Good, Clean Sport?

"What is to be said about the lawfulness of prizefighting and boxing?" The word "lawfulness" refers to Roman Catholic Church law; the question appears in the current issue of the American Ecclesiastical Review, a learned monthly for the priesthood published by the Catholic University of America. The published reply, by the Rev. Francis J. Connell, top U.S. expert on the secular applications of canon law, might seem to many a fight fan like an ecclesiastical rabbit punch:

"Boxing, in the sense of giving and parrying light blows ... is lawful for the purpose of exercise and recreation . . But it is difficult to reconcile prizefighting, as we have it today, with Catholic principles of morality. For, undoubtedly, the purpose of the fighters is to deal each other severe blows, and if possible to score a 'knock-out.' That grave injuries frequently come to those who follow prizefighting as a career is well known from experience .

"This opinion may seem somewhat severe in view of the widespread conviction of the American people that prizefighting is a 'good, clean sport.' Yet, it is difficult to see how any other interpretation of the fifth commandment ['Thou shalt not kill'] can be given."*

*Among Catholic prizefighting champs: John L Sullivan, Jim Corbett, Gene Tunney, Freddie Cochrane, Willie Pep, Jake LaMotta.

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