My only claim to fame!Enjoy!
I was 36 when I entered my first "King of The Ring Competition" at a local bar. 170 pounds was the lowest weight division and I made it easily back then. You only had to fight one guy on the first night. We wore boxing gloves and headgear. My opponent that night didn't seem to have much boxing experience and he just quit on me from the frustration of not being able to land a glove on me, not to mention getting his face peppered. I wouldn't have hurt him for the world.
I had to fight 3 guys on the second and final night. You fight till you lose. Luckily I won every decision. Only took home $200.00, but it sure was a confidence booster. I had watched those guys fight the night before and I knew they were at my skill level or better.
Well...about a year later...cocky me.....decides to enter another local competition for a slightly bigger purse. $1000.00 this time. I had to weigh in at 165 pounds which was a little harder. Then to my surprise....I found out that there was no headgear used for this match.
Started out just like my first competition. Got an inexperienced fighter for the first match. I could tell the guy was tough and he was probably a very good wrestler, but he was in the wrong match that night. He took a lot of punishment and he didn't quit. He could have probably beat me if we were wrestling. He bruised my arms up pretty good with his toughman style.
I watched all the other fights and realized I would be in for some serious leather slinging the second night.
I step into the ring with my opponent on the second night. Then all of a sudden I'm sitting ringside with my Dad watching the fight. I looked at Dad and said "Dad, when am I supposed to fight?". Dad said" Son.....you already fought! ..Don't you remember getting knocked out?"
I didn't even remember getting knocked out. That guy hit me so hard, it was really like the saying "I'll hit you so hard I'll knock you into next week". He knocked me into some kind of time warp.
Luckily for my ego.......that guy continued on and won the $1000.00 purse easily and I could say that at least I got knocked out by the guy who won it.I really think I needed that butt whipping. It helped humble me a little.
I woke up the next morning throwing up, splitting headache, and having dizzy spells. I think he gave me a concussion. Stayed out of work a few days too. You would think that would be the end of my toughman adventures, but hell no......I tried it again the very next year.
My goal this time...was ...."not to get knocked out". My very first fight was with the NC state middle weight champ in Kickboxing. Luckily for me.....he couldn't use his feet. We were matched perfectly with our hands and I just happened to get the best of him for a split decision.
Then on the second night....I lost a very close decision to another good fighter. So....beating the NC state middleweight kickboxing champ in a boxing match is my only claim to fame.
Now let me tell you why I quit entering those competitions. ....Shortly after that, I went to another competition just to watch. I had found out about it to late to enter and it was out of town.
I watched several fights and there was this guy in the heavyweight division that really stood out above the rest. His skill level was borderline professional. Let's call him the "Pro" for easy reference
He was entered into a fight with a very tough guy whose only credentials to toughness was that he was a "Tri-athlete" with minimal boxing skills.
The Pro was beating this guy like he owned him. The poor guy was out on his feet and the referee gave him a standing eight count. The Pro was told to go to his neutral corner which he did. I don't know why the ref didn't realize the athlete was out on his feet, but he said "fight"! .....The Pro ran full steam out of his corner and hit the guy so hard that it knocked him over the ropes.
They dragged the guy back in and revived him. He stayed and watched all the rest of the fights, just like I did after getting knocked out.
The guy goes home and wakes up the next morning with a splitting headache just like I did. But......He loses consciousness and is pronounced dead before he reaches the hospital. I can't even describe how bad I ached for this guy. He was just a cocky young man like myself, who was trying to find out something about his inner self in that ring all alone.
I know it was a freak accident, but I can't help but think that the referee and the Pro played a big part in this guys death. The referee for not recognizing the guy was out on his feet, and the Pro for wanting to beat this guy so unmercifully. The heat and passion of the moment makes us all make bad mistakes. The bloodlust of the crowd played a part and sadly I played a part in it too. I was there to see someone get their ass kicked! I was just as guilty as any one of them.
I saw no more glory in boxing after that event.
duh...duh..duhh...dats all folks!
