Sparring with Smokin' Joe by Glenn Lewis

Author:Glenn Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2020-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

One week later, on April 18, Joe Frazier was in Philadelphia for his son’s AAU Regional Finals bout. He had come back the day before. The question was just how much back Joe really seemed to be.

At 7:15 p.m., Marvis and his crew were encamped against the same far wall of the holding pen as the previous week. Marvis and Val reclined sleepily while Ed Harrell and some boxers from the gym settled in nearby to watch typical fighter fare, The Newlywed Game, on a portable television. Joe was nowhere in sight. In fact, he had been just out of reach all day.

Before Marvis was able to nod off, I asked had he spoken with his dad about last week’s fight or the upcoming bout?

“Nah, we didn’t talk about the fights or his trip,” said Marvis, with a what-can-you-do shrug. “Dad ate breakfast with me in mostly silence and said, ‘I’ll see you later on.’ That was it.”

The kid shook his head and laughed. “That was it! He split!”

It turned out Marvis had been home relaxing during the day. He had been sticking to his fight-day routine. His dad had used most of that time to do a serious workout in the gym. I interpreted the session as perhaps another indication that Joe had a comeback on his mind.

Marvis said he had stopped by the gym at 5:00 p.m. to pick up his mouthpiece. But he and Joe had still not talked. He had instead met up with his entourage for the drive to the armory.

Although George Benton had been back to work with Marvis during the week, he was not at the arena that evening to greet his fighter. The trainer was once again on the road with Jimmy Young. Marvis gave no indication of being put out by Benton’s disappearing act.

“He’s been back all week and he’s been working with me on my jab,” said Marvis. “He feels the AAU fights are a good place to practice my outside fight—to work safely on my boxing ability. I felt I was a little sloppy last week. I intend to use my jab more tonight.”

Marvis claimed that Joe, whenever he showed up, would not influence his fight plan in Benton’s absence.

“Val’s my trainer tonight,” he said, glancing over at Colbert. “So, tonight I follow his instructions—not my dad’s or George’s from yesterday. I don’t think Pop would put his nose in it. George and Val are the ones who work with me every day. And Pop’s not there enough to know exactly what I can or can’t do.”

I didn’t offer a comment, but I was definitely taken aback. It was the first time I had heard Marvis so clearly minimize Joe’s input—especially due to his time away from the gym.

Joe Frazier, resplendent in his beige three-piece suit, open brown shirt, and feathered suede hat, finally made an appearance close to nine o’clock. He straddled the outermost chair in the Frazier corner of the room without greeting his son. But he sure as hell greeted everyone else.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.