STAY DOWN

By Roger Esty

You admire a fighter's guts when he can take it and keep comong back. Showing no quit. Pulling himself up from the canvas. I think it's those moments that stir a boxing fan into a feeling of a spiritual reverence. Time slows down dramatically as the punches ignite a spray of sweat and blood illuminated by the ring lights. It's sports drama on a life and death level. We want to see him get up.We succumb to his courage. How close is he to dying?

At the end of his career Ronnie Wilson was taking a lot of punishment. He wasn't a contender anymore. He had fought too often and too much. His last fight was in San Diego where he started. A fight against Marcos Geraldo who ,like Ronnie,was no stranger to fighting and bleeding. Geraldo's face and Ronnie's told of slugging it out in dire situations. Both had had their big opportunities in their careers. Both had come up short. Both had nothing to be ashamed of.

Ronnie's fight with Geraldo was probably a toss up with the bookies. The thing about Ronnie though at that time was his eyes. Eyes that came apart almost at the touch of the gloves.The blood would streak down into his eyes and he couldn't see. Against Marcos Geraldo Ronnie's eyes opened up early. Geraldo could sock and Ronnie was in trouble early. The blood sprayed up in the glare of the ring lights as Geraldo teed off. He could just about telegraph anything he wanted. He knew Ronnie was fighting blind.

Ronnie was going down. Before, his legs would be strong enough to keep him standing,but now he was collapsing. Crumbling and bleeding.Blood soaking into the mat. Eyes closed, Ronnie would pull himself up. You loved him for that.

But loving a fighter knowing that he could be permamently hurt,or even die, makes one gather himself and say,"Enough. Stop it." When Ronnie couldn't see the punches coming in,when we saw that he was hurt but didn't feel the pain,we wanted it to stop. This wasn't the Roman Coliseum. It was the San Diego Coliseum. We were crying for Ronnie. We wanted him to stay down. He didn't. Maybe he couldn't hear us.