Don King, on Mike Tyson


"Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter?
He went to prison, not to Princeton."



"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music
and the dancers hit each other."

Monday, December 5, 2022

The loneliest place in sport

 









'The ring is the loneliest place in sport - and the most exciting. You bring all your  history with you. If you have misbehaved, if you haven't trained properly, if you're underdone, boxing will find you out. Nobody is safe from the examination.'
 - Frank Bruno #boxing






Saturday, October 1, 2022

Monday, September 26, 2022

Mike Tyson-isms

 


“Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth” ― Mike Tyson


Everybody you fight is not your enemy and everybody that helps you is not your friend. — Mike Tyson.


What did Mike Tyson say about fear?

“Fear is your best friend or your worst enemy. It's like fire. If you can control it, it can cook for you; it can heat your house. If you can't control it, it will burn everything around you and destroy you.”


“Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning. But fear is your best friend. Fear is like fire. If you learn to control it, you let it work for you. If you don’t learn to control it, it’ll destroy you and everything around you. Like a snowball on a hill, you can pick it up and throw it or do anything you want with it before it starts rolling down, but once it rolls down and gets so big, it’ll crush you to death. So one must never allow fear to develop and build up without having control over it, because if you don’t you won’t be able to achieve your objective or save your life.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

 

“Everyone that you fight is not your enemy and everyone who helps you is not your friend.”

― Mike Tyson

 

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

― Mike Tyson

 

“In America, we’re really good at blowing things up but not so good in knowing where the pieces will land.”

― Mike Tyson

 

“a man who was friendly with everyone was an enemy to himself.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

("A friend to all is a friend to none" - Aristotle.)

 

“Man is not mean to be humble, he's meant to be humbled.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

 

“You think you know the difference between a hero and a coward, Mike? Well, there is no difference between a hero and a coward in what they feel. It’s what they do that makes them different. The hero and the coward feel exactly the same but you have to have the discipline to do what a hero does and to keep yourself from doing what the coward does.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

13 likesLike

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

― Mike Tyson

13 likesLike

“Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning. But fear is your best friend. Fear is like fire. If you learn to control it, you let it work for you. If you don’t learn to control it, it’ll destroy you and everything around you.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

11 likesLike

“Another thing that freaks me out is time. Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle and an end. It's just a cycle.”

― Mike Tyson

7 likesLike

“The ability to apply the discipline, the ability to do what needs to be done no matter how he feels inside, in my opinion, is the definition of a true professional.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography

7 likesLike

“The boxing’s the easy part. When you get into the ring to fight, that’s the vacation. But when you get in the gym, you have to do things over and over till you’re sore and deep in your mind you say, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore,’ I push that out of my mind.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

6 likesLike

“My style was impetuous, my defenses were impregnable, and I was ferocious.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

6 likesLike

“Everybody thinks this is a tough man’s sport. This is not a tough man’s sport. This is a thinking man’s sport. A tough man is gonna get hurt real bad in this sport.”

― Mike Tyson

6 likesLike

“Fear is your best friend or your worst enemy. It’s like fire. If you can control it, it can cook for you; it can heat your house. If you can’t control it, it will burn everything around you and destroy you.”

― Mike Tyson

6 likesLike

“Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning. But fear is your best friend. Fear is like fire. If you learn to control it, you let it work for you. If you don’t learn to control it, it’ll destroy you and everything around you. Like a snowball on a hill, you can pick it up and throw it or do anything you want with it before it starts rolling down, but once it rolls down and gets so big, it’ll crush you to death. So one must never allow fear to develop and build up without having control over it, because if you don’t you won’t be able to achieve your objective or save your life. “Consider”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

5 likesLike

“(Quoting Cus D'Amato)

Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but do it like you love it.”

