OCR Text |
Show One time ringer sets early retirement date I've become an even greater advocate of "Peace on earth, good will toward men" since participating in the Elks-Cedar Boxing Club boxing tourney last week. Donating one's body for science is one thing, but donating it for charity while still alive and kicking is quite another. I'm still somewhat alive, but only feebly kicking and for that reason won't give full-contact karate a try also. Yes, it's kind of a sad thing when two of boxing's greats get walloped in the same week. I guess you could say Muhammad Ali and I kind of coordinated our comeback attempts to coincide and both resulted in naught, although Ali got whipped worse than I did; , fMike Cannon Several have asked me why I decided to make a ring debut, particularly at the ripe age of 24 when most other boxers were well on their way up or down. The answer is really quite simple; I don't know. I suppose anybody masochistic enough to work for a newspaper is bound to have those tendencies carry over into other endeavors and maybe that could be the reason. Perhaps there's some deep-seeded feelings of aggression that could be released in no other way. Beat's me; woops, that's a poor choice of words. Anyway, I really couldn't say. Actually it was kind of a kick to give boxing a try a kick in the teeth. After losing a decision, though getting in a few licks of my own, the fellow I fought was telling me about his boxing experience. "I used to box in Dallas at the Joe Frazier Boxing Club," he told me. "I used to watch lots of boxing on "Wide World of Sports," I responded. And that was about the difference. Even though I'll probably retire at 0-1, 0-1, it was really kind of fun to give this crazy thing a try and the charity event is very worthwhile. I've always had an inkling to do it and have had a minimum of training and experience so I figured, why not? Actually, George Plimpton couldn't be prouder. Remember old George. He's now doing commercials for "Intellivision" and is the journalist who played professional football for the Detroit Lions for a time and then wrote about it in "Paper Lion." He also boxed one of the greats and did several other zany things and then wrote about his experiences. George survived to tell about his antics and pending any relapses, so have I. Nutty stunts make life a bit more interesting and it's fun to follow through on a silly dream or wish but once . is enough. Guess you could say I'm publicly announcing my retirement from the ring. I'm bowing out before my speech becomes more slurred and face more distorted. Next month I'll be wrestling an eight-foot eight-foot synthetic white shark in our bathtub and the month following, riding a wild appaloosa ardvark in the south American desert regions. I've planned to scale the Chicago Trade Center using only Elmer's Glue on my palms. The list is endless. If nothing else proves exciting enough, I'll keep my job at the Record. There's not much more dangerous that I can think of and if things get too boring, there's always the possibility of a ring comeback. But don't hold your breath. |