Boxers are NOT heroes!

[Novalia]

I am growing tired of the cliches in this show. I enjoy the content and the fighting but the boring cliches about these guys fighting for their loved ones is beating a dead horse.

Besides that... let's truly analyze their statements. They have been fighting for so many years and now they finally have a 1 in 16? shot at making a million dollars. For years they have been making NOTHING.. and looking at this Reid character he makes nothing and continues to populate his house with mouths he readily admits he can barely afford to feed!!

I don't call these people heroes. I call them selfish children. They are gambling with their family's futures. Instead of investing your last penny in training for the pie in the sky championship fight how about educating yourself so you can get a better job to provide for your family.

[speedbump]

Who's calling them heroes outside of their families?

[corprip]

They have been fighting for so many years and now they finally have a 1 in 16? shot at making a million dollars. For years they have been making NOTHING..

I too am tired of the cliche family scenes where the guy is muttering about this being his only hope for giving his family a better life. But I take exception to the above statement because for these guys, this is a once in a lifetime chance to make it. It's all about the promoters, and if a promoter (usually Don King) doesn't want you to fight, you don't fight. If you want to challenge someone, too bad unless the promoter says ok.

In many ways, this is more than a reality tv show. There is a subtext to the show, and that is a direct challenge to the boxing business to clean its act up. There has been alot of talk about how these guys never get a chance to call their own fights, and some guys talk about cleaning up boxing and restoring its integrity. That's code for "F*** Don King."

So maybe they're not heroes in the personal sense, but the task they are undertaking is of heroic proportions.

[CantGetNuf]

I think maybe to Sly they are heros. He sees these guys coming from poor background and trying to rise above that. To him that could be the definitian of a hero. To me John Walsh is a hero because he was able to rise up from a devestating loss and turn it into a way to help others. A hero isn't always someone who rushes into a burning building. Many people think of their single mother as a hero because of the obsticales they had to over come. So even though I don't think of boxers as heros I can see where others might think so.

[livin4reality]

You want to know what burns my biscuits? Watching the little kids watching their dads being beat up. Or watching their dads hit someone so violently. Have you ever looked at the expression on these kids faces? There was one little girl, in a white dress sitting on Mommy's lap. She looked scared to death. And all of this expoloitation for the almight dollar.

How can you explain to a 2 year old that daddy is doing this for the money. What a lesson to teach your kids. Jeez.

[Siryn]

It's all a matter of your point of view.

These guys punish themselves in order to earn a living. Is it a selfish way of doing it? No more selfish than the Wall Street Banker who only sleeps for a scant few hours at home. If they are living out their dream for their work, is it that bad? If their families truly support them, who are we to say that they aren't heroes?

[Wolf]

I don't think anyone has said they are heroes.
We are shown how their families support them, but then again, I wouldn't expect anything less. I know I would show my support if one of my family members decided to be a professional boxer. I wouldn't be to crazy about it, but I would still support him. If these guys have chosen this profession, who are we to knock them down for pursuing their passion.
I haven't walked in their shoes, so I am not about to tell any one of them how they should live their lives.

[kc_chris]

I also think it's important to remember that success in boxing does not necessarily mean you have to be fighting for a million dollars. Here locally - we have a couple of casino's that hold fights about once a month during the summer. One of the guys I work with has participated in some of the fights. For being an "undercard" on the event - he usually makes $3500-$5000. This guy also works a full-time job earning $60K/year. All said and done - he makes $25-30K/year boxing. And - he has done so for about 6 years now.

I guess my point is that you shouldn't "assume" that these guys are living in the poorhouse. I bet that all of them have made decent money. They have to have been somewhat successful to have made it on the show (boxers like Manfredo who was highly ranked and undefeated probably earned in excess of $10K/fight). Sure - there are lots of "small time" boxers that are earning $100/fight... but in the boxing world there are a whole lot more fighters that are earning $50K + /year... then there would be by working at McDonalds.

[rt1ky]

I don't call these people heroes. I call them selfish children. They are gambling with their family's futures. Instead of investing your last penny in training for the pie in the sky championship fight how about educating yourself so you can get a better job to provide for your family.

You could say the same thing about other reality tv shows' contestants, yet as a society, we still celebrate the winners. Maybe not as "heroes" but we do celebrate them.

Like someone upthread said, it's all about point of view.

[DezBelle]

You want to know what burns my biscuits? Watching the little kids watching their dads being beat up. Or watching their dads hit someone so violently. Have you ever looked at the expression on these kids faces? There was one little girl, in a white dress sitting on Mommy's lap. She looked scared to death. And all of this expoloitation for the almight dollar.

How can you explain to a 2 year old that daddy is doing this for the money. What a lesson to teach your kids. Jeez.

Yeah but this is nothing new. Almost every fight you see on showtime or HBO after the fight one of these guys are holding there little kid up in the air that just finnished watching, but we are just seeing more of it now. Most things happen that we dont normally get to see, we are just exposed to it more now so it seems new but its really not.