By Ted Sares
What an honor to be able to write for The Sweet Science these many years, but all good things must come to an end. Approaching eighty-five, my passion for boxing has at times wavered and faltered but nevertheless remains intact. But now it’s time for me to become a full-time fan.
While the Taylor-Catterall verdict was an injustice and bordered on being something worse, it hardly was enough to make me waver, but the 1997 Foreman vs. Briggs decision made me walk away for a year.
Fights like the Wood-Conlan thriller, with its chilling end, are what keeps me hooked. As boxing writer James Slater notes, “the thought of these two getting it on again….giving us another slice of hectic, savage, stunning, and magical boxing action the kind of which reminds us all how awesome this sport really is, is quite something…”
When Wood walked over to the ropes and gestured with his gloves for fans to be quiet, that moment will be encased in my memory bank forever. As Corey Erdman wrote, “Wood-Conlan Was Everything We Love And Fear In Boxing”
When Katie Taylor fights Amanda Serrano, I’ll watch it as a non-writer. I’ll just sit back with something wet, amber and cold and enjoy with no strings attached – no pressure on me. Same with Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte, Shakur Stevenson vs Oscar Valdez, Errol Spence vs. Yordenis Ugas and Gennady Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata. These make April a month to look forward to for this “new” fan.
Meanwhile, watching Ryan Garcia behave diva-like is doing little for his popularity. Same for Anthony Joshua who needs to pick an opponent. How about Luis Ortiz? Joe Joyce? Otto Wallin? My preference as a fan is nuclear puncher Deontay Wilder. Oh yes, I forgot about Pulev and Arreola – but then they are quite forgettable at this point.
(Suddenly it now appears that AJ might be fighting Oleksandr Uysk after all and should he -- the Ukrainian – win again, it would be a great boost to his country’s morale.)
Gervonta “Tank” Davis remains immensely popular because he is charismatic, has superb boxing skills, and one-punch KO power. His next scheduled fight is with Rolando “Rolly” Romero, who recently made this brilliant comment: “…Davis has NO personality and is a “piece of s***” Ah, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The new norm is an ugly one.
I’d like to see Andy Ruiz, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Derek Chisora and, of course, Canelo, do their thing but Jake Paul (and Conor McGregor) is of no interest, nor is the manufactured freak show dimension of boxing of which they are a part.
So, the segue from writer to fan now takes place. I have DAZN and I’ll gladly pay for PPV (within reason), but traveling to Rings 4, 8, and 10 meetings is too much of a stretch. The IBHOF weekend beckons and that truly would be a blast. Time will tell.
My final message for anyone who might be considering writing is to simply remain honest to yourself and to all others and never, ever show disrespect or write and/or behave in a pompous manner. Except for the participants, boxing is just not that important in the greater scheme of things.
Although not a particular follower of Ayn Rand, something that has resonated in me and hopefully in my work over the years is the message found in her following quote: “There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist; the fashionable non-conformist.”
Ted Sares is a former competitive powerlifter in the Masters Class. He also is a member of Rings 8, 10 and 4 (and it’s Boxing Hall of Fame). He welcomes questions or comments which he will post. Ted can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com
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