Buried on page C3 of my newspaper today was a notice that City Council has authorized expenditure of $50,000 for a "life-size" statue of local boxer Levander Johnson, killed in the ring at age 35. I'm guessing the fighter will be depicted in his prime, not as he appeared in some ICU, with wires and tubes dangling from every orifice, before his untimely (and unnecessary) death. Professional combat "sports" are atavistic expressions of man's primal bloodlust, our basest instincts. We want a knockout--I'm sure fans were screaming for more as Johnson sank to the mat for the final count. Shame on us that the surest way for many of our disadvantaged youths to "make it" in America is by beating up other disadvantaged youths for our viewing pleasure. And shame on City Council for memorializing and glorifying such brutality. If Council really wants to pay tribute, I suggest they use the $50,000 to create a Levander Johnson Scholarship Fund; perhaps by doing so they could save another young man from a similar fate.