The Police and Citizens Youth Club in Woolloomooloo opened in 1937 and was the original club in the network of youth fitness and socialising locations. It has trained some of Australia’s elite boxers, including the famous boxing wharfie, Jimmy Carruthers, who won the world bantamweight title in 1952.
They once held adult boxing fitness classes there, and it was during these sessions I got to know one of those classic ‘old timers’ who had ‘seen it all’.
He’d speak of big personalities around the place, the grotesque spit buckets, and having to fish out the odd mouthguard from them. There were the dedicated ‘corner men’, and he’d recount sparring sessions which got out of hand. He loved boxing so much, although I mainly saw him pushing around a mop and bucket.
World champion Kostya Tszyu came in a few times, although he had his own training gym in Rockdale. It was there I saw him perform an extraordinary feat of strength: he climbed a long rope hanging from the gym’s high roof using only his arms; his legs remained limp. He went up, hand over hand, then down again with perfect control.
The old timer told me of a fight he once witnessed where a grandfather in his seventies entered an official NSW boxing competition, taking advantage of an oversight in the governing rules; there was no age restriction at the time.
He was drawn against a new but very powerful boxer aged 24. I can’t remember exactly, but I assume it was an amateur bout.
Apparently, everyone tried to convince the old guy to pull out, but for one reason or another, the bout went ahead. The 24-year-old, tears streaming down his face, walked into the middle of the ring and right-crossed the old bloke to the canvas. One punch did it.
He actually had no real choice other than to deliver the vicious blow, as pulling your punches, trying to throw a fight, or not trying your best is a violation of boxing rules and can ruin a career.
I’ve not been able to get my hands on a copy of the official rules of Olympic boxing, but I assume they are very similar to those of other events. A boxer must always attempt — at all times — to win the fight.
In addition to the official rules, there is another force encouraging boxers to do their best: audience fury.
At a Canberra fight night in the 1990s, I saw a crowd throw beer bottles at a boxer who was spitting out his mouthguard in order to have the fight slowed and the momentum of his opponent curtailed.
A boxer will know that throwing a fight (deliberately losing) or carrying an opponent (going easy to extend the fight duration) is a professional hazard. Not only will you face disqualification, possible suspension from the sport and fight payments deducted, you will risk retribution from someone in the crowd.
Many people bet on boxing fights, and if a boxer acts in ways other than what is expected, then they risk getting a lump of wood smashed over their head in the car park after the fight night is over. The crowd is usually vicious on deliberate acts of non-performance.
We got a glimpse into this phenomenon in the controversial Olympic boxing bout between Algerian boxer Imane Khelif (who is alleged to have XY chromosomes, although the results of a DNA test have not been published) and XX chromosome (female) Italian boxer Angela Carini. If you listen to the audio of the fight, you will note the audience reaction when Carini returns to her corner and throws in the towel. The audience booed her.
She broke a golden rule of boxing: she gave up too early in the fight. If you examine the footage, you will see that while Imane Khelif caught Carini with a solid right cross, the blow did not cause dizziness or even any instability on her feet. The referee did not put a protective count on her.
After the right cross, Carini shaped up again, but then after a few seconds, some thought came to her head, and she walked to her corner and abandoned the fight.
After the fight she burst into tears. My guess is that she was very disappointed with herself for abandoning the fight too early. But who can blame her?
If there is one sport sensitive about differences in body structure, it is boxing. That’s why in the men’s division there are seven weight classes and six in the women’s competition. Even a few kilos of difference in weight will undermine fairness and put the lighter boxer at risk.
Carini and Imane were in the same weight class, but Imane was clearly leaner and therefore had a higher proportion of this weight in muscle.
Carini had more body fat and, in boxing, that’s a very big deal. A higher proportion of body fat will make the boxer’s punches comparatively slower; speed is just as an important ingredient to winning as are strength and technical skill. Possibly because of testosterone, Imane went into the fight with superior strength and speed, so Carini was at a serious disadvantage.
With the rules of boxing requiring both competitors to try and knock out the other, it is amazing the IOC allowed this fight to proceed.
Nick Hossack is a public policy consultant. He is former policy director at the Australian Bankers’ Association and former adviser to Prime Minister John Howard.
