TheLukieBaby
Pro
Over the last couple of weeks I have been reflecting on something that, though it has been an issue in MMA and a lesser extent boxing, it has never been something I cared much about. The issue I am talking about has affected my favorite baseball team, the San Francisco Giants. Melky Caberra, who the fan base had lovingly called the "Melk Man," was found to have been doping. In hindsight, he probably doped last year in Kansas City to prolong his career. When I first heard about Melky I felt cheated, hurt, and betrayed. It was almost like when Juan Uribe went to the miserable colors of blue after the Giants won the World Series.
Then I began to think look back over my years watching baseball and I thought that maybe I noticed a kind of pattern. I wonder if there are some class issues associated with juicing. Do players who come from under class or even lower middle class backgrounds tend to feel more pressure to perform in Triple A? These class issues may also, in some cases be linked to race as well. As a white male I know of what I speak. I understand white privilege, for the most part, because every day I benefit from it. See, I can fail with a certain amount of security in knowing my family is there to catch me. I can drive my car anywhere without being bothered and I can walk around in a store without the security guard following me. I know plenty of white players have juiced over time, but I wonder how the pressure of creating a life out of baseball without any safety net can impact the decisions a guy might make in order to have success.
So, what does this have to do with boxing? Jon Jones who we have beat to death over the course of minutes, hours, days, turned down a fight on 8 days notice resulting in the card, UFC 151, being cancelled. We can argue about the morality of Jones not thinking of others who lost a lot of money in the process. Dana White would have made a stronger card and the decision Jones made might not have villianized him to a whole fan base that already has trouble embracing diversity.
I am not really interested in going into that since I have written two other pieces on the subject [Jones & UFC 151] and it is a mute point. I bring this up because a financial burden and/or the strain of no hope seems to have created a gladiator class in our society. What is the gladiator class? The gladiator class is the men and women who are serving overseas in the line of fire, doing multiple tours of duty, the majority of whom are not from elite families. The gladiator class is the farm system baseball players in baseball like Melky, who take "juice" just to stay relevant in the sport to avoid the alternative. The gladiator class, in the most classic sense, is represented by Arturo Gotti and Johnny Tapia, men who were not just gladiators in the ring, but lived as such outside, partially explaining their shortened lives.
As the days go by, I have found one thing to be true. Jon Jones is not from the gladiator class, he is an athlete. Is there anything wrong with that? No, but the UFC seems to feel that if you are not willing to fight on the drop of the dime for the mishandled undercards, which are slowly becoming worse than most boxing PPV. Jones was selfish, but maybe he truly isn't a fighter - just someone to whom the sport came easy and if he cannot create a tactical game plan, he feels as naked in the cage.
Another comparison I thought of was Victor Ortiz who since Josesito Lopez broke his jaw and quit on the stool and has been labeled a quitter. I have often wondered if Ortiz even enjoyed boxing, if it was nothing more than a job to him, and something that he was very good at. With Ortiz when any resistance is shown he seems to fold and in his last fight he was even berated by his trainer, Robert Garcia, for quitting. Should we critique these fighters based on the fact that they are not able to show toughness of Ali's, LaMottas, Ray Robinsons, or should we celebrate their greatness as fighters who are able to fight on a moments notice or fight through the tough times.
So, what I wish to leave you with is one thing for every Jon Jones who thinks that guy on the card will get cut after he loses his next fight, but keeps fighting in terribly sanctioned events for no other reason than to avoid what he has to go home to. The guys who were all-state baseball players in high school, and college. Then they find themselves as nothing more than role players on a Triple A team competing against players who obviously seem to have done something to their bodies to emulate the physiques of Greek Gods. This not a letter of sympathy or excuse for any of those who use steroids, this is more of a reflection about how people can justify what they do. Much like America today, we have created an unspoken caste system and at the bottom of the pole is the gladiator class who is expected to entertain, fight our wars and be voiceless. Yet, when those who come from the gladiator class take short cuts we look at them as though they have no moral standard. Just some food for thought.
Then I began to think look back over my years watching baseball and I thought that maybe I noticed a kind of pattern. I wonder if there are some class issues associated with juicing. Do players who come from under class or even lower middle class backgrounds tend to feel more pressure to perform in Triple A? These class issues may also, in some cases be linked to race as well. As a white male I know of what I speak. I understand white privilege, for the most part, because every day I benefit from it. See, I can fail with a certain amount of security in knowing my family is there to catch me. I can drive my car anywhere without being bothered and I can walk around in a store without the security guard following me. I know plenty of white players have juiced over time, but I wonder how the pressure of creating a life out of baseball without any safety net can impact the decisions a guy might make in order to have success.
So, what does this have to do with boxing? Jon Jones who we have beat to death over the course of minutes, hours, days, turned down a fight on 8 days notice resulting in the card, UFC 151, being cancelled. We can argue about the morality of Jones not thinking of others who lost a lot of money in the process. Dana White would have made a stronger card and the decision Jones made might not have villianized him to a whole fan base that already has trouble embracing diversity.
I am not really interested in going into that since I have written two other pieces on the subject [Jones & UFC 151] and it is a mute point. I bring this up because a financial burden and/or the strain of no hope seems to have created a gladiator class in our society. What is the gladiator class? The gladiator class is the men and women who are serving overseas in the line of fire, doing multiple tours of duty, the majority of whom are not from elite families. The gladiator class is the farm system baseball players in baseball like Melky, who take "juice" just to stay relevant in the sport to avoid the alternative. The gladiator class, in the most classic sense, is represented by Arturo Gotti and Johnny Tapia, men who were not just gladiators in the ring, but lived as such outside, partially explaining their shortened lives.
As the days go by, I have found one thing to be true. Jon Jones is not from the gladiator class, he is an athlete. Is there anything wrong with that? No, but the UFC seems to feel that if you are not willing to fight on the drop of the dime for the mishandled undercards, which are slowly becoming worse than most boxing PPV. Jones was selfish, but maybe he truly isn't a fighter - just someone to whom the sport came easy and if he cannot create a tactical game plan, he feels as naked in the cage.
Another comparison I thought of was Victor Ortiz who since Josesito Lopez broke his jaw and quit on the stool and has been labeled a quitter. I have often wondered if Ortiz even enjoyed boxing, if it was nothing more than a job to him, and something that he was very good at. With Ortiz when any resistance is shown he seems to fold and in his last fight he was even berated by his trainer, Robert Garcia, for quitting. Should we critique these fighters based on the fact that they are not able to show toughness of Ali's, LaMottas, Ray Robinsons, or should we celebrate their greatness as fighters who are able to fight on a moments notice or fight through the tough times.
So, what I wish to leave you with is one thing for every Jon Jones who thinks that guy on the card will get cut after he loses his next fight, but keeps fighting in terribly sanctioned events for no other reason than to avoid what he has to go home to. The guys who were all-state baseball players in high school, and college. Then they find themselves as nothing more than role players on a Triple A team competing against players who obviously seem to have done something to their bodies to emulate the physiques of Greek Gods. This not a letter of sympathy or excuse for any of those who use steroids, this is more of a reflection about how people can justify what they do. Much like America today, we have created an unspoken caste system and at the bottom of the pole is the gladiator class who is expected to entertain, fight our wars and be voiceless. Yet, when those who come from the gladiator class take short cuts we look at them as though they have no moral standard. Just some food for thought.
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Rumble my dude..he just needs to take better care of himself. He'll be fine at 205...dude just softhearted outside the cage 