Is journalism in heavyweight boxing about to change?

22.04.04 – By Dr Adam Zee – Broadcasting sports and sports writing used to an art from in the first quarter of the 20th century. In those days a person really had to understand the sport to cover it. What went down in black and white print described the actions to the masses. Few events were broadcast nationally on radio. There was no TV. Transportation to the events was limited. Ethics and respect in sports were paramount. Journalism was held to the highest standards. The big three sports at the turn of the century were Baseball, Horse Racing and Boxing. I’m not going to talk about baseball because only white males played in the major leagues. However there is an interesting contrast to Horse racing and boxing. As far as I can tell, journalists have never prejudged a young Colt or Philly based on its color. Brown, Gray, Black, White or Red. None of that mattered. The only think that mattered was 1 ) could the horse run, and 2 ) could the horse be trained. So how come heavyweight boxing has never been like this?

My beef with some writers ( Mostly writers from my own country ) is they prejudge a heavyweight based on origin all too often. I’m not going to list any writers in particular. We all know who they are. The cookie cutter formula goes something like this:

If you’re black, have some talent, are NOT from the USA, writers assume you’re soft and can’t fight. Brits, Black Euro’s, and Black and fighters from Africa fall into this category. Credit for this group is almost never given. How long did it take Lennox Lewis to get his just due from certain corners of the boxing media?

If you’re white, have some talent, are NOT from the USA, boxing writers label you as an outsider / villain. In many cases, writers go out of their way to harpoon careers before they get a fair evaluation. The cold war has been over for many years, but if you only read boxing, you’d never know it.

If you’re white, have some talent, are from the USA, writers label you a ” hope ” These guys are often built up to sell newspapers and magazines. Once they lose, they are frequently torn down. In heavyweight boxing it isn’t a question of IF you’re going to loose, moreover it’s a question of when. There hasn’t been an undefeated heavyweight champ that has retired as champ since Maricano. And Marciano retired young. If he fought on to his mid to late 30’s, he loose to.

If you’re black, have some talent, and are from the USA, writers assume you can fight. If you loose to another black USA fighter, the backlash is minimal, however an African American born in the USA looses to a white foreigner, a black foreign, or a white USA fighter, he ” sucks ”

Are any of the above stereotypes fair? Of course not. Each fighter should be a separate case. I do think some of these stereotypes are dying down. In 1984, the vast majority of top 40 heavyweights participating in the sport were black Americans. Blacks not from the USA were uncommon. Whites from the USA ” Hopes ” were rare. Whites from overseas were very rare. Let’s fast forward to 2004. Boxing is now a world sport. Several countries that produced great amateur fighters are now going pro. The demographics of the game have changed. The writers and promoters are slowing changing. The sports writers that used to go out of their way to harpoon the next generation are becoming more honest with their opinions. They can no longer afford to tell the story of their choosing to sell papers and magazines. If they do, they are going to risk burring their bridges.