A hit with the fans but still a fight for acceptance

This week saw netball great Irene van Dyk sign up for Fight For Life. Photo / Getty Images

Does any sport conjure up as many mixed feelings as boxing?

The training is a superb means of getting fit, yet actual competition involves trying to inflict physical harm by punching opponents everywhere above the belt, including the head.

It imbues participants with self-defence skills and confidence, yet can incite a pack mentality as spectators bay for blood in a mass act of schadenfreude.

In this year's Fight For Life, it will fundraise for a worthy cause in Hospice Waikato, yet condone violence, albeit controlled, which myriad social campaigns are trying to eradicate.

But enough wowsering. Who is this writer to argue with the market forces which will unveil themselves at Hamilton's Claudelands Arena on December 5?

If previous editions of Fight For Life are an example, thousands will stride in for their three-course meals in tuxedos and gowns, salivating at the prospect of heads getting bashed in for 'a good cause'. The fighters know this. They are consenting adults capable of making up their own minds about getting in the ring to take or mete out punishment.

The contenders regularly talk of wanting to demonstrate the courage to overcome their fears yet, surely, in a corner of their minds is the egotistical desire to unleash their inner Rocky and practise Pierce Egan's 1812 euphemism "the sweet science of bruising".

Promoters like Duco Events are aware of the physical, mental and emotional drivers. They mix them together expertly like entertainment chemists to produce evenings which ensure the fighters satiate the crowd's appetite for pugilism.

This week saw netball great Irene van Dyk sign up. She met the prescribed criteria to which dozens before her have aspired when she said: "I'm doing it thinking of people who fight for their lives every day. This is my little bit to help them live their lives to the full.

"I've never fought with anyone physically, and never punched anyone in the face. I'm not condoning anyone getting out there in the school playground to fight at lunchtimes. This is a controlled environment and this is about the cause." Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

In signing her, the savvy Duco know they sit on a financial and altruistic powderkeg; a recognised sportswoman who the crowd will pay to see, a noble charity which deserves support, a media primed to release the story as click-bait which keeps advertisers happy, and a compelling social media system which will see candidates channel their best Muhammad Ali in posting 'call-out' videos on Facebook. Win, win, win, win.

Still, (moral high ground warning) even with a boxing bag swinging in the breeze at home, no amount of rhetoric about the wonders of the sport could convince me of the satisfaction which presumably comes from getting in a ring and attempting to mash up your opponent's face. I'd rather just open my wallet, get the credit card out and donate, especially for anyone who has ever seen the saintly work of hospices first-hand.

Presumably van Dyk will achieve her goal; hopefully, for the greater good, Hospice Waikato achieve theirs*.

•Fight For Life raised $100,000 for Hospice Waikato last year.