― Mike Tyson

5 likesLike

“God is not going to send someone to hell for my mistakes. So God and I have to deal with my own salvation.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

5 likesLike

“Your mind is not your friend, Mike. I hope you know that. You have to fight with your mind, control it, put it in its place. You have to control your emotions. Fatigue in the ring is ninety percent psychological. It’s just the excuse of a man who wants to quit.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography

5 likesLike

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

― Mike Tyson

tags: boxing, inspiration, life, poignant, reality-check, wisdom4 likesLike

“God, it would be good to be a fake somebody rather than a real nobody.”

― Mike Tyson

4 likesLike

“MIKE WOULD LIKE TO THANK: Cus D’Amato, my mentor, friend, and general. Because of you, my life has reached heights I could never have imagined. Without you, I don’t know where I would be today. My gratitude to you is immeasurable.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth

4 likesLike

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

― Mike Tyson

3 likesLike

“He was very vindictive and always out for revenge. He couldn’t live without enemies, so he created them.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography

3 likesLike

“Confidence was everything. But in order to possess that confidence, you had to test yourself and put yourself on the line. It doesn’t come from osmosis, out of the air. It comes from consistently going over the visualization in your mind to help you develop the confidence that you want to possess.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography

3 likesLike

“The ones who lost and quit, well their demons will follow them to their grave because they had a chance to face them and they didn’t. You have to face your demons, Mike, or they will follow you to eternity.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography

3 likesLike

“Mike tyson made a prolific quote that I will never forget. It came when he was being interviewed by a reporter about another boxers plan for an upcoming fight... Mike said, "Everyone has a plan until you get hit in the face.”

― Mike Tyson

3 likesLike

“One day Cus came to me. “You know, Camille really wants you to do your chores. I could care less if you did, but you should do them because it will make you a better boxer.” “How’s taking out the trash going to make me a better boxer?” I scoffed. “Because doing something you hate to do like you love it is good conditioning for someone aspiring towards greatness.”

― Mike Tyson, Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography


Thursday, September 8, 2022

GGG interview w/ Teddy Atlas - Canelo Trilogy, Fight Strategy, Training ...






https://youtu.be/O2cwrcGedUs

GGG, Gennady Golovkin joins Teddy Atlas and co-host Ken Rideout for a conversation about his upcoming fight with Canelo Alvarez, the trilogy, Canelo vs GGG 3. They discuss Gennady Golovkin's training for the Canelo Alvarez fight at training camp in Big Bear, his strategy for the Canelo fight in comparison to past Canelo fights, and much more. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/teddy...





Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Richard Pryor on boxing





https://youtu.be/vCvMIWmdqTU

Richard Pryor Live - Wanted + video (1978)
Leon Spinks/ Muhammad Ali / Keeping in Shape

Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use.

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Shaun Assael



Shaun Assael
@shaunassael
Author, "The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin And Heavyweights." Now a feature documentary on
Showtime.
New Yorkshaunassael.comJoined February 2009


Shaun Assael

http://shaunassael.com/

Shaun Assael is an American author and award-winning investigative journalist. He is the author of four books that deal with sports, crime and culture. 


Wikipedia


Shoulda, short for should have (and not should of, which lexies call a variant but I call a mistake), carries a sense of correctness or obligation; coulda implies a possibility, and woulda denotes conditional certainty, an oxymoron: the stated intent to have taken an action if only something had not intervened. 






https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Assael









Friday, August 19, 2022

Oleksandr Usyk’s outfit for the Anthony Joshua rematch weigh-in

 AJ had his moments that would look good on a highlight reel.  Ustk had 350 amateur fights and learned how to win rounds,  He does superhuman things to avoid punches and to throw counters.  He is a study in "hit and don't get hit".




Oleksandr Usyk’s outfit for the Anthony Joshua rematch weigh-in…

Sunday, August 14, 2022

The Power of Practice: Lessons From 10 Years of Pushups






The Power of Practice: Lessons From 10 Years of Pushups  
- Emily Saul 



https://youtu.be/hngDhaD6UaY

This talk by Emily Saul, Sport Psychology + Performance Coach, explores the lessons that she learned from 10 years of practicing pushups, every day. 

