Few humans box, yet few human activities have, over so many centuries and in so many civilizations, generated such intense interest, attention, and controversy as . Its fans passionately celebrate what author A. J. Leibling called "the sweet science,"while its detractors relentlessly vilify it as a brutal undertaking. What is clear is that many people are passionately attracted to the ring, its rituals, and its results. Many writers have embracedboxing as a subject, sometimes to extol its benefits, sometimes to bemoan its consequences,sometimes to tell its stories. Boxing presents its audiencewith contradictions. Some celebrate its graceful, majestic appeal while denying its bitter, brutal truths. Others decry its dangers and destructiveness.In truth, boxing involves commitment, conditioning, endurance of pain, and an understanding of defeat. An ancient enterprise, boxing is an extreme athletic undertaking. Such extremity makes boxing a particularly exceptional subject of study, even now as its popularity fades.What accounts for its attraction? Why, despite its well-documented dangers, doesboxing continue to captivate?What accounts for its special character? Why are representations of and arguments about boxing so compelling and powerful? What about boxing moves us so profoundly to view, read, think, and write about it?

Preparation: The following task is basedon the Plecedingthree textsby Gordon Marino, GeorgeWill, and Hugh Mcllvanney. Beforeyou begin to plan your own essay/ rereadthese texts. Then take sometime to carefully compareand contrastthe texts in light of eachother.

Introduction: In the aftermathof thel962death of Benny Paretin a boxing match with Emile Griffith, Norman Cousins wrote: "The crowd wants the knockouU it wants to see a man hurt."

Assignment: After carefulconsideration of the introduction, write an essayin which you either defend or questionthe socialmores that give rise to sporting eventsthat featurethe possibility of grievousinjury or sudden death. Cite Marino, Will and Mcllvanney in your essayin ways that serveyour argument. In addition,ryoumight" alsowant to use two other sources(Hazlitt and Mailer)' :

Source A (Vlarino)

Source B (Wiii)

Source C (Mcllvanney)

SourceD (Hazlitt)

SourceE (Mailer) Gordon Marino Boxing and the Cool Halls of Academe

A formerboxer, Gordon Marino is a professorof philosophy,curator of the KierkegaardLibrary, and assistantfootball coach at St.Olaf Colleqe. He also trains amateur boxers. Marino published this articlein 2004.

"Know thyself" was the Socratic dictum, but of making myself an object lessonby noting that I Tyler Durden, the protagonist in the movie Fight had boxed for years and still seemedto be able to Club, asks,"How much can you know about your- put my thoughts together.That earned me a smile self if you've never been in a fight?" Although and a pat on the wrist. trainers of the bruising art wince at the notion that If I were thrown in the ring today and had to boxing equals fighting, there can be no doubt that defend the art of self-defenseagainst the sneering boxing throws you up against yourself in reveal- attitude of some academicians,I would have at ing ways. Take a left hook to the body or a trip to leasttwo colleaguesi^ my corner.InBody €t SouI: the canvas, and you soon find out whether you Notes of an ApprenticeBoxer (Oxford University 10 are the kind of person who will ever get up. Press,2004) the MacArthur-award-winning Loic For a decade, I have been teaching both box- Wacquant,a sociology professorat New School ing and philosophy. My academic colleagues University, described the sentimental education have sometimesreacted to my involvement with that he received training for three years at a box- the sweet sciencewith intellectual jabs and con- ing gym in Chicago's South Side. ProfessorWac- tf, descension.A few years ago at a philosophy con- quant, who earned his red badge of courageby ference,I mentioned that I had to leave early to competing in the famous Chicago Golden Gloves go back to the campus to work with three of my tournament, insists that boxing clubs are sanctu- boxers from the Virginia Military Institute who aries of order, peace,and tranquility in a helter- were competing in the National Collegiate Box- skelter world. According to Wacquant, whose 20 ing Association championships. Shockedto learn ring name was "Busy Louie," the gym is "a school that there was such a college tournament, one of moralityin Durkheim's senseof the term, that is professor scolded, "How can someone commit- to say a machinery designedto fabricate the spirit ted to developing minds be involved in a sport of discipline, group attachment, respect for oth- in which studentsbeat one another's brains out?" ers as for self, and autonomy of the will that are 25 I explained that the competitors wore protective indispensable to the blossoming of the pugilistic headgear and used heavily padded L6-ounce vocation." The machinery often works so well gloves in competition as well as in practice, but that it forges a kind of mutual affection that is ab- shewas having none of it. "Headgearor not," she sentfrom the cool halls of academe.When he left replied, "your brain is still getting rattled. Worse Chicago for a postdoctoralposition at Harvard, yet, you're teaching violence." Wacquant fell into a terrible funk about leaving I countered that if violence is defined as pur- his fistic family. He writes, "In the intoxication posefully hurting another person, then I had of my immersion, I even thought for a while of seenenough of that in the philosophical arena to aborting my academiccareer to 'turn pro' and last a lifetime. At the university where I did my thereby remain with my friends from the gym 35 graduate studies,colloquia were nothing lessthan and its coach,DeeDee Armour, who had become academicgunfights in which the goal was to fire a secondfather to me." off a question that would sink the lecturer low. I Carlo Rotella,an associateprofessor of English pointed out, "I've even seenphilosophers have to and director of American studies at Boston"Col- restrain themselvesfrom clapping at a comment legeand the author of CutTime:AnEducation st the that knocked a speakeroff his pins and made him Fights(Houghton Mifflin,2003), spent a year tak- feel stupid." I followed up by arguing that get- ing notes in the gym of the former heavy'weight ting and taking punches makes you feel safer in . Rotella contends that the world, and that people who do not feel eas- life is all about hurting and getting hurt, and that ily threatened are generally less threatening. She there are few coursesin life that prepare you for wasn't buying any of it. Then I made the mistake the whirring blades outside your door like box-

