a strong and convincing win over an opponent may mean bigger pay days down the line. Despite all this there is an unwritten rule, a law if you will that as a fighter you must obey, and its simple; never cheat. We expect fighters to remain honest and always obey this rule even if they are surrounded by the grimiest of people. Some will say that this is a lot of pressure to put on fighters. How can a fighter not be inclined to cheat when everyone around him is looking for some sort of way to bend the rules and take a short cut?
What is needed is a standardized system of rules across all federations and commissions, a true comprehensive method of drug testing to be implemented for all fights and not just for so called mega fights. Doing so will ensure that there will never be a doubt as to whether a fighter is clean or not. Every detail of the rules must be made crystal clear, it should be straight and narrow, and there can be no room for interpretation.
Let’s give the fighters and the sport of boxing the integrity it deserves. For all the sweat and blood that stain a ring after a fight is over it’s time to get rid of those that give the sport a bad name. Until this happens I have faith that boxers will remain honorable and respectful of one another.
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