Sad end for the man who beat Arguello

[bennie]

In a black-and-blue game, he wore pink. If the ring was in a ballroom, he'd play the piano in the lobby not long after the final bell. His fast hands could play the keys as skillfully as they could pound out a bruising rhythm on an opponent's face. His hair and wardrobe were straight out of the '50s. Part James Dean, part Jerry Lee Lewis and whole lot of ramma-lamma-ding-dong.
Scott Walker was a different kind of cat in a very different kind of business.
He was The Pink Cat.
He's gone. Walker, 34, was found dead late Saturday night in Apache Junction.
His death stunned his family, fellow fighters, trainers and anybody else who knew him. Boxing isn't gentle. But Walker was.
"He didn't have a mean streak," said his former trainer, Chuck McGregor. "If he knocked somebody down, he'd help him up, almost looking apologetic about it all.
"A lot of fighters have a touch of larceny in their souls. Scott didn't, yet he wasn't afraid of anybody. That was the thing that made him so unique."
He was never a world champion, although he fought a couple of them. In a 12-year career as a skinny welterweight from Mesa, Walker stopped Alexis Arguello's attempted comeback in 1995 with a decision. In 1996, he lost a second-round TKO to Julio Cesar Chavez in a prelude to Chavez's first loss to Oscar De La Hoya.
"I met Arguello a couple of years ago," said Dick Todd, who promoted Walker's last fight three years ago, a loss in an outdoor ring at Park 'N Swap. "Arguello had fought a lot of the greatest names ever. But Scott was the first guy he asked me about."
Above all, Walker was a craftsman. He knew his way around the ring, although he lacked the physical power possessed by Chavez and a younger Arguello.
"He was one of the smartest I've ever been around," said McGregor, who compared him to Johnny Bratton, a clever welterweight champion from the '50s. "Scott was clever. He knew far more than kids do today. He knew the skills. Understood them."
He understood something else, too. Boxing is theater. Walker scripted a role and played it as well as anybody ever has. The pink trunks - with tassels and robe to match - were part of an entrance that included the theme to The Pink Panther.
"I'm really into the '50s," he said before facing Chavez. "The blues, rockabilly. All that kind of thing. They used the word 'cat' back then, so I thought I would."
After his last fight, he missed boxing.
"He really struggled after boxing," said Todd, who tried to help him adjust. "When he left it, it just pulled the plug on him. He just never recovered."
Walker tried to play in a band. He tried to play the piano in those same hotel lobbies. But without an opening bell, it probably wasn't the same.
He grew up around the ring. His dad trained him. His cousin, Chuck Walker, was on the 1976 Olympic team.
McGregor and Walker's dad were in the crowd at Dodge Theatre last Saturday night for a Home Box Office-televised card, about the same time Walker was found dead.
"During the last 35 to 40 minutes, our conversation was about Scott, and it turns out that we were talking about him at the same time it was happening," said McGregor.

Norm Frauenheim
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 7, 2004 12:00 AM

[KOJOE90]

This is indeed sad news. R.I.P.

[bennie]

This is indeed sad news. R.I.P.

Another man who couldn't handle life without boxing.
Duane Bobick said he couldn't watch a fight on TV for 10 years after retiring, and severely injured his hands in an accident in a paper mill a few years ago. I truly believe the fact his hands are knackered helped his mindset. He now seems to be at peace.
Talking of those who also cracked up, don't miss this feature: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/stor ... 65,00.html

[MightyWarrior]

Great article bennie. Sadly there's just too many stories like that. That's why it was good to see a fighter like Tony Sibson turn up recently, doing so well after he'd retired. Seems to be just a mild mannered business man these days. No interest in boxing at all.
Looks like he managed to hold onto the cash he made as a pro.