Sports, beyond being a means of entertainment, are necessary for the prevention of diseases, health promotion, and reinforcement of socially accepted operational behaviors for improving the quality of life of people of any sex, gender, and age.
Boxing is a very particular sport that generates psychosocial benefits both for its essence and for being a sporting discipline, since it was created as a combat spectacle where a fighter with good physical conditions would fight another one who could be in lesser physical condition than him. This means that the latter had the opportunity, through training and determination, to impose himself against the favorite thanks to his strength and agility.
That is why boxing attracts especially children and young people in situations of social vulnerability, who consider that their own life is a constant battle that they must fight in order to obtain something.
Each step in boxing, beginning with training, generates a positive psychological and social impact on those who practice it, and some of these are:
Opportunity to have access to economic resources to meet basic needs, especially food, shelter, and health.
Opportunity to be part of a group, of a community that has the same interests and to be considered part of a family, getting immediate and disinterested support from the trainers, who will be their first emotional support when they have to face their insecurities that come from limitative ideas such as “You will be nobody”; “There are no opportunities for you”; “There is no room for the poor”; as well as the first modelers of desired behaviors and prosocial habits.
Hand in hand with the above comes the opportunity to feel valued, appreciated and respected, especially for those individuals who are trying to be reinserted into society, because many of them consider boxing as a means by which they can turn their lives around and thus transcend all the difficult circumstances from the past.
Boxing is a sport that fosters discipline and engages individuals with goals they once considered difficult to achieve, both in and out of the ring, becoming an occupational therapy in which they work on concentration, self-confidence, self-determination, disconnect from overwhelming problems, and move away from risky behaviors and violence.
Some people say “boxing promotes violence”, however it is quite the opposite. Boxing allows the athlete to maintain control in situations of pressure and tension, since the anger and aggressiveness is redirected to training to enhance the technique of the blows, making it a technique of emotional regulation with which a discharge of adrenaline and sense of well-being is achieved.
Additionally, it is an opportunity to develop life skills such as relationships and enjoying a positive interaction with others in familiar spaces or new environments; communication to express and receive information correctly with others through assertiveness and respect; obedience to follow and comply with orders or standard behaviors that allow coexistence, collaboration and participation in society; and last but not least, resilience to overcome difficult situations with the conviction that better times will come and then, better conditions.
Resilience is therefore part of the essence of boxing, it is what has allowed many children and young people to move forward, improve their quality of life, fulfill their dreams with self-confidence, with a positive attitude, with emotional maturity and with a strong determination to face tough times throughout their professional career, as well as in their personal life.
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