Chapter7 Boxing rz7 ing. In the introduction to one of the best boxing someonewho has experienceddanger only vicari- books ever written, Rotella rernarks: ously, on the couch watching videos. "The deeper you get into the fights, the more br fact, boxing was a popular intercollegiate and you may discover about things that would seemat 145 sport until the early 1960s,when a fatality first blush to have nothing to do with boxing. Les- problems with semiprofessionals'posing as stu- sons in spacing and leverage, ot in holding part dents connted the sport out' In 1976collegeboxing of oneself in reserve even when hotly engaged, was resurrectedas a club sport, and now, under the are lessons not only in how one boxer reckons umbrella of USA Boxing (the governing body for with anotherbut also in how one personreckons 150 amateurboxing in the United States),the National 30 100 with another. The fights teach many such les- Collegiate Boxing Association includes about sons-about virtues and limits of ctaft, about the collegeteams. Every April sectional,regional, and need to impart meaning to hard factsby enfolding national championshipsare held. I recentlychatted them in stories and spectacle,about getting hurt with Maja Cavlovic, a female boxer from Estonia and getting old, about distanceand intimacy, and 155 who graduated from the Virginia Military Institute reflect- 105 especiallyabout education itself: Boxing conducts this spring. Apower puncher,Ms. Cavlovic an endlessworkshop in the teaching and leaming ed, "Boxing helped me learn how to control my of knowledge with consequences." emotions.You get in there and you are very afuaid, Still, I think the best defenseof boxing is Aristo- and then all of your training takesover." telian. In his NlchomacheanEthics, Aristotle offers 160 The two-time heavyweight champion George 110 his famous catalog of the moral virtues. When- Foreman concurs with Ms. Cavlovic' In addition ever I teach this section of the EthicsI always be- to being an immensely successfulbusinessman, gin by asking students what they think are the Mr. Foreman directs a large youth club outside ingredients of moral virtue. Respect,compassion, of Houston with a vibrant boxing program. Since honesty,justice, and tolerance always fly quickly 165 Mr. Foremanalso is a preacherI askedhim, "How 115 up onto the board, often'followed by creativify do you reconcileteaching kids to deliver a knock- and a senseof humor. I usually need to prod to out blow with jesus' injunction that we should elicit "courage." And so I hector,"How can you turn the other cheek?"Mr. Foremanchuckled and be consistentlyhonest or just if you don't have the explained, "To be successfulin the ring you have mettle to take ahit?" 170 to get control of your emotions-that includes an- 120 Aristotle writes that developing a moral vir- ger.And the kids who stick with it in the gym are tue requires practicing the choices and feelings much lessviolent than when they camein through appropriate to that virtue. Accordingly, colleges the door." today often offer a smorgasbord of workshop- Americans for the most part live in a culture like events to help develop the virtue of tolerance, 175 of releasein which passion and spontaneity are 125 for example, by making students more comfort- worshipped. Beyond being told that troublesome able with people from diverse backgrounds. But feelings are medical problems, our young people where are the workshops in courage,a virtue that receivescant instruction in modulating their emo- Nelson Mandela, ]ohn McCain, and others have tions. As a result, there are very few opportunities claimed to have found in boxing? lao to spar with heavyweight emotions such as anger '130 According to Aristotle, courage is a mean be- and fear. In the ring, those passions constantly tween fearlessnessand excessivefearfulness. The punch at you, but if you keep punching, you learn capacity to tolerate fear is essential to leading a not to be pummeled by your emotions. Keeping moral life, but it is hard to learn how to keep your your guard up when you feel like leaping out of moral compassunder pressurewhen you are cos- 185 the ring can be liberating. After he won his first 135 seted from every fear. Boxing gives people prac- bout,I askedKarl Pennau,a St.Olaf student whom tice in being afraid. There are, of course, plenty I trained, what he had gleaned from his study of of brave thugs. Physical courage by no means the sweet science.He replied, "Leaming boxing guaranteesthe imagination that standing up for a has given me a lot more than just another sport to principle might entail. However, in a tight moral 190 play. It is a touglu tough game,but having trained 140 spot I would be more inclined to trust someone and been in the ring, I won't ever think that I can't who has felt like he or she was going under than do something again."

