There are certain things in life where, generally speaking, there’s no allowance for middle ground. The most obvious example of that being party politics. Largely speaking, you were either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael and there were very clear lines in the sand pertaining to same and they weren’t for crossing. Though in truth there was always an element of horse dung about that too because at the end of the day De Valera and Collins were originally on the one side, only Dev sent Collins to do his dirty work and then refused to accept the outcome. Making The Big Fella a scapegoat.
Thankfully, at last, Civil War politics appear to be dead and gone in this country but, even in much more mundane, maybe even trivial, occurrences in the world and yes even in sport where there appears to be no wriggle room. Something highlighted when a Kildare-based media colleague who stated during the week that “On a point of principle” he wouldn’t watch Boxing in the Olympics.
Similar sentiments would willingly emanate from this seat with regard to MMA because I think it is equally if not more worthy of going into the ‘Is it a sport at all’ debate than, say, the likes of Darts or Snooker or Pool. Said debate is not for today however. Compulsion is to return to my colleague’s aversion to the pugilism ongoing in Paris presently.
One need only look at the skulduggery of some of Tyson Fury’s entourage to decipher how rancid life in and outside of the ropes. The one area within boxing this corner was prepared to give a pass to was the amateur ranks i. e. the Olympics, but sadly, over the past week, there has been a putrid amount of evidence to suggest that the last vestiges of decency left in the sport have been engulfed by a pit of corrupt squaller.
Now, I have absolutely no problem with LGBT or any other letters you care to attach here, but what anybody with half an ounce fairness in the them would surely concede is that allowing a biological male compete in a female sporting event is as asinine as it is dangerous.
Just because Jesus was born in a stable it didn’t him a horse. Likewise, no amount of surgery can change a person in any way other than appearance. Castrate a bull, it becomes a bullock, not a cow or a heifer. The exact same outcome applies to Algerian fighter Iman Khelif against whom Angela Carini of Italy threw in the towel – and rightly so – after 46 seconds in the ring.
Nobody is questioning anybody’s right to whatever they want to be – isn’t that has a large proportion of the nation appalled by and sick of Enoch Burke and his travelling circus – but you can’t just augment your appearance and then get into a boxing ring as if you’re 100% woman and taking on an opponent of commensurate strength.
In fairness to the International Boxing Association (IBA) they had already refused Khelif permission to box with the individual having failed to meet their eligibility criteria, if that’s the correct terminology to use.
But then, in my case, a lifetime of observing Pat Hickey and his ilk should be evidence enough that the Olympic movement is a law unto itself. Mind you, if there was even a scintilla of doubt about that being the case, a few Irish boxers are counting the cost of that reality presently.
How neither Aoife O’Rourke or Daina Moorehouse, in particular, failed to progress only Our Lord can know. Though what hope did the latter in particular have with Bernard Dunne and Kenny Egan opining that “It seemed preordained for the French fighter to win” and that there were warnings that at least two of the judges in Daina’s bout were susceptable to corruption.
Ireland remain on course to have our best Olympiad ever, and more about that will appear in this space very shortly, but its maddening tp think that it could and should already be even better if our boxers got fair play.
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