Happy birthday Glen Tapia, December 11th. Not the birthday present that you wished but good to know that you will be spending it with those close to you?
Wrecking Ball / Tapia vs. Kirkland Part I
Selling the Sanctimony of a Stoppage / Let?s Talk Tapia Warrior Instead
This past weekend Glen Tapia lost in a big fight showcase that in the end was discussed more so of another case and point rather than case of the fighters at hand. Post-fight, early the next morning, Glen got on his Twitter to let everyone know ?I?m a warrior! I?ll get better and work harder?? A few hours after that he was back on Twitter, ?It?s cool, I?m twenty-three with a looong way to go and as for the 50 Cent shit, I?ll whoop his ass?? That in response to a 50 Cent post to Twitter, ?Look this is how the shit went down last night. Lol? coupled with Instagram picture of James Kirkland and Ann Wolfe, inscribed over the picture SMS Promotions, and above Kirkland ?I think I?m a have to kill this fool? and inscribed near Ann Wolf, ?Yes, James that?s what I want you to do?. I leave you, the reader, to your own thoughts on the aforementioned under the circumstances of post-fight circumstances and ghosts of countless Benny Parets passing by.
Much was made last week of the corner of Tapia, the alleged lack of decision to stop the fight earlier, the Doctor, the Referee, etc. Before I go further I will take you back, not too long ago, of James Kirkland thoroughly getting his ?ass whupped? vs. the light punching Ishida:
Pre-fight Kellerman ? ?Kirkland is supposed to beat the hell out of him (Ishida)??
Post-fight Lampley ? ?I frankly did not believe the Japanese fighter had a chance??
Max Kellerman ? ?He?s here because he (Ishida) can?t punch?he (Kirkland) was supposed to beat the hell out of Ishida.?
Jim Lampley ? ?No one was going to be surprised by a first round knockout?it was supposed to be the other direction.?
Max Kellerman ? In the post-fight interview with Ishida, which as acknowledge by Max was such a shock and upset that HBO did not have a translator on hand and in response to the translator acknowledging that the Ishida camp knew they were seen, as in their own words, a ?victim.?
Max Kellerman ? ?You were supposed to be an easy opponent for Kirkland?like a victim, right??
I have paraphrased the aforementioned, to shorten the item, and you can see the entire brief broadcast destruction of Kirkland for yourself.
Moving forward last week, Jim Lampley was commenting of the twenty-three-year-old Glen Tapia, ?You don?t want him to get ruined in one night.? As the fifth round began, or thereabouts, Max Kellerman was commenting, ?Maybe we?ve seen enough.? Again, I leave you the reader with your own thoughts on the grand juxtaposition of the aforementioned vis-?-vis the Ishida matter.
No doubt you have witnessed numerous and sundry under cards where ?victims? are placed in line, time and time again, to build the house fighter / promoter?s fighter. That was not the case Saturday night. It was two top end boxers, going full throttle forward at the sound of the first bell. That deserved fighter post-fight comment front forward! This is a blood sport and the color, in dark, very dark red, and it sure isn?t clean white or cowardly yellow.
Things have come a long way since 1963 when Davey Moore passed away and a long way since that famous Life magazine article of April of 1963 asked ?Why was the ring becoming a death chamber?? in response to sixteen fatalities in fifteen months. Back then famous sports writer Red Smith in a aggressive response to those that attacked boxing stated, that it was ?part time bleeding hearts, the professional sob sisters of press and politics and radio, who seize these opportunities (Boxer Benny Paret?s death) to parade their own ability, demonstrate their eloquence, and incidentally stir the emotions of a few readers, voters, or listeners.? I?m not sure what the response is to such statements anymore other than current day response to what?s blazing across various websites, and a response, born perhaps of willful blindness. I say the aforementioned in the consideration of victim Ishida, pre-arranged, moving forward to two fighters going toe-to-toe this past weekend.
Speaking of blazing, if one goes over to the website ?The Blaze,? which is repeatedly showing a replay of the stoppage, the comments are numerous and sundry and words can be choice picked; ?sucker punch, boxing is stupid, pleasure in the pain of another is a disgusting human trait, the Romans enjoyed throwing Christians to the lions, two people beating each other senseless and called entertainment, half of these people end up brain dead, like Jerry Quarry.? What is one to say? Well Mr. Glen Tapia to quote one of the ultimate warriors, Mr. George Chuvalo, ?When you win you feel like a Lion, when you lose you feel like a Christian.? We have of course come a long way from those days and I can tell you that young Tapia is not feeling like a Christian days after the fight. He is still the Lion ready to go and Tuesday morning as we talked he clearly was anxious to get right back in the gym!
Perhaps it was HBO timely of life to death, all things considered of the past month of ring action and the unfortunate Mago, that a replay interview of Nelson Mandela espousing the right, in a consensual context, of two men being able to enjoy such an athletic endeavor as boxing, was played out. Perhaps another individual would simply state that its two men consensually agreeing to beat the living shit out of each other.
Lord only knows how many dinner parties and holiday season corporate events my lovely wife has dragged me to where some politically incorrect jerk-off, simply in trying to obtain their own favorable fired up response from old Schmidty, has dug into me on the boxing matter. Invariably it?s the same son of a bitch that likes to watch The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and buys his kid that software package, that has a grand opening to a half billion dollars worth of sales, Tour of Duty style, where little junior can shoot the living shit out of the enemy, blood gushing here and there, etc. He likes his violence he just doesn?t like it too close!
