In South Dakota, men and women aren’t allowed to fight. That’s silly: none of us should be fighting; we should all be loving and hugging and working together for a better future….
Yeah, yeah. What I mean is, the South Dakota Athletic Commission prohibits boxing matches pitting females against males. (Also prohibited: bouts pitting a pro against an amateur, fights with more than two pugilists, pregnant boxers, gloveless fighters, and contests on state or federal holidays, because no one should fight over Christmas!)
But the national boxing authorities are allowing little boys and girls to box, and a Sioux Falls boxing moneymaker is alarmed:
A member of the South Dakota Athletic Commission opposes a national change made by USA Boxing allowing boys and girls to fight each other at ages 8 and 9.
George Giovanis of Sioux Falls made the point Friday, as the state commission considered renewing annual permission for USA Boxing to schedule bouts without commission approval.
George and and his brother Evangelos Giovanis (pronounced JEE-oh-vah-nee) own and operate 15th Round Boxing in Sioux Falls [Bob Mercer, “South Dakota Rule Bans Opposite-Sex Fights,” KELO-TV, 2022.12.16].
Giovanis’s concern does not appear to be shared by the folks who manage organized violence in other states:
[Outgoing commission chairman Michael] Kilmer said he didn’t know of another state that hasn’t allowed 8 and 9-year-old girls and boys to fight each other [Mercer, 2022.12.16].
If we accept the idea that children should be fighting for sport and entertainment in the first place, then if girls and boys are willing to step in the ring and compete, and if their coaches feel the kids are fairly matched, other states aren’t standing in the way of a good clean fight. Pounding each other into submission is backwards enough; must South Dakota be even more backwards in dictating by big-government rule that girls can’t fight boys?
Just a thought: let’s put the kids in masks and not tell anyone whether they are boys and girls. Just weigh in the little bruisers, match them up randomly, and see who comes out on top.
South Duhkota magats have never watched this movie which includes boy/girl boxing and is quirky.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Life_as_a_Dog
In South Dakota the Commission apparently has chosen to protect boys from being beat up by girls. An alternative would be to give each boy a participation trophy for being knocked down by his female opponent.
SD just cannot allow trans kids to be included, no matter what. This is how they’re covering all bases to exclude certain kids.
all the real money in combat sports comes from under-the-table matches anyway… i think this is just a lucrative invitation for an under 18 open-gender fight club. First meeting can be in my basement. Everyone bring your own mouthguards – dental health is overlooked far too often.
If magats were interested in protecting the female species, they would ban childbirth which kills more women than boy/girl boxing does.
Jim Jordan would prefer girl/boy wrassling. He was a cover up Doc Strauss boy you know.