Consider me an Olympics skeptic. Chicago can’t adequately fund public transportation or education, much less the world’s premier two-week sports spectacle. Besides, as much as I love this town, I have to think more deserving cities are fighting for the 2016 summer games.
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WBC boxers are more polished and precise than Golden Gloves competitors, if less impassioned. These, after all, are the best amateur boxers in the world. (The pro fights are so filthy, boxing remains an Olympic sport that allows only amateurs to compete.) In some cases the quality was immediately apparent. Chinese light flyweight Zou Shiming and Kazakh light welterweight Serik Sapiyev both fought skillfully and brashly with their hands down—Zou looking like a cobra with his bobbing head, while Sapiyev displayed Ali-esque footwork—and it was no surprise that both were defending titles from the 2005 championships. The same went for Russia’s Matvey Korobov, a much more fundamentally sound boxer, who dissected his larger opponent in the finals to reclaim the middleweight crown. They were the only repeat champions in the 11 weight divisions.
What the fighters might have lacked in surface emotion was more than made up for in the stands. The Chinese, Mongolian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, and Uzbek boxers all were rooted on by fierce pockets of fans, and while I’m sure some were tourists, I got the impression the majority were immigrants eager to cheer their countrymen. It was a glorious sporting reminder of what an international city Chicago is, still welcoming new citizens from around the world. (The quietest bout of the finals was the lightweight fight between boxers from England and Italy.) Ticket prices in the upper deck rose from $10 to $15 for last Friday’s semifinals and to $25 for Saturday’s finals, yet Friday’s evening session found the Pavilion more than half full, and 5,137 spectators packed the place Saturday, with the upper deck jammed.
The craftiest ploy was pulled off by English lightweight Frankie Gavin. He fought in the plodding, pawing, awkward British manner, but his reach was long enough to poke Italy’s Domenico Valentino every time Valentino came in and he won the gold handily. Gavin didn’t drape himself in the British flag; instead, he produced a little flag bearing the Bears logo. The crowd roared, and one Pavlovian fan instantly called out, “Go Bears!” Oh yes, we’re ready to show the world what open-minded, all-embracing sports fans we are. v
