Boxing - for anybody?

**Tonuzaba** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 6:31am

Greetings,

I am curious about what you guys think of a phenomenon we're having over here in Slovakia... I just happened to work on a report about this guy, an ex-cop and a pretty successful enterpreneur making business with everything from making Tokaj wines to building ships.

He's supposedly also a former boxer and now he decided to lively up his new huge discotheque with so called "midnight boxing matches".

He built a (allegedly olympic quality) boxing ring in one of the rooms of the discotheque. At midnight during weekends, anybody male/female, young/old can pull gloves on and enter the ring. Including children (from 12, accompanied by parents) and also people with some alcohol in their blood.

Gloves are the only safety equipment, people who never had any boxing training enter the ring in the clothes they arrived at the discotheque at, only shoe-less.

There's a security guard acting as referee, with a live gun (!) on his side - this was one of the biggest shockers for me personally...

Anybody entering gets 100,- Slovak crowns paid (about 4-5 USD), the winner gets 500,- SK (about 20 USD). Illegal betting is being rumoured.

The organizer claims to do this in order to reduce he amount of fights that would happen anyhow and as a way to pick out boxing talents that could join his official boxing club - a newcomer in the world of Slovak amateur boxing, not yet fully accredited.

The Slovak association of boxers amateurs (http://www.skboxing.sk/) is against this practice and all boxers/trainers I spoke with say this has nothing to do with the sport of boxing. A trainer I spoke with also spoke of at least 5 months of gym training needed for a total newcomer before any match.

The thing is the organizers call it boxing, the website's address with the videos of the matches is almost identical to the official amateur boxing site, etc. - this thing can be viewed by the less informed public as boxing, which it is not.

Here is a link to the videos of some of the matches (including one with 2 obviously drunk people):

http://www.skboxing.com/index.php?op...d=923&Itemid=1

Another element to be taken into consideration is that the mostly poor Gypsy population of the Eastern Slovak town is admiring this guy, the organizer. He is relatively successful and rich, offers them jobs, has built the disco for them...

What do you guys think of this?

**PirateJon** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 6:44am

Do they chant "two men enter, one mans leaves"?

**Asriel** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 6:48am

Sounds like a Van Damme movie

**Grashnak** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 6:50am

Because, of course, the best way to identify legitimate boxing talent is to let random drunks beat on each other in front of a screaming crowd...

I wonder how long it will take until someone is hurt or crippled. I vote not long...

**Tonuzaba** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 7:11am

This is no Bloodsport, if you check out the videos - and you should - most of the "matches" are considered fun by both participants...

During 2 months of the "midnight league" nobody was hurt seriously, although I too believe it was rather due to luck than planning.

However, we're talking about the "good name" of boxing as a sport/art and about whether this is an acceptable way to scout for boxing talents...

If the organizer would do this just because of financial gain (the matches mean more people come to the disco and spend money there), I'd be willing to say: let him.
This way it seems like he's bastardizing boxing...

Although it's true that young gypsy boys often show remarkable physical talent for boxing and that their poorness/living conditions often means they cannot afford to join an ordinary boxing club...

**Kambei Shimada** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 8:05am

I can see how an event like this would be sucessful.

Alot of fairs in Northern English Towns used to do a simular sort of thing before we all became health and safety obsessed thanks to the EU.

Still its not gonna do the sport of boxing a world of good is it?
Particularly if someone gets seriously injured- which is more than likely if alcohol is involved.

**sempaiman** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 8:07am

Do they try to match guys equally or can a "ringer" really cut up a guy....

**HappyOldGuy** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 10:22am

No mouthpieces? Does this guy have a sideline in dentistry?

I wonder what gloves they are using.

**TroyForum** · Posted On: 3/20/2008 1:17pm

I thought I saw this on Undisputed II.

**colonelpong2** · Posted On: 3/21/2008 9:41pm

Sounds worrying to me. Maybe on the plus side itll cut down on more dangerous bar fights by giving them a chance to settle their differences in a more controlled form of combat.