WHAT'S NEXT?

I suggest that the Jesuits and the Vatican next target their moral disapprobation on the drug dealers known as "the tobacco industry"--which is much more deadly than the boxing industry.

The New York Times
October 14, 2005

Jesuit Magazine Condemns Pro Boxing
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

ROME (AP) -- An influential Jesuit magazine close to the Vatican condemned pro boxing as a ''legalized form of attempted murder.''

The article in Civilta Cattolica, titled ''The Immorality of Professional Boxing,'' compared the sport to the bloody gladiator contests in ancient Rome. It also criticized the business side of boxing as being equally ruthless.

The magazine provided advance copies of the article, which will appear Saturday.

Boxing is a ''legalized form of attempted murder, in the short or in the long run,'' the magazine said. It also noted that fighters who don't die in the ring often suffer long-term physical and psychological injuries.

The article cited the deaths of hundreds of fighters in the last century, including Leavander Johnson, who died last month in Las Vegas. Johnson collapsed on his way to the dressing room after taking a beating in his IBF lightweight title defense against Jesus Chavez. Johnson underwent surgery and never came out of a medically induced coma.
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