...Work in Progress

By Angeline Huang

A search of Barnes and Noble’s website comes up with 161 titles under the subject of Boxing – General & Miscellaneous, while the Proquest research engine returns 74,901 items for the word “boxing.” In the past six months alone, LexisNexis found 125 documents related to boxing. Although these numbers are smaller than those for sports such as baseball and tennis, the number of boxing titles found at the bookstore website almost equals the number of titles found under News & Magazine Writing, a query that resulted in 221 titles, to be exact.

The making of a boxer starts long before a fight; it begins in the mind. He possesses a way of thinking, putting priority on pride. Pete Hamill found this trait to be exemplified in Floyd Patterson, the subject of “Floyd’s Fight to Save His Pride,” one of Hamill’s many pieces related to the sport. For writers, it is a similar vice: ego. We take it upon ourselves, the only source we feel comfortable relying on, to bring our interpretation of the facts to the world. Whether the world agrees, approves, or dismisses is no matter. We say to ourselves, they will come around. Eventually, writers and boxers think, I will have my glorious day, and everything that came before will be forgotten. In this first matter, the writer finds the boxer to be a kindred spirit.

Physical exertion, exacting workouts, and sparring – hours and hours and hours of sparring, with different partners, in different rings – prepares a boxer for The Big Event. This readies the fighter to face whatever his challenger may throw at him, by learning to adapt. Likewise, the writer goes through drafts, different editors and other critics, to hone a rough piece into a publishable article. Adaptation is a slow process for a writer, as the ideas must first be put down on paper before most of the work can be done. But after the hours of preparation, the writer and the fighter both feel prepared to present a part of themselves to the public.

Both writers and boxers run the risk of being misunderstood. Advertisers, commentators – and sometimes even writers and boxers themselves – draw parallels between any conflict and a battle of good and evil. A boxer with a criminal record, like Sonny Liston, is placed immediately in a devilish position, while reporters go out of their way to make a saint of Floyd Patterson – and this fight was only one of many framed in this manner. In a similar vein, writers are often expected to be motivated by a previously held opinion, when in reality, some of the best reporting is done when the writer has no preconceived notions. We are all fighting for good, whatever our interpretation of good may be.

The similarity seems to end there, as the writer goes on to finally publish, and perhaps hear back from a few who reacted strongly to the piece. Meanwhile the fighter, on a good day, can shake hands, smile for photographers, and sign autographs until the next scheduled fight, sometimes longer. Some would argue that both writing and boxing can bring fame, but in a society that worships its celebrity-athletes – a society that even accepts such a title – that comparison loses its credibility. There are exceptions to every rule, however, but it is certain that while fighters can gain instantaneous fame after a big win, a writer’s work, when deserving of fame, is frequently not valued as such until much later.

Despite these different outcomes, writers and boxers both dabble in a profession that is pieced together by many small, blink-or-you’ll-miss-them moments. Every battle fought and every piece published could be appreciated for nearly the same value whether it was their first, fifteenth, or last. The next piece or fight can make or break the past or the future. So there is no time for those laurels, we must press on.

In the end, writers and boxers are both reluctant to let go. Those that have been successful work long and hard on a comeback, refusing to believe that they have accomplished all they can. Those that have yet to reach their desired peak always see The Big One glimmering on the horizon. Most would agree that boxing’s glory days are over for good. A smaller number would say that respectable writing is less than what it was in the days of Hemingway and Twain. If you ask us, the writers and the boxers, we’ll tell you we’re not done yet.

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