Shoddy Sport

Feilding Star, Volume IX, Issue 84, 16 February 1888, Page 2

Shoddy Sport

The revival of the prize ring, and the open encouragement given to boxing contests by all classes of society in England and her Colonies, is exciting considerable comment among those who were of the opinion such exhibitions had become things of the past. The reason for this retrogression in public taste, we believe, is to be found in the wane of the popularity of horse racing. It will be remembered by many of our readers, that after the great fight between Sayebs and Hebnjln, followed by the ridiculous exhibition the latter made of himself, the P.R. fell into disrepute. With its decadence the popularity of racing became intense, spreading not only over England, but most of the civilised countries in Europe. It may be safely said that within the last fevr years the latter means of sport has reached its apogee, and is now on the wane. The same causes produce the same effects in each case. When price fighting and horse racing became the means of swindling the public by experts and " professionals," who neither raced nor fought for the prize money, but for what was " got on" in the betting ring, their fate for the time was sealed. Racing has had a turn ; it is now the turn of boxing. When people get sick of the so-called " glove contests" they will drop them and go back to racing, or some other means of obtaining excitement by winning or losing their money. All attempts by well meaning people to stem the tide when at the flood are not only useless, but actually injurious to the reform advocated. They supply that pressure from without which gives strength to any cause, however bad it may be. Let the " boxing contests" alone, and they will fizzle out, leaving nothing behind but an unsavoury memory. The lionising of the American boxer, Sullivan, by tbe people of England will do more to prove the extreme absurdity of the thing than a thousand sermons could do.