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“We Had
GOLD!"
Never Before Seen Videos
by
Joe Rein
Executive Editor
Fightworld.us
Two years ago -- that seems
like the Pleistocene Age now -- the face of boxing was totally different: Love
him or hate him, Roy Jones, Jr. was a demi God threatening to topple
Sugar Ray Robinson as the pound-for-pound best, and John Ruiz was a
lumbering 235-pounder with a shred of the title and the easiest pickin’s for
Jones to be the first middleweight in a 100 years to become the heavyweight
titlist.
But Ruiz was still a
HEAVYWWEIGHT CHAMPION -- fringe or not – a monstrous mismatch in size. Jones
was not a big-boned light heavy. His assault on the crown was unthinkable,
even against a plodder like Ruiz.
Jones’ audacity was
applauded by his loyalists; and those that loathed him -- and they were legion
-- couldn’t wait for Goliath to smite and stomp him into the canvas – expose him
as a sham. Allow the Earth to rotate back on its axis.
A life-long fan, I wouldn’t
have missed being at ringside for the world.
It was just at a time that a
buddy, Jim Edwards -- an equally avid boxing fan and an award-winning
director/cameraman – and myself decided to start up our own boxing site, with
videos far different -- more gritty and professional than anybody else, with
writing to match.
We chose Fightbeat (What we
were going to call FUS) as a name; it resonated an old-school newsroom and the
tempo of a speed bag.
We were sure we could make a
commercial success of it with our small crew, run-&-gun style…Did some spec
videos, had a revenue plan, and lots of industry insiders gave us advice,
equipment and pumped us up with promises of advertising and financing.
So we did some last-minute
early-morning interviews at L.A gyms; threw our gear into Jim’s ’69 red Mustang
convertible without a top, windshield wipers and air conditioning, and headed
for Vegas.
It was one of the most
euphoric weeks of my life -- a 24-hour-a-day adrenaline rush. We hit the ground
running at the Strip: Got fight opines from people on the street, in hotels, on
top of them, beneath Jones and Ruiz glowering down from the plasma screen in
front of Caesar’s, in casinos; crisscrossed town and queried broadcasters,
ticket buyers, world champs, legends, trainers, gym rats, and promoters; covered
every pre-fight event and Don King absurdity (shot from angles only a
monkey could climb) and the big fight itself.
We had GOLD! And raced back
to L.A. We hadn’t slept; only nibbled press-conference nuts and chips, but we
were as high as if we’d hit the lottery. We couldn’t wait to tear into the
material.
We edited around the clock
for weeks. Composer Paul Hoffman from Blue Music did an original score
and mixed the sound.
We all waited expectantly
for the flood of sponsors. I’d hate to have held my breath; it never happened,
(Welcome to Hollywood) and Jim and I had to dust ourselves off and get on with
life.
The work continued whenever
we could steal time or studio space, and it’s been vaulted ever since…still
needing some titles.
But I thought it was about
time it saw the light of day, finished or not.
The first Windows Media movies
are related to the Jones-Ruiz fight, (What’s clear is: Experts are no more than
people with years around the sport and no better predictors than any of us) In
subsequent weeks, we’ll show portraits of fighters, words of wisdom from
George Foreman’s first trainer, and one man who indelibly defines what it
means to be a boxing fan.
I hope you
enjoy and welcome your feedback.
Movie # FB05: “The Laws of
Physics.” The fight crowd in L.A. and Vegas weigh in with opinions and picks,
including Tony DeMarco, Diego Corrales, Al Bernstein and
Kevin Iole.
Movie #FB11: Condenses one
week’s pre-fight glitz and insanity into two minutes. (Which is what it felt
like in real time)
Movie #FB13
: Trainer
Eric Brown talked about strategy
Movie # FB08(coming
this week):: Ron Borges,
awarding-winning sports writer, talks about Jones, and makes his prediction and
tells why.
Movie #FB16(coming
this week):: “Mo” Harris’
trainer, James Ali Bashir explained about his pick.
Movie # FB12(coming
this week):: Lisa Olson,
pro fighter and granddaughter of former middleweight champ BoBo Olson,
picks and tells why.
Movie # FB15(coming
this week):: Chris Byrd
talks about how hard heavyweights hit.
****
Note: Hopefully, these videos help bring to life the
story I did about the event. Click on the link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~joerein/shoes.html
****
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