raylawpc wrote:Rick Farris wrote:raylawpc wrote:
Ken Buchanan today.
One last go . . .
If he really wants to fight, they should let him fight. My opinion only.
However, word to the wise Kenny . . . It hurts a lot more in your 60's, than it did in your 20's.
Your body is going to hate 'ya for the ass-whipping your mouth is going to buy 'ya.
Remember mate, there is no "Senior League" for boxers.
To bad, because we've this guy out here on the West Coast, a bit older than you . . . he fought under the name "Joey Barnum."
I gotta feeling that Joey will fight you, just for the fun of it. Of course.
-Rick Farris
I remember when Danny Lopez contemplated a comeback not too many years ago, worked out a few days in the gym, and then dropped the idea. When somebody asked him why, Danny replied: "The punches
hurt now." Nuff said.
"Just a four-rounder?"
Bar Stool Wisdom 101 . . .
Danny "Lil Red" Lopez actually did have one last fight in his forties.
He was KOed easily, in the second round by a guy that wouldn't have lasted thru the instructions with Little Red back in the day.
I was no Lopez or Buchanan, but in my mid-30's I thought it might be good to have some fun and maybe match myself in a four-rounder.
I went to the Goossen's Gym with actor Victor French, we had come up with this great idea for me to have another fight while sitting on bar stools on a film location.
Great wisdom is often found on such barstools, miles from home, a dozen years seperated from the perils of pugilism.
I did well my first time sparring in a dozen years, with a prelim kid. I leave town for another location and return to the gym two weeks later.
I want to box again and Joe Goossen suggests I wait until I'm in a little better condition.
No, I wanted to box that day. So he puts me in with this 120 pounder, a 16-year-old amateur.
Three rounds of seeing openings, my reflexes not responding, eating jabs, hooks and uppercuts, lungs burning after just nine minutes.
I got the message. But I also started to train again, and I have never stopped for long.
I won't look to fight again, but if one ever comes my way, I want to be as good as I can be. That's enough.
By the way, I was a successful lighting director with Michael Landon's "Highway To Heaven" at the time, had a new home, two little daughters, a beautiful wife, everything on track.
Why the Hell would I want to box again? Simple question, the answer isn't so simple. Who the Hell knows?
When I stepped out of the ring, Joe Goossen says, "You showed a lot of savvy in there."
I laughed, "Give me a break. That kid made me look like crap. By the way, he's really got talent."
I looked over at the slender 16-year-old. Joe told me that he and his brother were exceptional young boxers, almost self-taught.
"Yeah, he and his 15-year-old brother kicked Ray Mancini's ass last week, and Frankie Duarte's." Goossen told me.
Boom-Boom Mancini had just started training for his comeback fight with Hector Camacho, it was 1986.
A few months later, Frankie Duarte would challenge Bernardo Pinango for the WBA bantam title.
"What's his name?" I ask Goossen.
"His name is Gabrial Ruelas, we call him 'Gabe'. His brother is just as good, Rafael, or 'Rafa'."
A few years later both became World Champions. Great bar stool story.
-Rick Farris