Sometimes I feel as though I have said everything I know about current events, and would rather talk about something else. Like, at the moment, boxing. So skip this post if your only interest is politics.
I have always been a boxing fan, but my son has long surpassed me. He has a real job, but in his spare time he manages a fighter or two and promotes boxing cards in the Twin Cities. There is a big card coming up Friday night at the Target Center that will be televised on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, which he has a hand in. Mike Tyson (Iron Mike Promotions) is supplying some fighters from his stable and is the principal promoter. The Target Center’s web page on the event is here. The card will be headlined by Caleb Truax, Minnesota’s top boxer, who is currently ranked number three among U.S. middleweights and number 11 in the world.
So this morning my son and I drove up to a small boxing gym in Coon Rapids where Caleb did his final sparring before Friday’s fight. He sparred with some top-notch opponents, including Javontae Starks. Starks won the U.S. amateur welterweight title at age 18 and was slated for the U.S. Olympic team, but was the victim of a drive-by shooting at a high school graduation party in North Minneapolis and nearly died. He was out of boxing for two years, but has now returned to the ring, is undefeated as a professional, and has a realistic shot to be a world champion some day.
It was fun to spend a couple of hours with the boxers, along with trainers, promoters, a girlfriend or two and some reporters who were filming a story on Truax and Friday’s fights. The friendliness of the environment was striking. The fighters couldn’t have been more cordial, and even though they banged each other hard in the ring, they were very friendly among themselves. Caleb thanked me for the couple of posts I have done here on Power Line on his recent fights, which we have attended.
Here, Caleb Truax is on the left, sparring with Javontae Starks:
In this short video (30 seconds), Caleb is on the right at the start, boxing Starks. If you have ever wondered what it is like to hang out at an authentic boxing gym, this is an opportunity to find out:
In this video clip, which is around a minute long, Caleb is fighting Rob Brant, another high-class fighter with a bright future:
When he had finished sparring, Truax worked the heavy bag:
When he was all done, Caleb posed for a picture with me and my son:
While we were at the gym I bought three tickets for Friday’s fights from the main local promoter, along with Tyson. If you live within driving distance, you might consider getting tickets to the card from Seconds Out Promotions. A crowd of around 6,000 or more is anticipated.
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