("Should I use the golf analogy or the fishing analogy this time?")
New York State Assemblyman Bob Reilly made an appearance on Larry Pepe’s ProMMA Now radio show yesterday and the adamant MMA opposer finally gave a glimpse into the cause of his deep-rooted hatred of the sport.
It turns out the ancient stammering curmudgeon is a boxing fan from way back and he’s upset that MMA is eclipsing boxing in popularity.
Here’s what he had to say about his love of the sweet science (as transcribed by FightOpinion):
"I grew up being a boxing fan, alright? Muhammad Ali… in fact I go back to Rocky Marciano, but all of our great fighters…and I enjoyed it and thought it was a great sport, but today I don’t think professional boxing, as opposed to amateur boxing, professional boxing I don’t think would be legalized in many states today because of the danger to the fighters. So, I just dismiss that argument of ’safer than boxing.’ One, I don’t, you know, boxing has a much longer history, there are many more boxing matches than there are MMA matches. And it’s something, as I say and this is not entirely facetious, more people are killed fishing than in boxing, so let’s eliminate fishing. Well, no. What we do is we put in safety measures. For example, in New York state, we have rules where in certain boats you have to wear a life preserver.”
And in MMA we have stringent medical testing requirements, padded gloves, rules, ringside physicians, referees, athletic commissions and the options to tap out or to throw in the towel when a corner feels a fighter has had enough. What more do we need to do? This close-minded prick wouldn’t know a rational argument if it bit him in his ignorant, wrinkled, jaundiced ass.
Seriously. This is one of the law-making representatives of New York?
