Musings On a Childhood, Boxing and Rocky Balboa

Musings On a Childhood, Boxing and Rocky Balboa 
By Austin Jones

Isn’t it just two guys trying to knock each other’s block off?  At a young age, I would have answered that question with an emphatic “Yes.”, but time changes a person’s perspective.  The first boxing match I watched was a 10 round brawl-for-all.  It was a fight that showcased true blood and guts warriors.  It’s hard to imagine it has almost been 12 years since Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward’s first bout.  It spurned my rabid fascination for the sport.  It continues to be a fascination and love that continues to this day; even when the sport is rarely found in the American mainstream.  As the years have gone by, I have gone on to enjoy the sport as something more than just brawling.  It really is the sweet science.

I didn’t realize it, but boxing had entered my consciousness years before that fight.  I had seen all of the Rocky movies up to that point.  I used to watch marathons all day long on TBS.  I didn’t care if I was watching ‘Rocky IV’ or ‘Rocky V’ on loop.  As a kid, those movies were cool.  As the years continues to fly by I began to find a better appreciation for Rocky’s plight (from the first film).  These days I rarely ever see it as a “sports movie” because it is more than that.  It is a character piece of a man with wasted potential.  ‘Rocky’ is a simple and humble story.  For all of the flack it gets from Scorsese fans bitter that ‘Taxi Driver’ didn’t win ‘Best Picture’ at the ’77 Oscars, I hope that they realize that ‘Rocky’ is a fine film that is engaging on many levels.  It's more layered than one thinks.  But, that’s a topic for another time and another post.

The stories of fighters give emotional weight to a bout.  Why fight?  Is it just for the money?  Or, is it the notion that you want to be remembered as more than just some bum from the street?  I gravitate towards the latter.  Those stories always bring me back to 'Rocky', although real life is never quite as glorified.  No matter the circumstances of the fight or the background of the fighters, any two men can take part in something transcendent on any given night.  That is the beauty of the squared circle.  Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward did just that in a fight for the ages that shows me more about the human spirit than any fictional movie character.  Just when you think Thunder is out on his feet he gets his second wind (or was it his third??) out of nowhere and fights back in the most epic round I’ve ever seen.

The ‘Thrilla in Manila’ may have been hell to Ali and Frazier, but it must have been the same to Gatti and Ward.  'The Thrilla' defined a golden era of boxing.  It is something that has become more than just a fight, it's almost like a parable.  Boxing didn't need saving then.  With the fall of Tyson and Jones, Gatti-Ward may have saved the sport from itself and rekindled the fire for a new generation of fans.  Boxing was always going to be there.  It just needed another chapter etched into the annals of it's history.  Something that you could point out to your friends and say "See, NOW try and tell me that boxing is boring, dead, etc.".

The problem is that it doesn’t have a catchy name for fans attach to the fight to give it gravitas, so I say, let's just settle for 'Gatti-Ward'.