While the sport of boxing continues to decline in popularity throughout the United States as can be expected there are numerous theories being floated as to why this is happening.  Some will say it is because other sports are so lucrative  such as the NFL and NBA that it is pillaging the talent pool that would have traditionally gone into boxing.

Another theory  is that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is on the rise and is drawing more young fighters into that sport than into the traditional sport of boxing resulting into a diluted pipeline of American boxers.  However; there is one theory that has not been put forward in the general media, sports media included; perhaps because it forces us to have a larger discussion about our society.

When one thinks of some of the great boxers over the last several decades; one pattern is very noticeable for those who care to look into the fighters backgrounds. Many of these fighters had been incarcerated. You maybe asking so what?  Or your response maybe that is understandable who else with an education or other professional opportunities would choose to be a professional boxer?  Isn’t boxing a sport for poor men looking to move up to escape poverty?

All of these responses are true in part; however the main reason for a dearth of American fighters is due to what I believe to be something entirely different. I believe the political sensitivity around one of the major reasons forth decline in American boxing is obfuscated because it forces the society to look at racism.  Racism is front and center when we talk about mass incarceration, 3 strikes, and other such laws on the books that have transformed sentencing guidelines.

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There are a number of champions and contenders who were formerly incarcerated who made it to the pinnacle of the sport. Sonny Liston; Ron Lyle; Mathew Saad Muhammad; Dwight Muhammad Qawi; and the legendary Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins who holds the record for title defenses and is still fighting for titles at nearly 50 years of  age.

Under today’s sentencing guidelines; many of these men would have served much longer sentences that would have taken them out of their athletic primes upon their release.  So in summary; while Mixed Martial Arts is hurting boxing, while the NFL is hurting boxing, it is Mass Incarceration and mandatory minimums as part of the ‘War on Drugs’ that is killing boxing in the United States.

Submitted by Christopher A. Clarke on 10/23/14. 

Christopher A. Clarke is managing editor of Black2020.Com and can be reached through the sites contact page.