128 Analysis,Argument, and Synthesis

- George Will Barbarity of Boxing

Thefollowing essay is by GeorgeWill, who regularlycomments, in bothprint and electronic media, on globaland American events, society, values, ethics, and politics.Itwas oublished in 1982.

For 150years people have been savoring Ma- force of defenseplayers (a function of weight and cauley's judgment that the Puritans haied bear- speed) is increasing even faster than the force of baiting not becauseit gavepain to the bearbut be- ball carriersand receivers.As a coachonce said, causeit gave pleasureto the spectators.However, football is not a contact sport-dancing is a con- there are moments, and this is one, for blurting 45 tact sport-football is a collision sport. The hu- out the truth: The Puritans were right. The pain man body, especiallythe knee and spine, is not to the bear was not a matter of moral indifference, suited to that. But football can be made safer by but the pleasure of the spectatorswas sufficient equipment improvements and rules changessuch reasonfor abolishing that entertainment. as thoseproscribing certain kinds of blocks.Box- 10 Now another boxer has been beaten to death. ing is fundamentally impervious to these. The brain injury he suffered was worse than the Suchan argument cuts no ice in a societywhere injury to the loser in a boxing match is supposed the decayed public philosophy teaches that the to suffer. It is hard to calibrate such things-how pursuit of happiness is a right sovereign over all hard an opponent's brain should be banged other considerations;that "happiness" and "plea- t) against the inside of his cranium-in the heat of sure" are slmonyms, and that there is no hierar- the battle. chy of values againstwhich to measureparticular From time immemorial ways, men have been appetites.Besides, some persons will say, with fighting for the entertainment of other men. Per- reason,that a society in which the entertainment haps in a serenetemperate society boxing would menu includes topless lady mud wrestlers is a so- 20 be banned along with other blood sports-if, in ciety past worrying about. such a society,the question would even arise. But Sports besides boxing attract persons who a step toward the extinction of boxing is under- want their unworthy passions stirred, including standing why that is desirable. One reason is the a lust for blood. I remember Memorial Day in the physical injury done to young men. But a suffi- Middle West in the 1950s,when all roads led to 25 cient reason is the quality of the pleasure boxing the Indianapolis Speedway,where too many fans often givesto spectators. went to drink Falstaff beer and hope for a crash. There is no denying that boxing like other, bet- But boxing is in a classby itself. ter sports, can exemplify excellence.Boxing de- Richard Hoffer of the LosAngeles Times remern- mands bravery and, when done well, is beautiful bersthe deathof ]ohnny Owen, a young 118-pound in the way that exerciseof finely honed physical who died before he had fulfilled talents is. Furthermore, many sports are danger- his modest ambition of buying a hardware store ous. But boxing is the sport that has as its object back home in Wales.Hoffer remembersthat "Ow- the infliction of pain and injury. Its crowning ens was put in a coma by a single punch, carried achievementis the infliction of serious trauma on out of the Olympic (arena) under a hail of beer 35 the brain. The euphemism for boxing is "the art 75 cups, some of which were filled with urine." of self-defense."No. A roseis a roseis a rose,and The law cannot prudently move far in advance a user fee is a revenue enhancer is a tax increase, of masstaste, so boxing cannotbe outlawed. But and boxing is aggression. in a world in which many barbarities are unavoid- It is probable that there will be a rising rate of able, perhaps it is not too much to hope that some spinal cord injuries and dggi!'rs,rinfootball. The of the optional sorts will be outgrown.

