Sports

At least the amateurs -- now USA Boxing, rather than AAU -- are a bit less brutal than they used to be. Some commissioners are solid, others not so much. Most promoters are as crooked as ever ...... as they have been forever. I've only ever met one honest promoter at any level, and I've had my guys fight on his cards ever since.

When I was 15, my brothers and I were headed home after competing on an amateur fight card. A friend of our's died that night when a fight went on too long. I remember thining, "Poor Frank! That sucks!" But not connecting that both my oldest brother and I had fought in that exact same ring on that card a couple hours earlier. A couple years ago, my brother, who also fought pro, died from complications from taking too many punches to the head. He won almost all of his fights, but was a prime example of a short Irishman who would take five punches to land one.