He had to be the last sports editor of a major American newspaper whose favorite sport was boxing.
His name was Jerry Lisker, but his pals called him ?Blackie? and he dragged me from Las Vegas to The New York Post. In Blackie?s world, there were only two sports, boxing and pro football. As for the other sports, well they weren?t on his daily radar.
One day Lisker strolled through The Post?s sports department. This was the paper?s offices overlooked the East River and was a short walk from the odiferous Fulton Fish Market.
Lisker saw columnist Larry Brooks, best known as a hockey writer, and said, ?How?s it going on the Mets beat, Larry??
Brooks, not known for a sense of humor, said, ?Jerry, I?ve been covering the Yankees for six weeks.?
With that, Lisker cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled: ?Well, goddamit, we better have someone on the Mets beat or there?s going to be hell to pay!?
I was reminded of the boxing-loving Lisker when I saw that Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar de la Hoya?s company, is feeding ?scoops? to the LA Times? Bill Dwyre. It?s ironic because, when Dwyre was sports editor there, he buried boxing coverage so deep you needed a magnifying glass to read it. The LA Times old attitude about boxing was basically?who needs boxing, that?s for blacks and Mexicans.
And that?s the truth.
Blackie used to say you did not know about a fighter until you saw the fire in his belly.
Which brings me around to Barack Obama and back to Oscar.
On Thursday night, those who wanted to see the fire in the belly of the Democratic presidential candidate saw it live and saw it raw.
The pundits kept saying Obama had to show ?the meat on the bones,? to flesh out his life story, his agenda and to start throwing body blows to the miserably failed Bush/Cheney/McCain troika.
From my perch, I?d say McCain and the rest of the GOP oligarchy had to take a knee and take an eight-count about the time the fire-breathing Barack started hammering them the way a young Michael Tyson clobbered Trevor Berbick.
I mean, CNN was reporting on Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Barack simultaneously.
As for Oscar, it?s time for the naysayers and the nitpickers, especially you seven Antonio Margarito fans, to get off his ass.
To me, the personification of the fire in the innards of De La Hoya was perhaps best illustrated in his tough fight against Ike Quartey. Going down the stretch, Oscar needed to put Ike on the seat of his shiny trunks and he delivered a knockdown which sealed a stirring victory.
But after desultory performances against the Felix Sturm, Bernard Hopkins, the nonpareil Floyd Mayweather and Stevie Forbes, it was a legitimate question. At age 35, does Oscar still have the burning belly?
Just as Obama tore his critics to shreds with his aggressive speech, De La Hoya did the same with his media conference call Thursday.
Oscar accepted the challenge, and it is that no matter the final outcome, of battling the hugely popular and extremely talented Manny Pacquiao.
Oscar, using the educated ears of a veteran boxer and a better than average promoter, heard the hue and cry about his fighting the Pinoy idol. So many in favor it, so many dead set against. All those opinions, all those viewpoints, all those barber shop debates?all grist for the publicity mill and all contributing to what will be a tremendous financial bottom line.
But, while he grabbed the Pacquiao bull by the horns, let?s not forget what Oscar did not do.
He could?ve named Sergio Mora and taken the easy way out.
He could?ve named Vernon Forrest, predicated on Forrest beating Mora, and taken the easy way out.
He could?ve named Paul Williams and?made a lot less money and perhaps get knocked out.
He could?ve named Antonio Margarito and?made a lot less money, would not have had the ultimate Mexico/Philippines match and the ethnic mix therein and perhaps get knocked out. I?m sorry, Margarito fans, but the crushing KO over Miguel Cotto was not enough to make your man a fighter of such stature that ODLH felt obligated to fight him.
Ideally, Oscar was looking for someone he could beat, not a suicide mission.
But there was no multinational demand for Oscar to fight either Margarito Tall Paul. Williams is a bit like Obama was in 2004, an intriguing boxer but not one who has taken the big stage. And, yes, Margarito looks too dangerous for the diminished Oscar of 2008.
Where are all the whiners who cursed Oscar and thought he would pick on Mora?
Mora comes from the reality TV show ?The Contender.?
But the reality is that Oscar chose to duel with Pacquiao.
And the reality, all you Oscar haters be damned, is that Oscar still has that fire in the belly.
In the absolute twilight of a brilliant career, De La Hoya is a man.
But he is all man.