r30 Analysis,Argument, and Synthesis h- Hugh Mcflvannev The Casefor the Hardest Game

A Britishsports journalist Th.e sundgrTimes,Hugh Mcirvanney has also been published sportslllustrated andother lormajor publications. in rheiollowingtext, written in lg'2,introduces extenstvecollection of hisarticles on boxing. an

Now that the British Medical Association hasadded itsinnuenri"r ,,oi""io ir,e nuctuating clamour for the-abolition of boxing,.some peopl6 theT^:!:il?::,1?!",fl11i,fil**ffifrJil:; funiamentat uim may feel that a book like ot a contestantis to render this shoii carry; g;"- his immediate s ernment health warning' opponent unconscious.No matter Many millions"arJund s0 no* yo.r the world bel dress iiirp, *,*,, the tune they,re play- rrombeing-; i:s"..1.,'li:x?iii"r",i:"',: fJ s:jiJsjft*#*nm:;{ri**::*:l ffil:i3#ilil.f:;tff*ffifl*Hffi*: ]c"um.,rutingpoinrs^"a,"5"'*'"".ry-ri,'ril"-,". 10 ingirresistib'lvthr'ring?u;i;;#;;ritingaboutss ,,,;::lt them professionally for tt::ijfiil:lll3;'#X."#ffi;;: more than 20 y"ur:r, r u* ;;il;;rb;;r-;";i';Jil"ing boundtochallengethatviewHo-"'o"1,Ihavetoo intolerabre physical dungurr. Their much respectfol the abolitionists'argument moral indignation is inteniified to try wheir to ignore or they ."""iJ", il" huge sums of money belittle their central obiections.Any that 15 supporter are often generatedby the professional of boxing who does not aimit game and to soml 60 ire prolifiration of iron-combatants residual ambivalence about its values, who insist who has on grabbing a share not wondered in its crueller of the spoils. Add to that the moments if it is worth -ia""r31""a";rilil; the candle' must that most of the be suspect' But many of the at- specta- tacks tois at boxing shows are at worst made on it are faiily dubious, too. sadists vicari- Thlking, ously satisfyiisl ;i"Jlust, 20 as a few members of the BMA or at best benighted 'organised have done, uuorii 65 '"no ,o*-"ho.-t*r brain damage'and 'legallsed "o.rt" that they can acquiie vi- grievous .ifiry Uy osmosisin a fight bodily harm' is gimmiikly stogaiising, crowd, and it becomes a caseof clear that d"f";;;, going into the debating ting ;foth" ,port cannot look for wltn a horseshoein an easy passage. the glove. some civilised men have, when 2s A1''o1s doctorsthemselves thereis.a conspicr.r- 70 :f;*nff"tlHlH:j|i;tff: ous lack of unanimity about how ii:ti;t;tfltl seriously the uiiir,g, who wrote brain cells are affectedby ablr, rigl,,, and fighters with prolonged involvement u, *.r"n inboxingandhowtheriikcompJ"r*itn,f,atcre- distinction u, ur,yo." since Hazlitt (and ated by ,u,f,", more often than William less heavily criticised contact sports-such did). Liebling 30 as suggestedthat if ur,y djr,t", rugby and American football, *hichmighib" had gone as batty as is ttiifi"o, ,r** *"ia'tuu,o. held responsibleforparalysing ,W"il, u""r, a public outcry. ; hrgh", percent_ *ho age of those who f..i, Nfr.rrtyi he asked. And why, talie pait iri*reml Jusi as it is he natural *r","a," m"*, *"li/,'rn".u that fist-fighting shourd be a campaign agui'st a profoundly uurltz It gave girls emotive issue, so it is essential fat legs. that some of the Howe,ier, 35 more generalised ;;;"rf day boxing does condemnations of it should be B0 ";,h" .the scrutinised' ,,oi hurru to'niae uerrinl or The first point thai must be loxes macho bluster. stressed It is an activity so basic is that deaths in the iir,g ao not that ultimately its best make the most ;;i;"r" is human powerful argument against nature, a flawed argument at professional ,g. ,m" If opposition is Pg*t but one that is not easily trampled based on the ratio oiiatalities t? ".rf un- 40 auioo,. Aggression is central to all Bss"1,, and-il wourd beastonishrng competitive t"ii#T:,il;.j:'t"Ttr1j;.il: ;j**# if theie;e,e oussame' rtmav be pointed ,r-,"1rishters;;hE{"i"gHn#il::ti"'fft',T:,,Tli,i:; don't run amok-andkill spectatorsri,""ir"", .u"ir,! ur_,Jn"faathletics, sometimesdo' Motives' not "u* in ua-.r1r.,,rr"pursuits such as statistics,call i"g- *o]rntui'e"ring 45 lism into question' ' or in the racingof horsesor ma- ' 3s. Suchnatures hunger for the rawestform

