Should Boxing Be Banned?

Let me introduce a bit of controversy into the blog by inviting comments on the above question. I want to hear how you feel. Is boxing a barbaric sport where we are just expressing blood lust seeing two guys punch the meat off each other? Or is boxing really an ancient and honorable sport, where true strength and courage are tested unlike in any other sport?

People have died and been severely injured by stepping into the ring. There are no bats and balls, no sticks, no hoops. It is simply two men (and now even women) trying to battle each other with their fists. It is the only sport in existence where the goal is not to score points or run faster than an opponent. rather the goal of boxing is actually to injure your opponent, to know him into unconsciousness. While in almost any other sport, an athlete is penalized severely for attempting to injure another player, in boxing he is cheered on.

Yet isn't boxing the ultimate sport? Man cannot hide behind props or teammates. Long before various sports were organized with rules and equipment, man fought with his fists. The ultimate champion was the one would could literally "beat" his opponent. In hockey, we say one team beat another, but we don't mean that literally. In fact, all sports today have taken the language of boxing to describe victories in which more points were scored. Yet boxing remains the only sport in which opponents are really beaten, beaten into submission.

So what do you think? Let me know your feelings on this controversial issue.