Nut halves

I would not be the first to note that boxing is a sport that uniquely fosters and embodies a certain masculine ideal. Oates writes that “boxing is for men, and is about men, and is men.” As a young Black man, I had few heroes who stood out in my young mind as starkly as Muhammad Ali, head and shoulders above any other great athlete this country has produced. When my father told me that my grandfather had fought in Golden Gloves to somewhat notable success in his region, I felt a swelling sense of pride. 

When Paul writes of self-discipline in his first letter to the Corinthians, he invokes boxing.