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One of my last unblemished joys comes tomorrow, FIGHT NIGHT! And I get two of them this weekend, one that could be legendary. Well not unblemished joy...
R.I.P. Levander Johnson, 34-5-2 (26 KOs), IBF 135 lbs. Champion
I was not a fan, never saw him fight, and on that night I tuned in to the broadcast just after his bout. However in many a sport or pursuit you’ll often hear someone say ‘you have to leave it all out there’. Well, this man really did. He had to face world champions four times before he finally defeated one for a title. He died defending that title for the first time. Much respect to a bona fide warrior.
I don’t think people get just how insane a proposition these men put before themselves. To get into a fight in any situation, even with some random pug ugly, fucking sucks. When you get hit in the face with malicious intent and adrenaline rushes through your body you go for one of two very animal reactions: get the hell out, or go ape. The guys who are champs in this sport have the steel will & minds not to submit to either urge. And their spirit and heart is something else. They fall down, beaten to breathing pulps …AND THEY GET UP for more punishment. It is all far beyond the physical. They posses a pride so intense that the burn of staying on that mat is worse than choosing to catch more leather. For the greatest champs the only truth is that they have to overcome whoever is put in front of them, and that is so true that some of them DIE for that truth.
Roy Jones Jr. was once a super-human being. The biological rules did not apply. This is no exaggeration. If you have seen him move you know the man was the Flash in the flesh. Still he was weak to the kryptonite to every athlete; age. And so in the last few years he was knocked brutally back down to Earth. Twice, and each time it was in a very violent and humiliating fashion. After his last fight he was out cold for twenty minutes, an eternity for any prize fighter and completely unheard of for an athlete of this caliber. Roy was pronounced finished, and almost everyone who cares to watch boxing agreed his gifts had deteriorated so far that he would be putting his life in grave danger if he ever stepped through the ropes again.
Well, though he may no longer have the reflexes he does have that burning pride. He can’t sit back and wait for death. He is going to make it across the tightrope or fall to the ground once more, trying ever so heard as the jesters leap past him. He is taking it to his conqueror and reigning champion, Antonio Tarver. A man considerably bigger and stronger than him who no longer has to worry about catching up to the Flash in order to put him down. A man who grew up in Roy’s shadow counting the days until he would conquer Roy, and did. It is personal to Tarver.
Win, lose, or draw Roy Jones has already put on a spectacle by me by even choosing to take this fight. Tomorrow night he could be the next Levander Johnson if he is too slow to box a man who has already knocked him out cold. But he could also make himself the next Ali and an inspiration to millions if he OVERCOMES.
That is why boxing and ritualized fighting in general has to go on. Some men realize it is not enough to get by; with some things you have to rush face first even into almost certain failure with everything to lose. I can't think of many other arenas or events where this goes on. Savage or not it is an aspect of humanity (and of males particularly) that needs to have a small space even in our so-called civilized world.
R.I.P. Levander Johnson, 34-5-2 (26 KOs), IBF 135 lbs. Champion
I was not a fan, never saw him fight, and on that night I tuned in to the broadcast just after his bout. However in many a sport or pursuit you’ll often hear someone say ‘you have to leave it all out there’. Well, this man really did. He had to face world champions four times before he finally defeated one for a title. He died defending that title for the first time. Much respect to a bona fide warrior.
I don’t think people get just how insane a proposition these men put before themselves. To get into a fight in any situation, even with some random pug ugly, fucking sucks. When you get hit in the face with malicious intent and adrenaline rushes through your body you go for one of two very animal reactions: get the hell out, or go ape. The guys who are champs in this sport have the steel will & minds not to submit to either urge. And their spirit and heart is something else. They fall down, beaten to breathing pulps …AND THEY GET UP for more punishment. It is all far beyond the physical. They posses a pride so intense that the burn of staying on that mat is worse than choosing to catch more leather. For the greatest champs the only truth is that they have to overcome whoever is put in front of them, and that is so true that some of them DIE for that truth.
Roy Jones Jr. was once a super-human being. The biological rules did not apply. This is no exaggeration. If you have seen him move you know the man was the Flash in the flesh. Still he was weak to the kryptonite to every athlete; age. And so in the last few years he was knocked brutally back down to Earth. Twice, and each time it was in a very violent and humiliating fashion. After his last fight he was out cold for twenty minutes, an eternity for any prize fighter and completely unheard of for an athlete of this caliber. Roy was pronounced finished, and almost everyone who cares to watch boxing agreed his gifts had deteriorated so far that he would be putting his life in grave danger if he ever stepped through the ropes again.
Well, though he may no longer have the reflexes he does have that burning pride. He can’t sit back and wait for death. He is going to make it across the tightrope or fall to the ground once more, trying ever so heard as the jesters leap past him. He is taking it to his conqueror and reigning champion, Antonio Tarver. A man considerably bigger and stronger than him who no longer has to worry about catching up to the Flash in order to put him down. A man who grew up in Roy’s shadow counting the days until he would conquer Roy, and did. It is personal to Tarver.
Win, lose, or draw Roy Jones has already put on a spectacle by me by even choosing to take this fight. Tomorrow night he could be the next Levander Johnson if he is too slow to box a man who has already knocked him out cold. But he could also make himself the next Ali and an inspiration to millions if he OVERCOMES.
That is why boxing and ritualized fighting in general has to go on. Some men realize it is not enough to get by; with some things you have to rush face first even into almost certain failure with everything to lose. I can't think of many other arenas or events where this goes on. Savage or not it is an aspect of humanity (and of males particularly) that needs to have a small space even in our so-called civilized world.