EYESIGHT TO THE BLIND

By Roger Esty

I think one of a fighter's first signs of realizing that he's slipping is when he comes in second with his jab. I was sitting with Ronnie Wilson and Denny Moyer and the rest of the guys after a training sesiion at the Coliseum when I over heard the two friends discuss the matter.

They lamented the fact that their opponents were timing the punch. When the Irish boys would start their jab their opposition would jump their lefts in their faces before they could connect with theirs. The snap was gone. The jab was heavy.

The futility of it was that they knew there was nothing they could do to recapture the past. Besides, they'd been fighting a long time. They didn't look forward to training anymore. They hoped they just would fight a guy who had no jab. I think that was the punch they worried about the most when they climbed through the rops. The jab,if it was a good one,was somethin' they couldn't see coming until it peppered their pan. The scartissue around their eyes attested to the fact.

It was fun to watch them fight though. It was fun because I knew them. Now,looking back,I wouldn't have seen it that way. From what's been kicked around, both fellas' are hurt as they advance towards old age. There's nothin' they can do about that either. No one can do anything about preventing the aging process,but to bring a hurt fighter into that arena is something I don't like to think about.

Ronnie and Denny probably couldn't see that comin' either.