132 Analysis,Argument, and Synthesis of competition and that means boxing. We may those who believe that exchanging blows with regret that our specieshas not progressedbeyond padded gloves builds character.The game may that appetite but to introduce legislation prohib- have saved thousands of hard-case youngsters iting consenting adults from satisfying it would, t 50 from the worst excessesof the street, but few of 95 conceivably,be out of step with recent trends in those salvaged had the instincts of muggers to our liberal society. start with. Most boys who go in for boxing have a Of course,it is a constant,if not always honestly deep, combative urge to test themselvesand there articulated, part of the abolitionists' casethat the isn't much of the test about battering an old-age 'l fighters are haplessvictims pressedinto reluctant 55 pensioner and legging it with her purse. 100 service in the ring by the mercenary and corrupt Mentioning nobility in connection with box- forcesthat control professionalboxing. It is a view ing is chancy,but exposureto men like ]oe Frazier of the businesslearned mainly from B-movies.... has encouraged such boldness. And Frazier stiil The point being made here is not that boxing is itched to fight the best heavyweights in the world free of mercenaryand corrupt forces.It has a huge 160 long after he had retired with a pile of dollars. 'All 'tell 105 variety of doubtful operators,ranging from a mi- right,' say the critics, us what is ennobling nority of outright villains to a much larger group about years of having the cranium pummelled, of promoters who blinker themselvesagainst the about the absorption of so many blows that the harsh implications of the deals they make. But functioning of the brain is almost certain to be im- what must be said is that in this area, as almost 165 paired.' Referenceto all the thousands who have 110 everywhere else. The abolitionists over-simplify emerged from long hard careerswithout any evi- to the extent of serious distortion. Certainly some dent cerebraldamage, such as (who boxers are badly used, but the modern fighter in fought some of the most destructive punchers a country like Britain is usually as much his own imaginable and survived stinking rich and in- man as any professional sportsman is. Anyone 170 timidatingly sharp into his B0s)or our own Henry 115 who imagines that Johnny Owen was under any Cooper, is no more a conclusive answer that are kind of duresswhen he went into the ring for the the greatly improved safety measuresand medi- world bantamweight championship match with cal supervision. The blatant truih is that there are of Mexico that led to Owen's death genuine risks. The relevant question is whether in that sameautumn of 1980simply did not know i7s our society considersthose risks acceptablein re- 120 the boy. He was, as it happens, an extreme exam- lation to other sports.There is no doubt that fight- ple of someonewho desperately wanted to box. ers consider them so. Naturally, they don't dwell His personality was a small cloud of reticenceun- on the possibility of being knocked punchy, any til he entered the ambience of boxing, in a gym more than a Grand Prix driver thinks of being or an arena.Once there,he was transformed from 180 minced or barbecuedin his cockpit. The per capita 125 a 24-year-old virgin whose utterances tended to likelihood on the secondis probably much great- come in muffled monosyllables into a confident, er than of the first. |ackie Stewart, whose genius skilled practitioner of a rough but exciting trade. was reinforced by marvellous luck, came through It maybe-as I suggestedin the hours after seeing a magnificently successfulcareer as a driver un- him disastrously injured at the OlympicAuditori- tBs scathed. But Stewart has pertinent things to say 1?n um in Los Angeles-that Johnny Owen's tragedy about why he put himself in danger so often. He was to find himself articulate in such a dangerous thinks that too much of modern life is wrapped in 'People language.But the people who say he should have cotton-wool. who are allowed to live life been denied accessto that language run the risk to the full, to its outer edges,are a blessed group: of playing God. leo he says. The exhilaration of his sport was vastly 135 Some will declare that only the psychological- different from the excitementof a boxer's, but that ly inadequate could ever need boxing and there too is an outer edge. might be some sensein the claim if anyone cares Fighters are a long way from being wrapped in to define psychological inadequacy in the age cotton-wool and further measurescould be taken of the neutron bomb. At a more obvious level of tgs to reduce the threat of major injuries. Perhaps a 140 comparison, it seemsto many of us that the mo- Iimited form of headguard should be introduced. torcycle has not only demonstrated an infinitely But it must be admitted that if the gameloses its greater capacity to kill and maim young men rawness/it is nothing. If it ever becamea kind of than boxing ever did but is rather more readily fencing with fists, a mere trial of skills, reflexes identified with coarserspirits. Hell's Angels have 200 and agility, and not the test of courage, will and 145 caused more public havoc than the members of resiliencethat it is now, then it would lose its ap- boxing clubs, To touch on that is not to fall in with peal for many who are neither sadists nor seek-

