In this interview before her match against Cecilia Brækhus, the norwegian news paper asked her some quiestions. Listen to it here and say whay you think! http://www.vg.no/sport/boksing/artikkel.php?artid=10109160
Why is she fighting though? Is some petty money worth not being able to talk to your kids in 10-15 years time?
She's right. Unless you have the talent and heritage of a Mayweather or unless you're poor and hungry like a Pacquiao, you'd have to be stupid to become a professional boxer. For every guy who makes a good living out of it, there's 1000 guys getting stiffed by the promoters for peanuts for the price of brain-damage.
This is true. Whilst some of us here sit and cheer on brutal wars and make fun of certain fighters getting knocked out, we would never condone our loved ones doing this for a living.
Thing is, some men would actually risk brain damage to be able to feed their families. Another thing is that there will always be people -like us- who enjoy watching other men risk brain damage and will even pay to see it. When two people kick each others' ass severely, we call it "fight of the year" and celebrate. If it was not for the money and fame she got from boxing, no one would give a **** about what Mia St. John has to say on the matter. She'd be just another message board poster.
She might be a PE teacher. She might be a fitness trainer. She might be a post-woman. She might work in marketing or whatever. No risk of brain-damage and she would still make a good living. I doubt she's made enough to retire on fighting anyway.
She might be all of those things. My first point was that many people who chose to box for a living don't have all of these options.
Yes boxing should be banned. It helped me (St John) get out of poverty, alcohol and drug addiction. People dont care if you live or die (What??).
"A living wage" I believe that professional boxers know very early on how far their talents can possibly take them. They know if they are the class of fighters that will be fighting for peanuts and there are no grandiose delusions. Yet they fight on. What we call "a living wage" may not suffice for someone with four kids, or a sick family member with medical bills. Boxing for them is likely some source of supplemental income. Instead of going to the casino or betting on horses, they assume a risk (i.e. brain damage) that at least comes with some sort of guarantee, meager as it may be. And maybe they land a lucky punch and earn a slightly bigger payday for the next fight. ....Notice that I'm not disagreeing with anything you say because you are correct.
I don't think they fight for the money. What money? A few thousand dollars? That's all they're getting. I think they do it because they're young and they enjoy it. Don't forget how much time they spend training. If they worked at McDonald's all that time, they'd probably make more money.
