By Rusty Rubin
There aren’t a lot of exciting fights (on paper) this weekend, but since fights are fought in the ring, it doesn’t much matter.
A fight, while perhaps not the weekends best, but certainly of the most interest is between aging super middleweights with veteran Scott Pemberton, coming off a TKO loss to Jeff Lacy and young up and comer Peter Manfredo Jr.
Will youth be served? And if so at what temperature?
Pemberton didn’t do much against Lacy, but truth be told, few fighters do. Even if we throw out Scott’s last fight, we can’t throw out his advanced age, this is a time when most fighters hang them up and retire to make babies.
Manfredo is young and getting better, but can his youth counter all the skills learned by Scott over the years?
This question will be answered this weekend,
Since I am required by moral, not legal commitment, to pick a winner, I’ll take Manfredo to wear Pemberton down and stop him late in the fight.***
Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear from you. (Rngsportsr@aol.com).
Glove2Glove: Prayers for the soul of Mike Sammon, son of referee Marty. Mike passed away at age 39 after a brief illness. And for renowned boxing scribe Jack Fiske who passed away at age 88.***
Prayers for ring announcer Mark Beiro who underwent eye surgery in early February.***
Let’s say a prayer for the father of Eva Futch, a great friend, and the widow of legendary trainer Eddie, who passed away in 2001. Eva’s father’s cancer has returned and needs all the support we can give him, and please pray that Eva has the strength to cope with this difficult challenge she faces at so close to her having lost her esteemed husband.
Prayers needed for Elise Brown, grand daughter of Ringside Products head honcho and good boxing guy John Brown. Young Elise has heart problems.
Prayers have also helped but continue to be needed for Dennis Wilcox, brother of boxing scribe David Wilcox, who is in an Oregon hospital suffering from Leukemia. The family and everyone at Glove2Glove ask for your prayers for his total recovery.
Prayers for the return to health of Audrey Talmo, wife of Ed, a long-time boxing fan who cares about our sport.
Prayers needed for the return to health of Alfonso Luna, father of our outstanding photographer Ray Luna, who has taken ill in Southern California.
Please say prayers for the return to health of Helen Wambolt, wife of our East Coast World Boxing Hall of Fame writer Danny Wambolt. Cards will also be most welcome.***
Please say prayers for the return to health of Orazio Esposito, father of our photographer Richard Esposito.***
Prayers for the return to health of Don Donelson, father of writer Tom, and Gene Sebastian, brother of former middleweight champ Billy Soose. Both are suffering from congestive heart disease.
Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.***
Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.***
Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.***
Touching on politics briefly: Help me understand this, please: Am I missing something by thinking that the anger we face by Muslims for a Danish cartoon, which we had nothing to do with. How does that differ from us attacking Iraq after 9/11, and event they had nothing to do with?***
A huge tunnel was found, which was used by drug smugglers to transport illegal drugs from Mexico to America. This is an ominous sign of what may happen if we are not vigilant.
In fact, although there is no indication that it has happened, how big a nuclear weapon could have fit into that huge tunnel? And more to the point are there more tunnels? How many? And how are they being used?
How much money would it take to pay off some of the drug smugglers to allow use of the tunnel for such weapons? Isn’t it likely that they would get paid far more money to smuggle weapons into America instead of drugs?
Little of this current concern would have been on the table, except for the drugs, which has been an issue for some time, if the attacks of 9/11 never happened, but they did. And drugs, as damaging as they can be, are not of as much concern to the average American as wmd’s.
And yes, it’s a shame that many decent, hard working people still cross our borders illegally, to try to earn an honest living.
But with the nuclear threats that surround us, along with those of the crazed Al Qaeda leaders, we can not be too careful!
No one is picking on those who want to earn a decent living in this Country, just those that don’t bother to respect our laws and cross our borders illegally.
And remember, it’s not just the Southern border we should be concerned with. If it’s happening there, and it is, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be happening up North as well.
Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you. I respect everyone’s opinion.
