The loss of boxings racial, cultural and ethnic rivalries

Much of this is lifted from Budd Schulbergs school of thought so I will offer a brief intoduction for those unfamiliar with him. Schulberg was a jewish new yorker (1914-2009) who had a highly successful career as a novelist, film writer and sports journalist. Boxing was his forte and played a major part in all of his professional works be it films, writing or journalism and he offers great insight into and knowledge of the sport (even briefly being a boxing manager as a hobby).

Schulbergs life and affinity with boxing spanned numerous decades but really began in the late 1920s. This period was a golden age in boxing producing countless talents, some famous and some forgotten. In New York, where Shulberg grew up, their existed tremoduos rivlaries between the jewish, irish, italian and black boxers fuelled not only by fistic rivalries in the ring but also by the diversity of the partison racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of the fighters. In no small part boxing thrived as a result with even small hall shows between local rivalries right up to the world champions being eagerly anticipated affairs. Boxing ran in the blood of most communities and would continue to do so for the next 20/30 years.

Schulberg has always viewed boxing as a magnifying glass for society in general. It was now coincidence that the swells of boxing rankes were drawn from first or second generation Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants as well as black fighters who all shared the lower rungs in society of the time. Boxing was, and still is, a way out of poverty. But in the heydays of boxing it meant a thriving sport fuelled by rivalry and representative of entire communities and classes of people. Fighters, even local ones, were adopted as heroes in a way few are today.

As the jews, italians and irish gradually rose through society over generations and became intermingled in the American melting pot these rivalries began to fade over time and the great fighters began to be pulled from these ranks less and less. Today, Schulberg sees the mainly black and hispanic boxers that populate boxing in America nowadays as being representative of the continuing descrimination and depravation of these inner city communities. And therefore its no surprise that boxing draws its fighters from these places.

But the great cultural, ethnic and racial rivalries appear to have gone (one could say Peurto Rica/Mexico or Mexico/U.S still exist in some form) and Schulberg believes boxing is poorer for it, even if society is not neccessarily.

Will point it out before someone beats me to it but Schulberg is dead mate. However I do agree with his general thrust that the lack of the ethnic rivalries and the movement away from the days of the great fighters from Jewish, Irish and Italian backgrounds is one the sport is poorer for. I recently read a book called When Boxing was a Jewish Sport” and the subject is touched upon in there and there have been studies done that show there is or was always huge uptake in boxing amongst second generation immigrant groups in America. First the Irish had fighters like Dempey, Sullivan and Corbett, then the Jewish immigrants with the likes of Ross and Leonard before the Italians through the likes of Graziano and Marciano.

Suppose it is inevitable as these groups conditions become better it was inevitable they would not be quite so drawn to the sport. What is also worth remembering is back at the turn of the previous century there were few other sporting options were open to those in poverty, American football was largely a college sport, basketball was nowhere near as popular and baseball diamonds were not particularly prevalent in inner city urban areas and even when they were the sport was a closed shop to black folk. Do agree with him though that the sport is poorer for the lack of participation by these groups as ethnic groups do tend to support their own, you only have to look how well the likes of Duddy and Andy Lee draw in the states despite not being any great shakes, hard to believe though that Dmitry Salita will reinvigorate interest amongst the jewish community.

Wasn't McLarnin known as the 'Jew Killer'?

(courtesy of Union a few weeks back)

Was indeed Sean, he had a few nicknames but that was certainly amongst them.

Great article, Manos.

Lou Duva, ninety now, has said similar things. I don't have the relevant book at hand now (may post later when I'm at home) but he said that in New Jersey and New York, the two places where his childhood was divided, the seething rivalry between those of Italian, Irish and Jewish stock even manifested itself regularly in the shape of playground fights as well as professional ones.

I posted an article two or three years back (BBC) on the decline of truly great white fighters in the past few decades, and the reason most agreed upon, almost unanimously, was that economic gaps and chasms of living conditions between Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans and Jews have been bridged to those of middle America in a way that those of the Afro-American and Hispanic communities haven't, or at the very least that they began to close the gap earlier.

It may seem ill-informed to say such a thing, because the fact that these communities are generally better off in the States than they were sixty or seventy years ago should, in theory, be a universally celebrated one, but I do think that boxing has suffered for it.

The greater good has benefitted, of course, but when you're a die-hard boxing fan it's a shame to see Benny Leonard and Barney Ross, or Tony Canzoneri and Willie Pep, being gradually replaced as the torch bearers for their people in the boxing world by Dmitri Salita and Paulie Malignaggi respectively!

Hats off for the article, again.

He is indeed, alma. I would second that recommendation!

I was not that bothered with the book, but as a rule I don't tend to care for those collection of articles books, just tend to whet your appetite for full books on the subjects

I have to disagree entirely with Budd here. I for one am glad its going (hasn't gone as when Kevin Mitchell fights there is an under-current I dont quite like).

If ethnic, racial and cultural rivalries are goodfor boxing, then I hope boxing dies to be honest.

One sad episode was the Holmes/Cooney fight when Ronald Reagan places a phone in Cooney's changing room but not one in Holmes' changing room in the hope that the Great hite Hope won the fight.

Poor Cooney got branded a racist which is something he absolutely was not. Reagan was the racist though.

Also the racial undertones between Kaylor and Christie and lets not forget Minter against Hagler.

Nations supporting their own is fine. Regions supporting their own is fine. Anything else to me is unsavoury.

"... the great cultural, ethnic and racial rivalries appear to have gone (one could say Peurto Rica/Mexico or Mexico/U.S still exist in some form) and Schulberg believes boxing is poorer for it, even if society is not neccessarily. "

Civilised society attempts to be pro-multiculturism as too does modern sport. Racial rivalries supposedly belong to a "primitive, pre-politically correct age". I would suggest that American demographic research, involving the impovished, would indicate a trend toward racial rivalries being very much alive, even if the contemporary middle-class media refrain from it being the focal point of boxing matches....and rightly so.

azania wrote:I have to disagree entirely with Budd here. I for one am glad its going (hasn't gone as when Kevin Mitchell fights there is an under-current I dont quite like).

If ethnic, racial and cultural rivalries are goodfor boxing, then I hope boxing dies to be honest.

One sad episode was the Holmes/Cooney fight when Ronald Reagan places a phone in Cooney's changing room but not one in Holmes' changing room in the hope that the Great hite Hope won the fight.

Poor Cooney got branded a racist which is something he absolutely was not. Reagan was the racist though.

Also the racial undertones between Kaylor and Christie and lets not forget Minter against Hagler.

Nations supporting their own is fine. Regions supporting their own is fine. Anything else to me is unsavoury.

Fully agree with you Az, Sadly there is always going to be an element that see things along racial and ethnic lines, and that element is more sizeable than many would like to admit. As the article refers to, the ethnic make-up of boxing has historically linked to economics and immigration, and boxing has drawn its participants from those whose prospects of otherwise achiving comfortable lives is more limited. The collapse of the Soviet union has led to increasing numbers of professional boxers emerging from those areas, and a consequent shift in the ethnic make up of the sport- the heavy weight div . being a great example- look how many white, eastern europeans have fought for or held a version of the title in the past decade, and then compare that to the 80's and 90's. It is also a sad truth that racisim in these countries is rife, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear the fans of these fighter may well hold those sorts of views, and the days of inter-racial fights being seen as battles of racial superiority are sadly not going to be consigned to history just yet.

to me these rivialrys overshadowed a lot of the actual performances, i no little of the fights yet hear about the great white hope and other unsavoury sounding characters. it conjures up a horrible images of the sport.