Chapter7 Boxing lss ers after the trappings of virility. For some of us 210 thyr Tydfil when ]ohnny Owen was buried and boxing, with all its thousand ambiguities, offers at the ringside in New Orleans a fortnight later 205 in its best moments a thrill as pure and basic as when Roberto Duran met . a heartbeat. Our societywill have to becomea lot more saintly Maybe I should not be drawn to it, but I am, before the abolition of boxing qualifies as an ur- and I acknowledge no hypocrisy in deciding in 215 gent priority. 1980that I could be at a gravesideservice in Mer- (,August, 1982)

FirstReadinq l. Mcllvanny states in lines L2-L4, "I have too much respect for the abolitionists' argument to try to ignore or belittle their central objections." Does the tone of Mcllvanney's essay suggestthat he takes opposition to boxing seriously, or is he actually dismissive of his opponents? 2. This essaypreceded George Will's by severai months. Did WilI appear to give credenceto any of Mcllvanney's arguments? Explain.

SecondReadinq 1. Both Wilt and Mcllvanney refer to the sport of automobile racing. How does each one make a comparison that serves their respective arguments? 2. Johnny Owen was a Welsh fighter who was killed in a 1980 championship fight in Los Angeles.Both Mcllvanny and Will refer to him in their essays.Contrast Mcllvanney's referenceand use of Owen's death with Will's. How doesthe comparisonreflect the different approachestaken by the authors to their subject and to their respectiveaudiences?

Writino Synthesis Research,Preparation and Writing Time one week following final reading assignment Directions The following task is based on the preceding three texts by Gordon Marino, GeorgeWill, and Hugh Mcllvanney. Before you begin to plan your own essay,reread these texts. Then take some time to carefully compare and contrast the texts in light of each other. Introduction In the aftermath of the 1962 death of in a boxing match with Emile Griffith, Norman Cousins wrote: "The crowd wants the ; it wants to see a man hurt." Assignment After careful consideration of the introduction, write an essay in which you either defend or question the social mores that give rise to sporting events that feature the possibility of grievous injury or sudden death. Cite Marino, Will, and Mcllvanney in your essayin ways that serve your own argument. In addition, extend the support for your argument by using at least two other sources.Use Modern Language Association style to document your sources. Prewriting As you plan your essay,use the following scenario to guide you: Imagine you have been invited into a discussion of the issues raised by the assignment while in the presenceof each author. What would the conversation include? What would you hear in the way of response?How would you then enter into the discussion? Prepare a draft for a teacher or peer conference,and then write and submit a final version. Your essaywill run from 5 to 7 pages.

t34 Analysis,Argument, and Synthesis

L. Thefollowing passageis excerptedfromWilliam Ha.zlitt'saccount of theDecember 11, 1821 match betweenWilliam NeateandThomas Hich,man,TheGasman, held in England.

Reader,have you ever seena fight? If not, you have a pleasureto come,at least if it ! I is a fight like that between the Gas-man and Bill Neate.The crowd was very great I when we arrived on the spot; open carriages were coming up, with streamers flyrng ! t and music playing, and the country-people were pouring in over hedge and ditch in I all directions,to seetheir hero beat or be beaten.The oddswere still on Gas,but only I

