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So earlier tonight I was in Rhode Island for the Bika-Manfredo fight... Before the fight I was in Peter's dressing room and it was a thing where they asked that myself, Micky Ward and Vinny Paz walk Peter out to the ring, we have all sparred with him quite a bit in the past and they felt we were like part of his boxing family so we could walk him out, etc etc...OK,so once we are in the ring and I am standing there during a lull in the proceedings before they did the announcements...the crowd is very loud and excited, Peter is bouncing around the ring...Bika is a few feet away getting himself ready, too...this is THE moment, you know? And I ask Micky right then, "Does this make you ever want to get back in there again?"
I honestly assumed he would say, "Yeah, maybe." But the Mick has always been a real type of guy and he has stayed that way.
He told me, "You know, I feel like I did everything I could do in every single fight. I left everything I had in each ring I was in. I left it all there."
Man, I really loved that answer... I thought abou this past wars and knew what he meant...he is one guy who really did put it all out there against everybody he met up with...to go through all that and then be able to feel that sense of closure with you sport, that's rare, believe me...then I asked him about sparring and he looked at me like I was crazy....he never spars -even for fun- and has no desire to do so, either....a guy like me, though, this year alone I have sparred 428 rounds so far...if I can make 500 by December 31 I will....and not to get too deep or philosophical with you or anything but, I don't feel like I left it all in the ring like Mickey did, I don't have that sense that I did all I could like he does... maybe there's something deeper to that, i dont know...or maybe it's just that I love to spar, I love the competition, the fact that I can go to the gym anytime I want to do and there wil be someone there to **** it out with...one thing I have learned over the years, and this proves it even more, is that as much as most fighters have in common, there is just as much that makes them so different in the way they think and feel about the game...
I honestly assumed he would say, "Yeah, maybe." But the Mick has always been a real type of guy and he has stayed that way.
He told me, "You know, I feel like I did everything I could do in every single fight. I left everything I had in each ring I was in. I left it all there."
Man, I really loved that answer... I thought abou this past wars and knew what he meant...he is one guy who really did put it all out there against everybody he met up with...to go through all that and then be able to feel that sense of closure with you sport, that's rare, believe me...then I asked him about sparring and he looked at me like I was crazy....he never spars -even for fun- and has no desire to do so, either....a guy like me, though, this year alone I have sparred 428 rounds so far...if I can make 500 by December 31 I will....and not to get too deep or philosophical with you or anything but, I don't feel like I left it all in the ring like Mickey did, I don't have that sense that I did all I could like he does... maybe there's something deeper to that, i dont know...or maybe it's just that I love to spar, I love the competition, the fact that I can go to the gym anytime I want to do and there wil be someone there to **** it out with...one thing I have learned over the years, and this proves it even more, is that as much as most fighters have in common, there is just as much that makes them so different in the way they think and feel about the game...
...and Pastrana was telling Matt on the inside, "Dont listen to him, fight me!!" Funny stuff.
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