Pacquiao for the Good of Boxing

The "sweet science" of boxing isn't so sweet when one delves into the very operation of it. Since the earliest days of the sport, boxing managers and promoters, like Tom O'Rourke and George "Tex" Rickard, have rightly deserved a reputation that would make a shady used car salesman seem saintly.

Granted, boxers past and present didn't create the business of boxing. They have just fought to be successful "playing the game" as required. However, many boxers have contributed to the sport's poor reputation with antics that would embarrass even those in a "sports entertainment event" akin to professional wrestling. The latest of which is Jean Pascal's "Take the test," rant during the pre-fight press conference with Bernard Hopkins which resulted in a short lived scuffle between the two fighters.

Was it Don Dunphy’s “creating the aura of a legend” that set in motion the demise of the “importance of being a sportsman.” To where, to be marketable, it became more important to be an “aura" than it was to be a classy winner?

Regardless, the science survives due to the ability of the best in it to still rise up through the muck and murkiness.

Enter the newest era of boxing. No other boxer at the world championship level, not even Muhammad Ali, has accomplished what Manny Pacquiao has in the ring--in belts, weight divisions, and sportsmanship. Yes, Sportsmanship! Even character! Yes, say it, even citizenship!

The world may be out of orbit. Instead of parents blocking boxing from their children's viewing for its past ugly example of self-promotion, self-adulation and vulgar rhetoric; they may now have them tuning in to watch an eight-time world, pound for pound champion to:

Hear humility: “My Fear is that I will forget to pray to God. What I have right now and what I achieve in life, that’s from God not from me; Boxing is not about killing each other; I’m satisfied and happy. I thank God for everything he gave to me.”

See as an example: A man that is devoted to helping and serving those less fortunate than himself, humble in spite of his accomplishments and growing worldwide fame; a man whose actions and behavior honors himself, his family, and his country and even elevates his sport in the eyes of the world.
Feel trust: Trust that it isn't misplaced in Manny Pacquiao to not go "bite an ear" off an opponent and that his actions outside the ring won't dishonor their faith in him; trust that as parents they won't have to explain "that's not how to act, talk, behave, or treat people." And finally, trust that their chosen example of "sportsmanship" and how a good citizen should act (that isn't an obsolete thought I hope) won't produce a rap sheet that will extend longer than one's list of boxing accomplishments.

The worldwide rise in the popularity of Manny Pacquiao should give us hope for the future of boxing when many are predicting its demise. It should give us all hope that “the good guy really can finish first” and that just being a good and decent person in one's life can subsequently improve the proverbial “human condition” at large.

Hopefully the sweet science will continue to maintain its prominence with the help of other boxers in the wings with displayed character like the Klitschko brothers, Bernard Hopkins, and Shane Mosley.

Can Pacquiao change boxing for the good, for good? Whatever the eventual impact of Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao has on boxing; he has already changed it for the good … at least for now. He's a shining example of unequaled achievement. Proof that "good guys" can finish first. We can only hope that his current influence and example, along with those of others now emerging, can make his era the start of greater things to come.

Boxing needs more examples like Pacquiao, Hopkins and Mosley thus insuring that the sweet science will live up to its name.

Source: http://boxscorenews.com/