about five to four.... I In the first round everyone thought it was all over. After making play a short I i time, the Gas-man flew at his adversary like a tiger, struck five blows in as many ! seconds,three first, and then following him as he staggeredback, two more, right j I is no ! 10 and left, and down he fell, a might ruin. There was a shout, and said, "There ! standing this." Neate seemedlike a lifeless lump of flesh and bone, round which I i the Gas-man's blows played with the rapidity of electricity or lightning, and you I imagined he would only be lifted up to be knocked down again. It was as if Hickman ! I held a sword or a fire in the right hand of his, and directed it against an unarmed I 10 body. They met again, and Neate seemed,not cowed,but particularly cautious. I I I saw his teeth clenchedtogether and his brows knit closeagainst the sun. He held I out both his arms at full-length straight before him, like two sledge-hammers,and I I raised his left an inch or two higher. The Gas-man could not get over this guard I - they struck mutually and fell, but without advantage on either side. It was the I - t same in the next round; but the balance of power was thus restored the fate of I the battle was suspended.No one could tell how it would end. This was the only I i moment in which opinion was divided; for, in the next, the Gas-manaiming a mortal I biow at his adversary's neck, with his right hand, and failing from the length he I full planted I had to reach, the other returned it with his left at swing, a tremendous I blow on his cheek-boneand eyebrow,and made a red ruin of that side of his face. I - N The Gas-man went down, and there was another shout a roar of triumph as the I waves of fortune rolled tumultuously from side to side.This was a settler. Hickman I 'ogrinned I got up, and horrible a ghastly smile," yet he was evidently dashed in his i opinion of himself;it was the first time he had ever been so punished;all one side of i 30 his face was perfect scarlet, and his right eye was closedin dingy blackness,as he I ! advancedto the fight, less confident,but still determined.After one or two rounds, I not receiving another such remembrancer,he rallied and went at it with his former I I impetuosity. But in vain. His strength had been weakened,- his blows could not teli I at such a distance, - he was obliged to fling himself at his adversary,and could not i 1 strike from his feet; and almost as regularly as he flew at him with his right hand, ! Neate warded the reach, felled him with return 1 blow,or drew back out of its and the I of his left. There was little cautious sparring - no half-hits - no tapping and trifling, ! none of the petit-maitreship of the art - they were almost all knock-downblows: - the I fight was a good stand-up fight. The wonder was the half-minute time. If there had been a minute or more allowed between each round, it would have been intelligible t I how they should by degreesrecover strength and resolution; but to see two men i smashed to the ground, smeared with gore, stunned, senseless,the breath beaten t t out of their bodies; and then, before you recover from the shock,to see them rise I up with new strength and courage,stand steady to inflict or receivemortal offence, I E and rush upon each other, "like two clouds over the Caspian" - this is the most ! astonishing thing of all: - this is the high and heroic state of man! From this time I I forward the event becamemore certain every round; and about the twelfth it seemed ! as if it must have been over.Hickman generally stoodwith his back to me; but in the I t scuffle,he had changedpositions, and Neate just then made a tremendous lunge at t

a::a::::.ti:1/:::a::=::,!1.i I2 Writing the Synthesis Essay ,: ,1 50 him, and hit him fulI in the face. It was doubtful whether he would fall backwards or forwards; he hung suspendedfor about a secondor two, and then fell back, throwing his hands in the air, and with his face lifted up to the sky. I never saw anything more terrific than his aspect just before he fell. All traces of life, of natural expression, were gone from him. His face was like a human skull, a death's head, spouting blood. The eyes were filled with blood, the nose streamed with blood, the mouth gaped blood. He was not like an actual man, but like a preternatural, spectral appearance, or like one of the figures in Dante's "Inferno." Yet he fought on after this for several rounds, still striking the first desperate blory,and Neate standing on the defensive, and using the same cautious guard to the last, as if he had still all his work to do; 60 and it was not till the Gas-man was so stunned in the seventeenth or eighteenth round, that his sensesforsook him, and he could not come to time, that the battle was declared over.Ye who despisethe FANCY, do something to show as much pluck, or as much self-possessionas this, before you assume a superiority which you have never given a single proof of by any one action in the whole course of your lives! - 65 When the Gas-man came to himself, the first words he uttered were, "Where am I? What is the matter!" "Nothing is the matter, Tom - you have lost the battie, but you are the bravest man alive."And Jackson whispered to him, "I am collecting a purse for you, Tom." - Vain sounds, and unheard at that moment! Neate instantly went up and shook him cordially by the hand, and seeing some old acquaintance,began to flourish with his fists, calling out, "Ah, you always said I couldn't fight - What do you think now?"But all in goodhumour, and without any appearanceof arrogance;only it was evident Bill Neate was pleased that he had won the fight. When it was all over,I asked Cribb if he did not think it was a good one?He has, "Pretty well!" The carrier-pigeons now mounted into the air, and one of them flew with the news of her husband'svictory to the bosomof Mrs. Neate.AIas, for Mrs. Hickman!

