It’s that day of reckoning of the year past and a blank page for 2011.
Time to make personal resolutions here which are too easily labeled 11 for 11. I ran short, though and have to go with the old cry around the craps table as the shooter makes his initial roll, yo 7-11.
I hope I don’t get called for traveling but…
MICHAEL MARLEY’S 7 BOXING RESOLUTIONS FOR 2011
1. To get out to the Bay Area, where two of my favorite US cities, funky Oakland and magical San Francisco are separated only by water and a bridge. To see the superlative skills of Andre Ward in the Oakland Arena where local fans actually buy tickets to see a local hero or, as SF Chronicle scribe Jack Fiske used to call them, local yokels. Any road trip which includes Jack London Square and Union Square is a winner not to mention a nostalgic tour of Berekely, where we used to go to the ?Free Angela Davis? (with every 10 gallons of gas) concerts. Wouldn’t it be cool if Ward and Montreal gate magnet Lucian Bute, both tied to Showtime, developed a home and home series? I don’t hate visiting Montreal, either, mon frere.
2. To get back to the Philippines on the Pacquiao beat and to make some time to explore historic Manila, scenic Cebu, Boracay Beach and other parts of the archipelago. To dine and drink with WOPOs Recah Trinidad and Ronnie Nathanielsz with Hermie Rivera as the referee. To shoot some hoops with Chino Trinidad. To stand up Madam Auring because I somehow, miraculously, hooked up with Krista Ranillo. OK, with Krista’s mother? Does the sissal really taste better in Bacolod City? To visit referee Bruce MacTavish and check out Bahay Bata, the school/haven for street waifs in Angeles City, a good man involved in a good cause, one of boxing’s real do-gooders. MacTavish and his pals at the Clark International Rotary Club International give those who have no real home a real home.
3. With Mikkel Kessler’s double vision issues likely having ended his ring career, to see another Kessler rise out of the Danish amateur ranks. Any excuse to visit the idyllic, despite the winter weather, nation of five million people is a good one. All the noise about don’t ask, don’t tell, gay marriage and the like…Denmark resolved decades ago. The Danes are enlightened in many respects. (Maybe it’s the national character as the Danes resisted the Nazis and many helped hide Jewish children in that brutal period.)
4. For a midwinter holiday, what better place than Pontiac, Michigan, where Devon Alexander of St. Louis will fight Timothy Bradley of California in what should be a neutral setting but, more problematically, might be a mostly empty Silverdome. The choice of this venue was absurd and even papering most of the 15,000 seats in the 80,000 sports mausoleum won’t alleviate the odor. This fight belonged in St. Louis and both Don King and Gary Shaw know it. An optimist can hope that the fight is good that the location fades in importance.We can talk about it at The Anchor Bar or the Lindell AC in downtown Detroit, only 30 miles away.
5. Back to Manila again. Should, as I expect, Nonito Donaire Jr. beat Fernando Montiel, let Bob Arum stage a homecoming bout at Araneta Coliseum for Kid Donaire. Then Donaire should headline a card in his adopted home, the Bay Area. I’m sure the Filipino fans would flock to the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Last time I was there I saw Emile Griffith fight ?Bayview Blaster? Jimmy Lester, yes a local yokel. The year was XYZ.
6. Attendance will be mandatory in June for the Boxing Hall of Fame with Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. being enshrined. Those who have never been should really enjoy the hospitality and small town feel of Canastota, NY, and environs. Syracuse is not far away and I bet a lot of the hotel rooms are already booked.
7. Speaking of Arum, he was an integral part of Muhammad li touring and fighting around Europe. So why not take Pacman to Paris where the Gallic fans would ooh and aah over his ring skills and love his people pleasing persona? Ditto for London and, what with Manny and family visiting Japan right now on a vacation, why not Tokyo, why not the Big Egg where Tyson thumped Tony Tubbs and then got thumped by James ?Buster? Douglas? Surely, Akihiko-Honda, better known as “Honda-san” would lay the groundwork for Boxing Ambassador Pacquiao’s “official visit” to a Japanese ring and surely it would draw..
