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A few months ago, I recounted the memories of a half-dozen current and former world champions who spoke fondly of their greatest moment in a sport other than boxing.
The thoughts of five more of boxing's best follow:
Earnie Shavers: I played football at Newton Falls High School in Ohio. I was an end on offense and defensive end. I got my share of sacks, but that was before players celebrated a sack by dancing around. When you tackled the quarterback, you were just doing your job. I liked football, but the best moment for me came when I was running track. It was only the second year that Newton Falls had a track team. Any time anyone on the team won anything, it was good. I wasn't that fast, but I was fast for my size. One meet, I came in first and broke the school record in the 440-yard run. That felt good because it was an individual achievement and also I was part of building something for the school's future. I don't know how long the record lasted. I know it was still there when I graduated that year.
Ricky Hatton: I had a real thrill in football [soccer] when I was 13 years old and was picked for the School of Excellence in Manchester. The way it worked was a group of 20 youngsters was chosen to train together and play as a team. And each day when we finished training, the Manchester City team was coming in. I was always a massive football fan, so it was very exciting to me. We weren't in an organized league, but we did play other teams. I wasn't the most skillful player the world has seen, but I was definitely fit. I played midfield and had a decent kick on me. I scored quite a few goals from long range. Then, after two years, they let me go. By that time, I'd won four national titles in boxing, and it was getting harder and harder for me to fit the two training schedules together. The people who ran the school told me, "Ricky, we're impressed with what we've seen, but we haven't seen enough of you." That was the end of my football career. But several of the players who were in the School of Excellence with me went on to play for Manchester City.
Juan Diaz: In sixth grade, I played on the Alameda Elementary School basketball team. I was as tall as I am now, but I wasn't a good basketball player and the team didn't win many games. One time, we were playing Woodson Middle School. There were about 50 students and parents in the stands. I'd never scored a point before in a league game. The ball was passed to me. I was standing at the free throw line. I closed my eyes, threw it up, opened my eyes, and it went in. When I saw the ball go in, it was like when a magician makes something appear by magic. I only scored six or eight points the whole season. And like I said, we didn't win many games. But we won that one.
Bernard Hopkins: I'd have to say it was the good times I had playing street football when I was 11, 12 years old in north Philadelphia. The games were on concrete, five guys on a side, hard two-handed touch. The field was a block long. There was broken glass on the streets. There were no referees, no rules. You didn't call pass interference. If a guy grabbed you before the ball arrived, you smashed him with an elbow and he didn't do it again. You got knocked down and pushed into cars and had the wind knocked out of you. But we were young; we didn't care. I was tall and thin, so I was a receiver. I always wanted to be [Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver] Lynn Swann. Every touchdown pass I caught in those games was a moment of glory.
These days, Lennox Lewis gets his basketball fix from the stands.
Lennox Lewis: In my senior year of high school, I played power forward for Cameron Heights High School [in Ontario, Canada]. In the championship game of the McDonald's Basketball Tournament, we were down by one point and had the ball out of bounds with 15 seconds left in the game. The coach called a play called "spread." I was the man in the middle. The idea was, the ball would be inbounded to me and I'd pass it to the best shooter on the team. But he was completely covered. So I deked left, went to the right -- I had a fast first step -- dribbled to the top of the key, and put up a jump shot. Swish! We won by one point and I felt great. It isn't the sort of thing you do all the time. And I'd done something that made everybody happy -- at least, everybody who was rooting for us.
After the game, a very pretty girl from another high school came over to me, smiled, and said, "Hey, that was a good shot." That was the icing on the cake. There was instant chemistry between us. I smiled back. But I didn't ask for her name and telephone number, which I should have done.
The thoughts of five more of boxing's best follow:
Earnie Shavers: I played football at Newton Falls High School in Ohio. I was an end on offense and defensive end. I got my share of sacks, but that was before players celebrated a sack by dancing around. When you tackled the quarterback, you were just doing your job. I liked football, but the best moment for me came when I was running track. It was only the second year that Newton Falls had a track team. Any time anyone on the team won anything, it was good. I wasn't that fast, but I was fast for my size. One meet, I came in first and broke the school record in the 440-yard run. That felt good because it was an individual achievement and also I was part of building something for the school's future. I don't know how long the record lasted. I know it was still there when I graduated that year.
Ricky Hatton: I had a real thrill in football [soccer] when I was 13 years old and was picked for the School of Excellence in Manchester. The way it worked was a group of 20 youngsters was chosen to train together and play as a team. And each day when we finished training, the Manchester City team was coming in. I was always a massive football fan, so it was very exciting to me. We weren't in an organized league, but we did play other teams. I wasn't the most skillful player the world has seen, but I was definitely fit. I played midfield and had a decent kick on me. I scored quite a few goals from long range. Then, after two years, they let me go. By that time, I'd won four national titles in boxing, and it was getting harder and harder for me to fit the two training schedules together. The people who ran the school told me, "Ricky, we're impressed with what we've seen, but we haven't seen enough of you." That was the end of my football career. But several of the players who were in the School of Excellence with me went on to play for Manchester City.
Juan Diaz: In sixth grade, I played on the Alameda Elementary School basketball team. I was as tall as I am now, but I wasn't a good basketball player and the team didn't win many games. One time, we were playing Woodson Middle School. There were about 50 students and parents in the stands. I'd never scored a point before in a league game. The ball was passed to me. I was standing at the free throw line. I closed my eyes, threw it up, opened my eyes, and it went in. When I saw the ball go in, it was like when a magician makes something appear by magic. I only scored six or eight points the whole season. And like I said, we didn't win many games. But we won that one.
Bernard Hopkins: I'd have to say it was the good times I had playing street football when I was 11, 12 years old in north Philadelphia. The games were on concrete, five guys on a side, hard two-handed touch. The field was a block long. There was broken glass on the streets. There were no referees, no rules. You didn't call pass interference. If a guy grabbed you before the ball arrived, you smashed him with an elbow and he didn't do it again. You got knocked down and pushed into cars and had the wind knocked out of you. But we were young; we didn't care. I was tall and thin, so I was a receiver. I always wanted to be [Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver] Lynn Swann. Every touchdown pass I caught in those games was a moment of glory.
These days, Lennox Lewis gets his basketball fix from the stands.
Lennox Lewis: In my senior year of high school, I played power forward for Cameron Heights High School [in Ontario, Canada]. In the championship game of the McDonald's Basketball Tournament, we were down by one point and had the ball out of bounds with 15 seconds left in the game. The coach called a play called "spread." I was the man in the middle. The idea was, the ball would be inbounded to me and I'd pass it to the best shooter on the team. But he was completely covered. So I deked left, went to the right -- I had a fast first step -- dribbled to the top of the key, and put up a jump shot. Swish! We won by one point and I felt great. It isn't the sort of thing you do all the time. And I'd done something that made everybody happy -- at least, everybody who was rooting for us.
After the game, a very pretty girl from another high school came over to me, smiled, and said, "Hey, that was a good shot." That was the icing on the cake. There was instant chemistry between us. I smiled back. But I didn't ask for her name and telephone number, which I should have done.
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