DiscourseActivity 1) Hazlittis not writing about whether or notboxing should be banned. What is the value of thistext in lightof theassignment? 2) Whichdetails convey Hazlitt's attitude toward this particular boxing match? 3) Giventhe assignment,what is the importanceof thesedetails?

The following is an online article about the nature of boxing.The author, a natiue of Nigeria and an attorney, has written a biography on African boxer .

! I The saga of modern boxing, the sport of sanitized brutality, continues into a new I century.This in itself is something of an achievement,for many powerful interests I preceding ! have over the decadestaken the view that the existence of the sport I is inherentiy antithetical to the values held sacred within a functioning civiiized lE ," society and still agitate for its obliteration. The industry is thus forced, time and i again, to justify itsel{ to revalidate, and to campaign for its perpetuation. In every , ! succeedingera, boxing, to borrow an overusedphrase, appears always to be on the I ropes, absorbing each body blow tossed its way and suffering from a self-inflicted ! cancer of cormption and fighter exploitation. And you have to hand it to the game: t10 against all the odds it continues to survive and when in the midst of a dollar raking, I ! record breaking super bout it tends to muster once in a while, it may give the

: ::t::1: ::Fff.ffi:r M.) Boxing SynthesisClusterr3

lt The Death of Benny Parct-Norman Mailer

Paretwas a Cuban,a proudclub fighterwho hadbecome champion because of his unusualability to takea punch.His styleof fightingwas to takethree punches to the headin orderto give backtwo. At the endof ten rounds,he would still be bouncing, his opponentwould havea headache.But in the lasttwo years,over the fifteen-round fights,he hadstarted to take somebad maulings.

This fight hadits turns.Griffith won mostof the earlyrounds, but Paretknocked Griffith downin the sixth.Griffith hadtrouble getting up, but madeit, camealive andwas dominatingParet again before the roundwas over. Then Paret began to wilt. In the middleof the eighthround, after a clubbingpunch had turned his backto Griflith, Paret walkedthree disgusted steps away, showing his hindquarters.For a champion,he took muchtoo long to turn backaround. It wasthe first hint ofweaknessParet had ever shown,and it musthave inspired a particularshame, because he foughtthe restof the fight asif he wereseeking to demonstratethat he couldtake more punishment than any manalive. In the twelfth, Grifiith caughthim. Paretgot trappedin a corner Trying to duck away,his left arm andhis headbecame tangled on the wrong sideof the top rope. Grifftth was in like a cat readyto rip the life out of a hugeboxed rat. He hit him eighteen right handsin a row, an actwhich took perhapsthree or four seconds,Griflith makinga pent-upwhimpering sound all the while he attacked,the right handwhipping like a piston rod which hasbroken through the crankcase,or like a baseballbat demolishinga pumpkin.I was sittingin the secondrow of that corner-they werenot ten feet away from me, andlike everybodyelse, I washypnotized.I had never seen one man hit another so hardand so manytimes. Over the referee'sface came a look of woe asif somespasm hadpassed its way throughhim, andthen he leapedon Griffith to pull him away.It was the act of a braveman. Griflith wasuncontrollable. His trainerleaped into the ring, his manager,his cut man,there were four peopleholding Griffrth, but he was offon an orgy, he hadleft the Garden,he wasback on a hoodlum'sstreet. If he hadbeen able to break loosefrom his handlersand the referee,he would havejumped Paret to the floor and whaledon him there.

And Paret?Paret died on his feet.As hetook thoseeighteen punches something happenedto everyonewho wasin psychicrange of the event.Some part of his death reachedout to us. Onefelt it hoverin the air. He was still standingin the ropes,trapped ashe hadbeen before, he gavesome little half-smileof regret,as if he weresaying, "I didn't know I wasgoing to diejust yet," andthen, his headleaning back but still erect, his deathcame to breatheabout him. He beganto passaway. As he passed,so his limbs descendedbeneath him, andhe sankslowly to the floor. He went downmore slowly than any fighter hadever gone down, he went downlike a largeship which turnson endand slidessecond by secondinto its grave.As he went down,the soundof Griffrth's punches echoedin the mind like a heavyax in the distancechopping into a wet log.