She introduces the value of having a practice: an ongoing and consistent relationship with a repeated action, like she has through pushups. 

This practice, in the form of habit, routine, and/or ritual creates a space for learning, for developing personal growth, and for positively impacting mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, and ability to overcome challenge. 

The talk offers five of the most relevant and applicable lessons for building a practice of your own.  

Sport Psychology + Performance Coach, Licens
ed Mental Health Counselor. Founder of E Saul Movement



THE 5 TOP LESSONS LEARNED

1. Let obstacles become opportunities: resistance and challenges are not bad - they are opportunities to learn
2. Not doing something perfectly does not mean you are failing: every little step/ every rep is part of a bigger goal
3. Motivation is directly related to meaning: frame your challenge around something that has purpose in your life.
4. If you want to keep doing something make it regular and give it structure: And if you want to keep enjoying something make it unusual and give it variety
5. There is a version of impressive things that works for you: if there is something that inspires you and has meaning for you practice being good at it day after day





Thursday, August 4, 2022

Every Little Step with Mike Tyson & Wayne Brady





Every Little Step with Mike Tyson & Wayne Brady


Tiger Flowers - The Georgia Deacon and the Mysterious Death of a Boxing Manager




 

Tiger Flowers - The Georgia Deacon and the Mysterious Death of a Boxing 

Manager


https://youtu.be/PSzF-qInJuc



Rosie Perez, Actress | Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson






World renown actress Rosie Perez sat down with Mike Tyson & CEO of Tyson 2.0 Adam Wilks in the #Hotboxin studio. In this episode, the trio spoke about: growing up in the hood, street fights, Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford, Anthony Joshua Vs. Oleksandr Usyk, Canelo Vs. GGG, Canelo's loss to Dmitry Bivol, Mike talks about biting Evander Holyfield's ear, Rosie gets a gun pulled on her and Mike comes to the rescue?! 

https://youtu.be/DWldiD5bq_M








Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Bill Maher, HBO "Real Time with Bill Maher" | Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson





Former host of "Politically Incorrect," comedian, actor, and political commentator Bill Maher sat down in the #Hotboxin studio with Mike Tyson and co-host Sebastian Joseph-Day. In this episode, the trio debated: God/religion, the Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality, gun control, and transgender athletes in sports. Mike also talks about having sex with his GED teacher in prison, and Bill explains why he'll never get married. You do not want to miss this episode. 

https://youtu.be/jZK_O2iec5A




Tuesday, August 2, 2022

As combat sports grow in popularity, ringside physicians grapple with the precarious ethics of their role.



Many physicians, as well as the American Medical Association and the World Medical Association, have called for the elimination of sanctioned combat sports. “We need to spread the word that brain-bashing is not a socially acceptable spectator sport,” Dr. Stephen Hauser, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote in 2012 in the medical journal Annals of Neurology.

For those who opt to be involved, the A.R.P. has created a standardized set of instructions and recommendations to remove some of the ambiguity of ringside medicine. The group has certified more than 100 doctors across 34 states and 11 countries since its founding.

But once the bell sounds, every ringside physician is alone, charting a calculus of risk, harm and entertainment. 

“You cannot become a fan,” Dr. Sethi said. “You stop it too late, and the damage is already done.”



While ringside physicians are required at every sanctioned combat sport event in America, some doctors and medical groups think their presence promotes unsafe behavior.
Credit...Bee Trofort for The New York Times



Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/health/mma-combat-sports-doctors.html



Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E.




Carmen Basilio 


From a medical standpoint, each time a fighter is hit in the head, he or she risks a brain bleed that can kill within minutes. And repeated trauma can result years later in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., which can cause aggressive behavior, depression and eventually dementia.




Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Artur Beterbiev vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk | FREE FIGHT | Beterbiev Becomes Un...




