Jermain Taylor: A Tragic Story that Reflects the Bigger Picture of What is Wrong With Boxing
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By Jesse “New School” Wright
As the old saying goes “It’s better to lend a hand than point a finger.” When my publisher here at Ringside Report “The Heart of Boxing, “Bad” Brad Berkwitt challenged me to write an honest piece on Jermain Taylor, that saying played over on repeat in my head. When the subject of Jermain Taylor comes up, it’s easier to pass judgment and ostracize him from the boxing universe for allegedly shooting his cousin during an altercation in August of 2014. Once a person commits a social taboo, it’s human nature to create distance from that person. This is not a plea for compassion, but an honest effort to try to understand how something like this could happen. The warriors who have dedicated their lives to the sport have made sacrifices of their body’s and soul’s that they will never get back. This is a call to action to acknowledge that boxing lacks, but absolutely needs, a universal governing body that protects the best interest of the boxers. There needs to be a support system in place to assist career boxers in leading well adjusted lives.
The overall unregulated nature of boxing makes it a fantasy land for capitalistic opportunists. There are many parties involved in the process of materializing boxing in to a legitimate professional competition. In one way or another, they all have a financial interest in the fighters. Nowhere is there a universal committee dedicated to the best interest of the fighters.
Boxing is an inherently violent sport. The most decorated accomplishment a participant can accomplish is to concuss an opponent so severely that he can no longer compete; that says something. We glorify guys who make a living out of merciless brutality in the ring, but expect them to turn it off and become model citizens when the show ends. In the case of Jermain Taylor, there may have just never been a transition out of that mind state. It’s not as easy as flipping a switch for everybody. There needs to be some type of task force to assure that every fighter has a natural transition when assimilating back in to society after the action stops and a more civilized lifestyle begins
“Bad” Brad Berkwitt has advocated several times for a pension plan for retired fighter’s over many years. That is a great idea, but it should be taken a step further. Fighter’s should have access to some form of financial management as well as financial education the same way the NFL has started offering to new players.
This is 2016. Gone are the days of guys like Don King taking advantage of a young gullible fighter like he did to Mike Tyson. The Muhammad Ali Act was created to protect fighters from managers who also act as promoters. The reason being is that a manager has a fiduciary relationship to protect a fighter’s interest. A promoter doesn’t have that responsibility which makes doing both a clear conflict of interest. Whether or not the Muhammad Ali Act has been enforced is highly debatable.
Improving fighter safety should be the final role to be fulfilled that is currently lacking. Let’s not forget that this is a sport where many are so proud that they must be protected from themselves through referee and corner stoppages because they refuse to go out on their own sword.
Every fight should be taken extremely seriously from a medical perspective. You do not play boxing. People suffer serious, untreatable head injuries all the time. There needs to be a party that is monetarily unattached to a fighter to evaluate when it is time for a fighter to hang them up.
Considering how fragmented the boxing world is, perhaps the best way to make these changes for the fighters should start with the fighters themselves starting a union. The person to get it started would have to be a responsible, socially conscious fighter who is also very well respected. A great option would be retired former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. He has the intelligence and history of social activism that would make spearheading a program to protect fighter’s best interests a natural role for him.
After giving us years of thrilling fights and unifying the middleweight division, Jermain Taylor’s life has now fallen apart before our eyes as have many others. Instead of pointing a finger at him and many others like him, it may be time to finally start lending a hand.
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