A heavyweight sport no more
8-20-09

It was a rainy Friday night when my son and I got to talking about my late father. "What sports did grandpop watch dad?" my youngest Phillip quipped. Dad liked all sports; at the top of his list were college basketball, particularly my alma matter Temple, football and baseball.

Dad's biggest passion? Boxing. Which got me thinking what happened to this great sport? Yeah, I know a lot of criticism has been thrown at the game. It's bloodthirsty, it can be a carnival show with the likes of guys like Don King promoting fighters to the point of exploitation and bankruptcy. We also know that it's not the greatest of American citizens that make up the ranks of those who participate in boxing. From feather to heavy weight many who become famous in their boxing career are also infamous in their personal lives.

That all being said I love the game. Yes, it's a game. The purest of games. Two men battling. One wins, one loses. Love it. The ref is there simply to make sure nobody does something severely out of line. Yes, boxing has a code of game rules and regulations; it's not a free for all. There's a strategy involved along with poise, endurance, power and even psychology. Pound for pound boxing packs the most punch. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Boxing used to enjoy glorious coverage and space in all media and print. I remember growing up and you couldn't get away from news about the fight game. Ali, Holmes, Tyrell Biggs, Smokin' Joe Frazer, Hector 'Macho' Camacho, Sugar Ray Leonard and one of my favorites ( besides Smokin' Joe ), 'Marvelous" Marvin Hagler. That's another great thing about boxing, everyone gets nicknames which I think adds to the thrill of the game. Growing up in Philadelphia as the son of Sam DiRenzo Senior meant you were exposed to the game of boxing all the time. Philadelphians love the game and many great boxers have come from the city. As much as I think our Upper Bucks area has a lot of NASCAR fans, Philadelphia in the same way has a huge boxing community which to this day is active. Imagine sending your son to boxing school. You can and many do to Smokin' Joe Frazer's Gym where son Marvis and his staff coach the basics and offer clinics.

Muhammed Ali once said "When I leave the game it's going to the graveyard." Well, it didn't die but Ali speaks some truth and today the game is a shadow of what it once was. Do you know who the heavyweight WBC and WBA ( boxing organizations if you're not aware ) champions are? I didn't. The WBC champ is Russian Nickolay Valuev and the WBA champ is Ukranian Vitali Klitschko. Not household names for sure. Years ago we all knew who reigned supreme. Tyson, Holyfield, Buster Douglas in a huge upset, remember that fight? Classic. Remember the Holyfield / Tyson match and ear bighting incident? I sure do I watched it on big screen TVs in an Atlantic City casino with my dad and my brother Sam. We were in a room filled with cigar smokers, eating food that's incredibly bad for us, drinking beer served by seductively dressed women and bonding with literally thousands of men who paid $35 each to be in the room. Absolute heaven.

I think the sport gets a bad rap. Many nefarious types of people have given the game an unfair image. This needs to change I believe if boxing is going to make a comeback. The game doesn't need to be as pure as Ivory soap but even for a game that thrives on a bad boy image it's getting out of hand.

As a young man my father would take me to the legendary Blue Horizon on Broad Street. The Blue Horizon famous for showcasing up and coming fighters trying to make it big in the city that brought you 'Rocky'. Dad loved it and I did too. Over the best hot sausage sandwiches and a cold soda for me, beer for dad we saw some incredible fights. It was great. I was surprised to find that the 'Blue' as its known is still holding boxing matches. Visit legendarybluehorizon.com and click on boxing if you want to take in a match or two. Smokin' Joe Frazer's gym is still alive and well on Broad Street visit smokinjoefraziersgym.com if you want to check out this legendary gym and facility.

Maybe boxing isn't the heavyweight sport it once was but if it gets its act together, stops all the circus act behavior and gets more and better talent, it will regain the status it once enjoyed. Lets hope so. Heading out to my respective corner of the world I'll see ya around town.