05/05/2015
Compassion doesn't arise out of rationalization. It comes from the simple empathy of witnessing a fellow human being's unfortunate situation. I read stories of people who overdose on He**in, no one forced it on them, but one can still feel sorry that in their choice to take drugs, they lost their life. In this particular story, have some heart, the man did what he knew how to do well. It wasn't illegal and certainly we each can place ourselves in the mindset of having limited choices in terms of how to succeed. Within his culture, (I imagine) arranged marriage and way of life, fighting seemed like the best and fastest way to provide a secure life for all. It didn't work out that way, and his case is rare, and for all of this, though I dislike boxing for this very outcome, I am sorry, and feel a sadness after reading this story. Compassion doesn't require I relate to his decision making. It comes, unlike this human being's decisions, involuntarily. My hope is that things improve for him and his devoted wife. Life can be hard, surely as adults we each know this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/sports/meet-mago-former-heavyweight.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
For Magomed Abdusalamov, 34, also known as the Russian Tyson, life was never the same after he lost for the first time in his 19th professional fight.