A Boxing Trainer's Journey by Jonathan Brown

Author:Jonathan Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mentoris Project

6

MUHAMMAD ALI'S LONG ROAD BACK

While Ali spent four long years in exile from his profession, Angelo focused on his remaining fighters. He missed his friend, who had become like an adopted son. Even so, Angelo was busier than ever as he picked up a few guys along the way.

One day, the gym doors opened wide and in walked Muhammad Ali.

“The champ is back!” Ali shouted. “Did any of you suckas miss me?”

A round of applause filled the gym. Hugs, handshakes, and back-patting went all around. Although some in the public eye were not fond of the man, each and every fighter in the gym loved him. Boxers ignored the media hype for the most part. Fighters are a tough breed, and they felt for Ali. They could relate to a guy who had fought his way up to put food on the table, only to have it removed by the Man.

Angelo assessed the work before him. A layoff of three years or more would be suicide for many boxers because of “ring rust,” the phenomenon of a boxer losing his step, timing, and precision. Any dip in the confidence department meant all bets were off; he’d be dinner for the other guy.

The current champ was Joe Frazier, the stocky, pound-for-pound heaviest hitter in the game. Ali claimed to want him immediately. Angelo could understand this, but was totally opposed. Luckily, he had an out.

“We’ve spoken to Frazier’s camp. They want us to prove that you’re ready to fight Frazier.”

“That’s them suckas just duckin’ me.”

“Muhammad,” Angelo whispered. “I think it’s a blessing in disguise. You’ve been off a long time. You need a tune-up fight.”

“Aw, man,” Ali said, waving the words off. Angelo could see that he agreed, but that he just needed to play the tough guy.

“Either way, there’s no gettin’ around it. It’s the only way you get the shot. Ya gotta go through Jerry Quarry.”

“That bum? He ain’t no match for me.”

Angelo stepped close and looked up to his fighter. “Then lay him flat on the canvas and we’ll get closer to the belt.”

“My belt.”

“Your belt.”

As the weeks went by, Angelo was pleased with Ali’s conditioning. However, during sparring it was clear that he wasn’t as sharp as he was prior to the layoff. Despite Angelo’s fears, the fight with Quarry went according to plan with Ali winning by TKO in the third round of the October 26, 1970, fight. Had Ali been up against Joe Frazier that night, he’d have lost the fight. Still, it was a nice confidence booster.

“Next up, we’ve got Oscar Bonavena. Now listen, champ, this won’t be no Jerry Quarry. This guy knocked Frazier down twice; he ain’t no pomodoro puo.”

“How many times I tell you about that funny language of yours? What’s that mean?”

Angelo laughed. “It means he ain’t no tomato can.”

That evening, as Angelo drove home from the gym, he was exhausted. He grinned thinking of Ali fast-talking his way into Carmen Basilio’s hotel room those many years ago. How he’d

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.