  

Artur Beterbiev vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk | FREE FIGHT | Beterbiev Becomes Unified Champ

https://youtu.be/o-uVjGnJzdI





Tim Witherspoon - Cross-Armed Defense




 

Terrible Tim had his career stolen by Don King - got his money took and his head shook...
https://youtu.be/nq0JE6rqrZU




Thursday, July 14, 2022

BUFFERY: Venerable Cabbagetown Boxing Club is on the ropes

https://youtu.be/vn_CyTWOqjw

 
BUFFERY: Venerable Cabbagetown Boxing Club is on the ropesSteve BufferyMore from Steve BufferyPublished:February 13, 2020 
Toronto SUN Sports Other SportsRELATED 
Toronto boxer Arthur Biyarslanov goes by the nickname “The Chechen Wolf.” He’s been chewing up and spitting out the competition since turning pro in 2018.
Biyarslanov, 24, is probably best known to Canadian sports fans for his stunning and dramatic victory over Olympic and world championship medallist Yasnier Toledo of Cuba in the gold-medal match at the 2015 Pan American Games as fans at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa chanted, “Canada! Canada! Canada!”
At 21, he was the only male boxer from the Great White North to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. He has since become arguably this country’s most promising professional, crafting a perfect 6-0 record with five knockouts, including a third-round KO over tough Argentine journeyman Nicolas Velazquez in Miami on Jan.30.
Born in the war-torn Russian republic of Chechnya, Biyarslanov immigrated to Canada with his family in 2005 when he was 10, moving into the tough St. James Town section of Toronto.
He couldn’t speak English, had lost his dad when he was a young boy and was picked on at school. In his own words, he “was lost.”
But then his older brother Rustam brought him to the Cabbagetown Youth Centre and Biyarslanov became involved in the after-school programs at the club, including the boxing program upstairs. As a result, The Chechen Wolf has become the latest fighter from the Cabbagetown Boxing Club to have risen to international heights in the sport, joining a storied list that includes fellow Olympians Shawn O’Sullivan, John Kalbhenn and Asif Dar … as well as fighters who competed at Olympics for other countries, including Marcus Priaulx (Australia) and Sean Black (Jamaica). Pat Fennell, John Raftery, Marc Leduc and Egerton Marcus are just a few of the other greats who trained at the club.
According to Peter Wylie, the long-time head boxing coach, there have been 10 Olympians to come out of the Cabbagetown. O’Sullivan won an Olympic silver medal and a world amateur title. Many other fighters captured Commonwealth and Pan Am Games hardware. The club has long been a lifeline for the Canadian national team.
Jennifer Doiron, an administrator who has Level One coaching works at...
Toronto Sun's Steve Buffery (L) speaks with John Kalbhenn who started...
Memorabilia, fight posters, former boxers, and boxing gear fill the walls,...
Memorabilia, fight posters, former boxers, and boxing gear fill the walls,...
Toronto Sun's Steve Buffery speaks with John Kalbhenn who started...
Toronto Sun's Steve Buffery speaks with John Kalbhenn (pictured - with...
Toronto Sun's Steve Buffery and John Kalbhenn (L) who started...
Memorabilia, ring chairs, Vaseline, fight posters, former boxers, and...
Inside the ropes at the Cabbagetown Boxing's Club on Wednesday...
Memorabilia, ring chairs, speed bags, fight posters, former boxers, and...
A plaque was dedicated to the people of Cabbagetown and the Boxing...
Jennifer Doiron, an administrator who has Level One coaching works at...
Toronto Sun's Steve Buffery (L) speaks with John Kalbhenn who started...
1/11But more important than producing world-class fighters, the Cabbagetown Youth Centre has contributed in an immeasurable way to young people in that highly diverse area of Toronto, a hard-scrabble corner of the city that includes tough neighbourhoods such as St. James Town and Regent Park. The club is a haven for immigrant kids trying to adjust to a new country — kids like Biyarslanov who said, in some ways, the centre, and the sport of boxing, saved his life.
“That gym is what made me what I am today,” said the Montreal-based fighter, whose family still lives in St. James Town. “To have a boxing gym in that area, a place kids can go to after school, is very important because, who knows? If I didn’t go to the gym, what would I have done after school? