By kiki
In 1973 I was the director of the Los Angeles Golden Gloves Tournament, and I was running out of time, as the date for the finals was inching up on me, to eliminate fighters, so I had to run some eliminating bouts at that great dame of Los Angeles boxing, The Olympic Auditorium. And so it was on a pro/am-card where the late Frankie Muche, an ex-fighter and later a manager/trainer, found himself with a fighter fighting with the hopes of moving up in the tournament.
While down in the catacombs of that famous arena, I watched Muche’s fighter warm up; he looked like the real thing. He also looked good shadowboxing down the aisle to the ring. But once the first bell rang, the kid froze; the number of punches he threw in three rounds you could count in two hands. He lost; no surprise there. But the kid, with Frankie Muche yelling at him from behind, looked like a champ as he shadowed-boxed his way up the aisle on his way back to the catacombs. Once in the catacombs, Frankie lost his cool and yelled at the kid, “what the fuck were you waiting for!?’ The kid, who was still shadowboxing and throwing beautiful combs, answered Frankie without losing a beat, “for the setup”….Some things in life you just can’t make up!!
While down in the catacombs of that famous arena, I watched Muche’s fighter warm up; he looked like the real thing. He also looked good shadowboxing down the aisle to the ring. But once the first bell rang, the kid froze; the number of punches he threw in three rounds you could count in two hands. He lost; no surprise there. But the kid, with Frankie Muche yelling at him from behind, looked like a champ as he shadowed-boxed his way up the aisle on his way back to the catacombs. Once in the catacombs, Frankie lost his cool and yelled at the kid, “what the fuck were you waiting for!?’ The kid, who was still shadowboxing and throwing beautiful combs, answered Frankie without losing a beat, “for the setup”….Some things in life you just can’t make up!!
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