Pugilism returns

It looks like nanny Tony will soon have a decision to make about what’s good for our children because, after a forty-year absence, boxing is creeping back onto the school curriculum.

The revival has started in Bromley and will soon spread nationwide, sports minister, Richard Caborn, is in favour but it remains to be seen how the rest of his party react. Doubtless there will be much hand wringing about the potential for head injuries and suchlike but the benefits in health and fitness would outweigh these, particularly when placed against the predicted obesity time bomb and it’s financial repercussions.

Boxing has divided society since it’s legitimisation as a sport in 1867. Some claim it’s simply legal brutality and will subscribe to the view that we could be equipping the next generation of hoodies with the tools to assault people with their fists as well as weapons. However, the success of Amir Khan has brought boxing a whole new generation of fans and at the same time emphasised how cultural and class barriers don’t matter in a sport where the will to win is the most highly valued trait you can display. In this day and age, where feral youths are running wild and see anti social behaviour orders as a badge of honour, maybe anything that teaches them self-respect, discipline and honour can only be a good thing?

The few brave schools that have started this experiment have set the ball rolling, it only remains to be seen whether the government bow to the expected pressure to step in and wrap everyone back up in cotton wool or leave the next generation to learn the hard way that success only comes with application, effort and pain.