SAVING LIVES

By Robert Aguilar

When I talk to people about my passion for boxing, some will often ask why I enjoy such a violent and brutal sport. Others go as far as calling it barbaric. I see it completely different. Yes, the sport of boxing involves hurting your opponent until there is a stoppage, knock out or until the fight concludes.

I still insist there is a totally other side of boxing that those who do not follow the sport never get to see or they are simply to busy criticizing to notice.

We always hear about boxers having heart, this term is used to describe fighters who never give up, fighters who fight until the end regardless of how much punishment they are taking. We can all come up with names of boxers we think have heart; we must also recognize that it takes courage just to get in the ring.

Whether it is at the amateur level or at the professional, boxers by nature have heart. Having heart doesn’t just mean fighting until the end; it has a far deeper meaning than that. It means knowing when to stop

and knowing when to hold back. This is where the other side of boxers comes in. Boxers as tough as they are have compassion, compassion for their opponents, it is one of the other unwritten laws of boxing you’ll hear me speak about every now and then. Are you shocked to hear that boxers have compassion for their opponents? It is true; the same heart that a fighter has to never quit is the same heart he uses to find compassion for a beaten opponent.

If you witnessed Pacquiao – Margarito a couple of weeks ago, then you know exactly what I am talking about. Margarito took a pounding; it seemed that he blocked every punch Pacquiao threw at him with his face. What Margarito lacks in skill he surely made up in heart. He was out boxed by a superior fighter, yet he simply did not give up. I remember betweenrounds ten and eleven, Margarito’s trainer Robert Garcia asked Margarito; “Do you want me to stop the fight?” Each and every time without hesitation Margarito replied: “Don’t stop the fight, don’t stop the fight”. It would have been very easy for Pacquiao to finish off Margarito. Pacquiao clearly held back, he obeyed the unwritten law. Had Manny broken this law who knows what might have happened? The extent of Margarito’s injuries might have been far worse; it might have even meant his death. Having a man’s death on your conscience must be a heavy burden to live with. Because both Pacquiao and Margarito showed heart many lives were saved the night they fought.