Should she fight a man?

In today's Boston Globe, Ron Borges discusses the Mississippi Athletic Commission's decision to let boxer Ann Wolfe to fight relatively unknown fighter James Johnson in a column titled "In all fairness, pick another fight."  I have conflicted feelings about this one. Borges is very fair to Wolfe in his piece - doesn't blame her for wanting this fight - it means money and as Selena Roberts of the NYTimes wrote two weeks ago -- there's more money and media exposure for women athletes when they take on their male counterparts, unfortunately.

Borges blames the Commission for allowing the fight. Borges is one of the top boxing writers and he knows Wolfe's solid career. He raises a lot of good points. If you read the column, the reasons Wolfe wants to fight are sad and reflected of the situation for some women athletes who are trying to make a living from their sport. On the other hand, why can't a woman and a man slug it out in a boxing match? We're seeing women play men in golf, compete against men in car racing, etc. Is it because boxing is so raw and so violent, that this match-up somehow this crosses the line? I've been mulling this one in my head all day long.  I don't know what the answer is, but I will closely be watching to see how the media plays this one.

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[Dick Masterson]

This fight is going to be such a joke. It's a sad thing that they're doing to a man's sport.

-Dick