Especially if you CC
Briefly home from boarding school back in 1951, I went to a bar with a phony draft card, ordered a beer, and watched Rocky Marciano knock out my idol Joe Louis. Joe was 37 and trying for a comeback, as he was broke—and as he sat in his stool after having been counted out, he looked a lot older. Rocky crossed over from his corner, bent down to speak to Joe, and began to cry. Joe was his idol, too. Rocky went on to become world champ and retired undefeated after 49 fights, only to die in an airplane accident.
Pugilists respected each other back then, and no one was more respected than Joe Louis, the first “Negro” that white boxing aficionados idolized. While he was champion of the world for 12 years, Joe never spoke ill of an opponent. The press tried hard to get him to trash-talk, but Joe never bit. The furthest he went was to say that Billy Conn, a very good-looking light-heavyweight challenger, could “run but couldn’t hide.” In their first match Conn had Joe licked, running and jabbing for 12 rounds. Before the 13th his corner told him, “All you gotta do Billy is run for three more, and you’ve got the title.” Conn turned and said, “I’m gonna knock this bum out—just watch me.”
"...Walking away is the best policy, and brave men do it all the time."
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, I agree.
If - at THIS stage of my life - someone INSISTS on a fight, I FIRST endeavor to make sure that they understand the difference between "boxing" and "FIGHTING" - and that what is about to commence is a FIGHT, with all that entails!
Second, if a fight cannot be avoided, I do my best to end it as quickly as possible. I've found that a broken finger is a fight-ender, as it's impossible to make a fist when your finger's pointing some 90-odd degrees in the wrong direction!
Third, having ended the altercation with as little permanent damage as possible, I'll always do my best to render whatever aid is possible to a defeated opponent. No point in making his hatred permanent if such can be avoided - plus it makes one look better to any bystanders as well...
DD
:)
ReplyDeleteDD:
Did you get the links I sent you?