This week's Boxing News (U.K. Magazine)...

(UNEDITED piece....the edited version will be in today's edition of Britain''s EXCELLENT weekly boxing magazine, "BOXING NEWS") I read the news a couple months ago of the passing of former super middleweight contender Tony "The Punching Postman" Thornton and I, along with so many others in the boxing world, was not only saddened at the loss but surprised at the fact that we were faced with the unexpected passing of such a young man. Then last week I was again faced with the demise of yet another former boxer from my era, one time junior middleweight world title challenger Bret "The Irish Hawk" Lally. Thornton was 49 when he passed, Lally was just 48. I subsequently read the numerous message board postings about these deaths and it occurred to me how boxers and what they do in that ring has such an impact on the fans who pay to watch them. Dozens of people who had never met either man took time out of their days to type out "thank you for all the thrills you gave us" type messages for these two warriors. If so many people who watched these two guys ply their trade on television felt the need to comment on their careers after hearing of their untimely deaths, imagine how I felt when I heard the news? If it's true that you can never know a man quite as well as you would if you had fought him, well, I guess I can say I knew those two warriors as well as anyone on this earth. Bret Lally handed me the first loss of my professional boxing career on ESPN in July of 1989 while Tony Thornton handed me the fourth loss of my career on the old USA Tuesday Night Fights series back in March of 1993 at the Blue Horzon in Philadelphia. Both men won fair and square over the course of our ten round matches and, in the process, taught me things that helped me become a better fighter down the line. They were similar boxers, actually, in that they were both very determined and consistent in the ring. Blue collar type of guys. Hard nose professionals. The type of guys who would have been fun to watch in any era. Real pros. I'm honored to have fought them the same way I am honored to have fought another gone-too-soon warrior, Chicago's Randy Smith. Randy was one of America's top amateur boxers in the late 70's and early 80's and a journeyman pro who not only scored several upsets over world ranked opponents but he also went the distance in losing ten round decisions to the likes of Michael Nunn, Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley and Chris Eubank. In 63 professional fights, Randy Smith was not only never knocked out but he was never knocked down. Boxing against him when I was 24 years old and he was 35 taught me that you can never judge a man by his age or his record. I was energetic and busy enough to win a unanimous decision over Randy in 1991 but it wasn't easy, that's for sure. His ring knowledge and defensive skills caused me more than a couple anxious moments that night. Randy passed away in the mid 1990's after a prolonged illness. Now that I am 44 years of age it seems I am running into instances of former opponents passing away with alarming frequency. I recently found out that a former amateur opponent of mine (at the 1987 National PAL tournament in Florida), Tennessee's Arthur Willis, also passed away a while back. I am assuming that there is likely at least one or two other untimely passing's among my 129 amateur and professional opponents dating all the way back to 1983. If the deaths of Randy, Arthur, Tony and now Bret have done anything at all for me it is that they have made me realize what everyone should realize when it comes to dealing with the people in their lives who are still among them as opposed to those who have passed on. Say what you have to say while they are still here to hear you. So to those four previously mentioned men as well as to the hundreds and hundreds of former opponents and sparring partners of mine, from the stars of the game like Michael Nunn, Henry Maske, Roy Jones and James Toney to the unsung members of our fraternity like Lenny Gargagliano, Isidro Roman, Richard "The Hitman" Holloway and Kertis Mingo down in North Carolina, let me just say right here and now that I truly do appreciate the opportunity to have matched up with you. Whether I bled or you bled, I hurt or you hurt, you won or I won, you got over on me or I got over on you, let me just say that the pleasure in sharing that ring with you was all mine. ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY