By Gerardo Granados: A long time ago there was a fighter who was not considered to be the greatest of all time, but he had enough talent that lead him to be enshrined in to the international boxing hall of fame. His upbringing was humble, as a kid he was so poor that some times he had to trick people to get food on his table.
He was not a big guy in size but he had the courage of a giant, perhaps his limitations as a kid gave him the determination to become a champion, he did not did good at school, I guess you can not study properly while hungry. At a first glance you could tell he had a special charisma and he not only became an idol to his country but to the whole world, the way he looked, his eyes and his macho way of life.
He was able to box on the outside, to use his waist movement to make his rival miss he was able block punches or slip them, he was defensively gifted but he was not as skilled as Whitaker, Pep or Mayweather, but indeed he was really good, he did not run all the time he rather engage, these fighter was intelligent he was not a simple brawler who can be out boxed. On the inside he was a terrific body puncher, great footwork and was blessed with a granite chin. I can say he still is my favorite fighter; He was able to outbox a great boxer or to dominate a bigger and stronger brawler on his own game.
Yes, this fighter was not perfect; He did lose a couple of times but to better boxers and on times he was upset by rivals who were quite limited. He enjoyed his fame, his glory days gave him big paydays and he made sure to enjoy it while it lasted but he never forgot to help the poor or the ones who needed help. The way he fought was technically great but he was a brave one, one of the meanest and most feared of his fighting days. He did like to party and when he was not training he enjoyed life. There are some stories about him that might sound a bit exaggerated but if you saw him fight then you could tell he was able to do it.
He never ducked any one, indeed when he was no longer in his prime he fought and defeated much bigger and stronger opponents. His attitude was the one of a warrior, you enjoyed his fights because when he was inside the ring he was not trying to out point his rival he was inside of that ring to destroy him. Oh, I miss him and many of his boxing fans must miss him too.
Perhaps I miss him so much not because there has not come along a new fighter that can be compared to him, after all boxing is full of great fighters and the young lions will take the place of the old lions. I miss him so much because nowadays boxers just try to make tons of money by fighting the most profitable opponent, where is the pride and honor, what happened to the macho way of life of these boxing warriors? Perhaps now I am old and professional boxing has changed, if it is true then it is too bad for me I guess. I wont name him because you already know who am I referring to. Do the readers miss him too?
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