拳击立法

　　Bouncing back

　　卷土重来

　　More countries are allowing professional boxing, despite the risks

　　虽有风险，各国还是逐渐放开职业拳击

　　Cecilia Braekhus

　　在比赛中

　　FIRST Sweden in 2007, then Cuba in 2013, and now Norway have left the small club of countries that ban professional boxing. The centre-right coalition in power since 2013 promised to cut taxes and red tape—and to let Norwegians indulge in pastimes its predecessors deemed too dangerous, including cheaper wine and spirits, jetskis and Segways. And last month 33 years without pro boxing came to an end, leaving Iceland with the Nordic region's sole boxing ban.

　　2007年的瑞典，2013年的古巴，以及现在的挪威—它们纷纷离开了本就小众的“禁止拳击俱乐部”，令职业拳击合法化。2013年上台的中右翼执政联盟曾承诺减税和改进工作作风，并让挪威人民享受到廉价的葡萄酒和烈酒，水上摩托和电动两轮车（这些东西从前都被看作是太危险了）。上个月，挪威取消了长达33年的职业拳击禁令，剩下冰岛一国，成为唯一一个禁止职业拳击的北欧国家。

　　经济学人 拳击立法 前自由搏击世界冠军Cecilia Braekhus 可可英语.jpg

　　Health concerns lay behind the Norwegian ban. (Cuba had considered the violence—and prize money—incompatible with Marxism.) The World Medical Association has long called for the sport to be outlawed everywhere. But Norway's pugilists are delighted, as they can fight at home and earnings will rise.

　　挪威从前禁止职业拳击，主要是出于健康考虑。（古巴则是觉得暴力与奖金不符合马克思的教导。）长期以来，世界医学协会到处鼓吹立法禁止体育。但挪威的拳击运动员开心了，因为他们不必出国比赛，并且收入也会提高。

　　A champ unable to throw a punch in her own country probably did more than a new government's reforming zeal to end the ban. Cecilia Braekhus (pictured), a former champion kickboxer, turned to the sport in 2003. Undefeated in her 27 pro matches to date, in September she became the first Norwegian, and first woman, to hold all major world-title championships in her class (welterweight). In 2012 she was named Norway's sports personality of the year. A favourite of the country's sports pages and tabloid press, she freshened up boxing's battered image—and made it a symbol of the fightback against the Nordic nanny state.

　　要开放职业拳击，一位冠军的作用可能比政府还大。Cecilia Braekhus（图中人物）是前自由搏击世界冠军，2003年开始参加这项运动。迄今为止，她在27场职业比赛中保持不败，获得了她所在级别（次中量级）的大满贯。她是首位获此殊荣的挪威人，也是首位获此殊荣的女性。2012年，她被选为挪威年度体育人物。作为这个国家体育网页和小报的最爱，她更新了拳击曾经不入流的形象，并使它成为一个信号：北欧并不只是保姆国家。