Jersey City Warrior Goes Down

Arturo Gatti has hit the deck one last time. Looks like he did it in style.

And, as this article says, it's too bad he had to do it against a no-name 'B' level fighter, but sometimes it takes that kind of loss to really let someone know that it's time to go.

I like boxing despite myself. I went to the Barrow Street Bar to watch the DeLaHoya-Mayweather fight, and the atmosphere was awesome. Everyone was into the fight, and it was a great one, with Mayweather being the tactician and De La Hoya trying to land combos furiously staving off the end of HIS career.

But when it comes to the end of a boxer's career, you really see the ugly side of this sport. Even broken-down offensive linemen from football fare better after their sport then old heavyweights. Ali is only the most visible, but there are plenty of crazy, bad-kneed, early-demented former heavyweights out there.

I am, however, libertarian-leaning. There's no way I'd stop the sport just because it's bad for the participants. These people know what they are doing, and they chose to get into it.

(I'll do my best to keep any of my children from ever playing this sport, though, I'll tell you that.)