Let?s Talk the Tapia Warrior
All the aforementioned takes away from what Glen Tapia endeavored to do this past weekend. Glen followed the Ricky Hatton thought going into that fight, and as Ricky once stated, ?I?d rather have fought the best and got knocked on me ass than not had the opportunity to do so,? and that boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, members of the jury certainly was not, for either Mr. Glen Tapia or Mr. James Kirkland pre-arranged you should be gone bye-bye in one round as the ?victim.?
Well as dear old pops used to say, ?Either that guy can?t hit or Tapia has an iron jaw.? Well ?that guy? hits as good as hitting is and what we found out is that Glen Tapia does in fact have an iron jaw and an iron will. Glen?s corner was imploring him early on to tie Kirkland up on the inside. I can tell you pre-fight, leading up to this battle royal (and for sure those first two rounds were round of the year type endeavors) the thought was Glen could sting Kirkland early (that he did) and outbox him. Unfortunately for young tough guy Mr. Tapia / Warrior Spirit things went bad. From this guy?s initial perspective he simply couldn?t get out of that warrior mentality and what makes some good sometimes, makes some bad. Sometimes head-on is on the head as opposed to working one?s way around an object. Conversely I can tell you that those close to Glen, including Glen himself, commented immediately after the first round that he just didn?t seem to have his legs and that said after a first round and that will be remembered for many many years to come.
Finger Pointing
Kathy Duva, recently, in response to a general question of when a fight should be stopped under certain circumstances, was of the opinion that it?s hard to tell exactly when the right moment is and she was not going to criticize people, and more pointedly, Kathy mentioned that too many times you see someone come back and that the quintessential boxing story, is the comeback!
For anyone that?s ever worked a champion?s corner, it is a strange sequence of time; a mixture of time, a mixture of moments flying by instantaneously, together with some strange cocktail of standstill time of moment.
I?m not trying to lay out traps in this article. I?m not trying to opine this way or that. I give you food for thought: Ishida sent in as a first round blowout ?victim? to be and the finger pointing of blame last weekend in circumstances better suited discussing two warriors and the glory of combat. Hypocrisy of comment, to a degree, maybe? Perhaps?
Not that long long way back, this very neck of the water, Boardwalk Hall, Mr. Micky Ward engaged Thunder Arturo Gatti in something vicious, brutal, and violent.
Micky Ward ? ?This may sound barbaric, but I would rather die in that ring than quit. For me, the physical anguish is nothing compared to what I would feel the next day, looking at myself in the mirror, knowing I had given less than a complete effort. That, to me, would be unbearable?it?s the will to go on, to keep fighting under the harshest of circumstances, no matter how much shit gets piled on top of you. And this is true inside the ring or outside the ring. Quit on my stool, no fuckin? way!?
Byline Hemingway
?I?m not going to apologize for bull fighting. It is a survival of the days of the Roman Coliseum but it does need some explanation. Bull fighting is not a sport??
Byline El Bastardo Magnifico
?I?m not going to apologize for boxing, nor is boxing going to apologize for me! It is not survival of the days of the Roman Coliseum, but born there close of, and is still gladiatorial. But apparently it does need some explanation for a majority, but for the minority, niche sport that boxing is, neither explanation nor apology is required! It is a sport!? (And as a pre-emptive, no this Bastard is not comparing himself to Hemingway!)
While boxing is not bull fighting there has certainly been much bull about boxing. In salute to these fine athletes perhaps there should be less bull and more focus on the fighters and last weekend was a perfect example thereof.
Glen Tapia?s birthday is today. Glen, you are a smarter and better fighter than you showed this past weekend. I will leave you with the image of Glen Tapia, early Sunday morning, shooting out social media post-fight comment that he would be back. A fighter! You haven?t even remotely seen the last of Glen Tapia! Set the bear traps!
Side Note I
James Kirkland hit Glen Tapia at the end of the fight with a microsecond instantaneous sucker shot. The adrenaline was flowing and things happened. It very much reminded one of the Manny vs. JMM fight where Manny clearly hit JMM hard while Marquez was on the canvas.
At the beginning of each round Glen Tapia came out firing, including the last two rounds. He had not been knocked down. He was not knocked down. Only those in his inner circle, of trainers, chief seconds and corner man would know their fighter and no one knows their fighter better.
As for the joker, post-fight, that had worked James Kirkland?s corner and was laughing and smiling towards Tapia?s group, as Glen was being attended to, what is one to say?
As for Ann Wolfe post-fight, in the corridor as the commissioner was attempting to clear way to have a stretcher brought in, commenting that ?Glen Tapia wouldn?t last one week in our training camp,? I can only suspect, having met Ann in the past, that it is something she regrets saying and something fueled by the post-excitement of victory.
I will say this to you. Having met Glen Tapia and Pat Lynch, I much prefer the view of an Alexis Arguello / Ray Mancini type of class act in a fighter, with a huge upside of talent and an iron jaw and will power that was exhibited last weekend. Keep an eye on the resurrection ladies and gentlemen. It will be a fun ride indeed.
Side Note II
Happy birthday Glen Tapia, December 11th. Not the birthday present that you wished but good to know that you will be spending it with those close to you, that support you, and that have your interests in mind outside and inside the ring.
Side Note III
To the best sport, to its combatants, drawn of skill and mentality of battle ages past.
Side Note IV
To James Kirkland, the ups and downs hopefully a remembrance of failure past, and as born of his style, the further hope of a straight forward future under the support of the reliable big bad Wolfe!
