The Day I Almost Fought a Legend

The Mouthpiece

By: George H. Hanson Jr., Esq.

Never underestimate a child – Ok folks so we are in the boxing gym earlier today. And little Legend Wilson (who I am holding in the picture below) came to the gym with his father and USBA cruiserweight champion – Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson. As is customary, Legend and I exchanged pleasantries and we talked about “the family” with him explaining that he left his brother and two sisters at home so he could come to the gym with his dad. Oh I forgot to tell you that Legend is my un-official boxing advisor despite being only three-years-old. He is not always right but seldom wrong. He picked Marquez to stop Pacquiao, Garcia to knock out Khan and Mayweather to beat Alvarez! LOL. Oh, back to my story. So I had just finished working out – sparring ten rounds and bumped into little Legend again by the sit-up bench. I said. “What’s up little man?” To which he responded, “Why you call me little man?”  I was somewhat taken aback because you could tell by his tone that he had taken the term in the pejorative context and not as a term of endearment. LOL

He was serious and I surmised by his little body language that he wanted an explanation. Ok! So, I told him “I called you little man because you can walk under a dining room table without standing up.” I was hoping the humor would disarm the little tyke but his expression didn’t change. His countenance was that of Sonny Liston before the opening bell with Floyd Patterson. In a split-second I got the impression that things were about to escalate and I was about to defend myself against a three-year-old who had literally spent most of his life on this earth watching his father wreak havoc in the squared circle.

I am confident that he had lived vicariously through his dad’s ring exploits and wanted to prove that he was better than the old man!

My mind started wandering in preparation for the inevitable rumble with mini-Ultimate Warrior. In all of my 102 amateur fights I never had to fight someone that low to the ground. I knew that in order to face him it would be on his terms since I would have to crouch down to meet him eye to eye— thus would be within his punch zone. If I stood straight up – I couldn’t reach him and would be susceptible to a punch in the groin. In addition, if I were on my knees it would be quite difficult to shoulder roll effectively to avoid his fast little hands —I would be off-balance.  I had no competitive advantage! LOL

What a conundrum! His countenance remained that of a man whose honor had been challenged and was awaiting an apology to deter or avoid fisticuffs. Then suddenly out of nowhere a big smile engulfed his face and I breathed a sigh of relief. Little Legend was joking with me and laughed saying “You my little man!”

Thank God he was joking because I hadn’t perfected my strategy on how to fight a three-year-old—someone so short that had he been eligible to operate a motor-vehicle his feet would be visible on his driver’s license picture! LOL

Morale of the story – be mindful of what you say to kids! LOL

Continue to support the sweet science, and remember, always carry your mouthpiece!

ghanson3@hotmail.com

 



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