From the cheap seats: Just shut up!

Ben Pierce

23.01 - The double standard in boxing…

Kostya Tszyu once again defended his undisputed Junior Welterweight titles last weekend in his adopted homeland of Australia. He defeated Jesse James Leija by technical knockout when Leija refused to answer the bell and continue to fight after the sixth round. Leija claimed injury, a busted eardrum and basically quit the fight. My immediate thoughts were that we have such an unfair and obvious double standard in boxing when it pertains to an injury and not continuing a fight after injury.

No one, or very few questioned Leija as he quit in his corner for the second consecutive fight. He claimed injury in both fights, suffering a cut against Micky Ward and a cut and a busted eardrum against Kostya Tszyu. I will not begin to judge Jesse Leija or his actions in those two fights, but have we not been guilty of doing just that…of judging so many others in our sport for the exact same actions as Leija?

I clearly remember Leija after the Camacho Jr. fight protesting loudly about how he has been cut and injured so many times in fights and yet continued to fight...never quit! Surely you remember his protest and disgust with Hector Camacho Jr. and the decision in that fight? Did he not do the exact same thing in his next fight against Micky Ward?

That was a mere three fights ago for Leija and before he quit in his corner in his last two consecutive fights.

The backlash against Camacho Jr. was enormous and echoed throughout the boxing world. He was called every derogatory name known to boxing and out of a sense of decency I will not print them here. But why not the same treatment for Jesse James Leija when he did the exact same thing that he claimed of Camacho?

In fact after quitting against Ward, Leija was rewarded with an opportunity to fight for the undisputed championship of the world!

Lets also look at some of the scrutiny afforded the Klitschko brothers. Can you tell me the number of times they have been the called the "Quitschkos"?

Vitali Klitschko suffered a shoulder injury during the fight with Chris Byrd and it was immediately deemed he had no heart. This after a substantiated injury that required surgery!

Wladimir Klitschko was unable to finish his fight with Ross Purity due to dehydration and exhaustion and was immediately deemed a quitter with no heart.

Are these fair comparisons...or is there a double standard present? Does ethnic background; national origin, race or other factors come into play when making these judgments? Maybe it is just when we do not particularly care for a specific fighter that these judgments are made and spoken so loudly.

The point is and has to be; that what is fair for one is fair for all. We must address the question of why after quitting two fights in a row is Jesse James Leija still a warrior with heart when others who have done the same are quitters with no heart? Should Leija not receive the same scrutiny by the fans and media as is afforded every other fighter?

The answer is yes and no… We should never even begin to judge Jesse James Leija or any other fighter! Until we have stepped into the ring and fought with a separated shoulder, or busted eardrum or a cut that your foe is repeatedly trying to exploit, then we have no right to judge fighters who choose not to continue when faced with these injuries during a fight.

Leija is no better…or no worse, than the Klitschkos or Hector Canmacho Jr. or any other fighter that has chosen not to continue in a fight after suffering an injury.

The point is we should not judge, because we have not been faced with the same situation and do not know how we would react. Micky Ward and others have fought with a busted eardrum, does that make them better fighters than Leija who chose not to continue? No, it simply makes them different fighters and there are differing degrees of injury and different circumstances in each fight.

It is time we stop this double standard we have in boxing and it is past time that we stop judging fighters until we have walked a mile in their shoes. As fans and journalists we have been so quick in the past to put labels on fighters and judge them on criteria we know absolutely nothing about. We do not have that right; we have not earned that right in the ring.

So I guess the point of my rambling today is to say…if you have not fought a ten or twelve round fight while suffering an injury, then basically just shut up…you do not know, you do not understand and you have no right to judge.

Questions/Comments: benp1000@msn.com