Pat Valentino, San Francisco of the 1940s who fought Ezzard Charles

[bluemurder]

Valentino was recuperating from eye surgery when his manager, Jack Andrade, relayed an offer to face Ezzard Charles for the NBA heavyweight title. With his eye still healing and with a layoff of nearly a year to consider, Valentino bravely–or foolishly–gave the unscrupulous Andrade the go-ahead. He was given only four weeks to train. For Valentino, the fight was more than a chance to win the title; it was a way to fulfill his hopes of distinction. For this aspiration, he would lose all sight in his right eye. “In a way, it was worth it,” he told The Oakland Tribune in 2004. “I needed the money and it was a title fight. When I was young, I told some kids I was going to fight for the heavyweight championship. They laughed at me.”

https://thisbrutalglory.com/2018/10/...pat-valentino/

[Ben Bolt]

For this aspiration, he would lose all sight in his right eye. “In a way, it was worth it ... I needed the money”

A James Baldwin quote: Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.

[Ben Bolt]