Cockfighting in the Year of the Rooster

Feb. 15, 2005 — -- When I heard that a cockfighting enthusiast was calling for chickens to be outfitted with miniature boxing gloves, I had to check the calendar. Indeed, last Wednesday marked the start of the Chinese new year -- and it's the Year of the Rooster.

The Chinese are celebrating the start of the year 4702. Of course, to many people, cockfighting is something more appropriate for 4702 B.C. Oklahoma state Sen. Frank Shurden, however, sees it differently.

The Democratic lawmaker has been a longtime defender of the gamecock industry, once a multimillion-dollar business in Oklahoma. It was outlawed in 2002, as it is now in 48 states. In every state except Louisiana and New Mexico, arming roosters with razor-like spurs is a cock-a-doodle don't.

But a California company, Gamecock Boxing Inc., has designed boxing gloves and chicken-sized protective gear to take the blood out of this sport. Electronic sensors in the chickens' vests would allow these feathered gladiators to score points, instead of tearing out each other's McNuggets.

"Who's going to object to chickens fighting like humans do? Everybody wins," said Shurden. He asked Oklahoma lawmakers in late January to restore a nonlethal form of cockfighting, comparing it to horse racing and promising it to be a boon to gambling and tourism.

"Let the roosters do what they love to do without getting injured," he said.

The Legislature will take up Shurden's gamecock bill later this month.

I had barely considered the modern practice of cockfighting, and yet the same week Shurden introduced his bill, I found that 17,000 cockfighting fans piled into an arena in the Manila, Philippines, for the World Slasher Cup, a three-day Super Bowl of beak-breaking action.

Some 260 featherweight champions -- boasting names like "Johnny Jumper" and "Foe Fire Fly" -- face each other in one-on-one battles, armed with steel talons, with wagers of more than $50,000 often riding on each match.

You would think that Bangkok would be the capital of chicken fighting. But the Philippines rules the roost.

"This is where you see the spirit of sportsmanship," Rodolfo Albano, a former Filipino congressman and owner of some 300 gamecocks, told Reuters news service. "No one cheats because, if they do, they will be attacked by the crowd."