Note: This is a story that has been repeated many times because few people arrive at their destination of being a champion and making a fortune in the business of boxing....
"Coulda, woulda, shoulda" pays no bills and most boxers end up back in the labor force, forgotten like they were never in the game....
The various halls of fame serve a few interests...
Teddy Atlas has been trying to improve the lot of individual boxers who give so much of themselves to the game of boxing. But professional boxing is a difficult sport to organize for the benefit of the athletes....
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DAVISON, MI -- Arnie Wells Jr. tells his story of soaring to the heights of the boxing world and the end of his amateur and pro career nonchalantly.
“It is what it is,” says the Davison native, a former pro boxer and one-time rising star who now, at age 50, works as a security guard in downtown Flint.
His story is one of near-misses, prideful accomplishments, misfortune and survival.
Wells Jr. grew up a fighter. His father, Arnold Wells Sr., and four brothers were a boxing family. He trained with the likes of Joe Byrd, Emanuel Steward and a long list of fighters from the famed Kronk Gym in Detroit.
As an amateur, Wells had a record of 126-12. In 26 professional fights, he had just five losses and one draw. He is a winner of 15 national amateur titles -- including four championships at the Ohio State Fair -- and 30 state amateur titles. He might have been an alternate for the 1980 Olympics.
Wells graduated from Davison High School in 1980 and at age 17 was invited to the U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta, Ga. He lost his 139 weight class fight to Joe Manley by a split decision and left the trials with a bronze medal. He could have been an Olympic alternate had
the U.S. not decided to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.
Wells opted to turn pro in 1981 instead of pursuing a spot on the 1984 Olympic team. He also chose not to join the USA boxing team on a trip to Poland in March 1980.
The plane carrying the USA boxing team crashed in Warsaw, Poland March 14, 1980. All 87 people on board were killed, including 14 amateur fighters from the USA boxing program.
Turned Professional:
For his first three professional fights, Wells was managed and trained by Emanuel Steward, the late boxing icon credited with helping groom some of the world’s best fighters.
He left Steward once he was told that his dad could not be a part of his training.
That decision may have cost Wells a chance at a more prosperous professional career.
Wells' last fight was in 1996.
Serious injury in a vehicle accident resulted in five surgeries, kept him in a wheelchair for three years and permanently ended his boxing career...
Wells never earned major money in the ring. He’s not enshrined in any boxing Halls of Fame.
He’s a security guard during the day and voluntarily helps his dad train aspiring boxers at their gym at night.
Source: By
Ross Maghielse
Life of a fighter: Davison boxer's tale is one of near misses, soaring achievement, survival | MLive.com
http://www.mlive.com/sports/flint/index.ssf/2013/02/life_of_a_fighter_davisons_arn.html
