A Jesuit magazine in Italy has thrown a written punch at professional boxing, condemning it as a “legalized form of attempted murder.”
No specific reason was given for the timing of “The Immorality of Professional Boxing.” But the article in Saturday’s issue of Civilta Cattolica noted the death of Leavander Johnson last month after he suffered brain injuries in losing his lightweight title to Jesus Chavez in Las Vegas.
Published in Rome, where gladiators once fought to the death, the magazine compared that spectacle to today’s pro boxing, terming it immoral and ruthless both in the ring and among the businessmen who profit from the sport, according to an Associated Press report.
Catholic and Jesuit spokesmen in the United States said they were unaware of any official church stance on boxing.
“It’s not part of any coordinated effort by the Jesuits,” said James Rogers, secretary for communications of the Jesuit Conference of the United States, the coordinating office for the religious order’s 10 national provinces.
Bill Ryan, spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, characterized the magazine’s stance as “a legitimate point of view, but it is just a journal of opinion” like other Jesuit and Catholic periodicals.
Riccardo De Girolami, secretary-general of the Italian Boxing Federation, told the AP that staffers of the Jesuit magazine, edited by Rome Jesuits and reviewed and authorized by the Vatican’s secretary of state, “don’t really know the sport. The competitive level is like any other sport.”
He suggested that the article also might have been in reaction to the film “Million Dollar Baby.” The movie, about a woman becoming a prizefighter, stirred controversy in dealing with euthanasia and a Catholic priest’s position on the sensitive issue.
