Tough love for California boxing

This young boy could be world champion one day. But he lives in California where amateur boxing is now banned because some crooked individuals exploited kids like him. 

The economy is in the dumps and the main reason is greed.

 The same kind of greed that possesses a person to send two 8-year-old kids into the ring to box each other so he can make a quick buck by inviting his rich friends over to gamble on the atrocity he created. 

And because of those exploitations happening in San Francisco-area gyms, amateur boxing has been banned in California. The implications of this decision made by USA Boxing are huge. 

USA Boxing made the correct decision to send a loud-and-clear message to the rest of the country that sending young boys to box for gambling purposes is a serious infraction and will in no way be tolerated. But for the kids and rising prospects in California's boxing circuit, this news is crippling. 

They must suffer because of the stupidity and illegal activities of a few terrible people. California turns out hot prospects faster than almost any other state and the amount of world-champion level fighters is astounding. Boxing could see a recession in top-level talent if the ban remains in place for the next few years.

There are more than 650 boxers from California listed in boxrec.com. The next Oscar De La Hoya (a California boxing circuit product) may never be discovered because of this ban.

While missing out on potential world champions is a blow to boxing, the real worry should be about the kids. Even if there were no boxers from California to go on to win a world championship, at least it would have served as an outlet to stay off the streets. 

There is a reason 8-year-olds learn to box at a young age and most of the time it is because their parents want to keep them out of gangs and give them an outlet to learn discipline. I'm sure the kids can still take boxing lessons, but with no amateur circuit, there is not much chance the kid could mature and use boxing as a way to fight out of a bad situation. 

Now parents will be scared to even send their kids to a boxing gym because a few people decided to betray their trust and endanger the lives of their children. It was a shocking and sad day for boxing on Monday when USA Boxing made the announcement, but it needs to be a wake up call. 

There is a nasty, nasty underbelly in boxing and its about time someone starts cleaning it up and its better that USA Boxing is taking that initiative. It's one thing if you want to play politics and keep a professional fighter from competing for a well-deserved title shot or lowball a boxer on a purse, but when you endanger kids then you have crossed the line. 

Boxing is supposed to save kids from ending up in a bad situation; its not meant to trap them in a worse one.  

I love this sport, so it hurts when bad people leech of the kids and ambush an institution that has served a noble purpose in society for so many years. And anyone who doesn't think boxing can save lives is just wrong. 

I hope Boxing USA can restore order in California so the kids can stay off the streets and the fans can witness the rise of another great champion.