Harry Simon – Imprisoned in Regret

By Craig Joseph Daly: Harry Simon had adopted the nickname ‘Terminator’ as a result of his ruthless performances between the ropes. Performances that had led the Namibian phenom to a ring record of 23 wins, no loses, 17 knockouts and two world titles in both the 154lb and 160lb divisions. Unfortunately the moniker would spill over into Harry Simon’s life outside the ropes. By the time Simon had captured his second world title in 2002 he was already responsible for the premature deaths of two motorists on account of his reckless driving.

By November of that same year the death toll stood at five, as Simon was again involved in a head on collision while behind the wheel of his Mercedes-Benz ML500, this time seriously injuring himself and costing the lives of three Belgian tourists, including a 22-month-old baby, Ibe de Winter, her 31-year-old father, Frederick de Winter, and a 29-year-old mother of two children, Michelle de Clerck. At the time of the incident the middleweight picture was wide open with then champion Bernard Hopkins and undefeated challengers Jermain Taylor, Edison Miranda and Kelly Pavlik about to burst onto the scene. But the potential match ups between Simon and these fighters would never materialize due to his inexcusable actions outside the ring. Simon was eventually sentenced to a mere 2 year jail term but perhaps the real punishment, aside from the remorse he must surely feel for his culpability, is the irrevocable damage done to what at one time appeared to be a hall of fame career in the making.

The list of tragic characters that failed to reach their potential in sports seems endless but in boxing even more so as the competitors demise within their professional life seems to be reflected ten fold in their personal lives and worse still is how negatively the circumstances effect others around them. Of the five examples given here one could argue that all men save for the case of Darren John Sutherland orchestrated their own downfall and deserved exactly what they got. It is however difficult for me to fathom how one man can be the lone architect of his own destruction no matter how erratic his personality.

If this is the case why not denounce the practice of human compassion entirely or consciously exclude whole groups of people from what I believe to be the most intrinsic of emotions we as humans possess. I could have offered more cases of fighters whose lives were cut short as a result of signs not picked up on in due time similar to that of Darren John Sutherland. The cases of Salvador Sanchez, Stanley Ketchel or Billy Collins Jr spring to mind. Men that the majority of society would deem to be good decent people cut down in their prime or at least on the cusp of, but in hindsight we now know the events that led to their downfall and more over, acknowledge the steps that could have and should have been taken to avoid these tragedies.

The reason for highlighting the other more infamous cases is simple. It’s easy for us to sit back and admonish their abhorrent acts with a proclamation of evil and surmise each man got what he deserved but surely and without playing the blame game, it’s more important so that future catastrophes may be averted, that the negligence of others which led to these events be acknowledged by those responsible. In each and every one of these cases there were alarm bells, the tone of which rang as clear as those heard within a boxing ring and none were dealt with appropriately before the final death knell sounded.

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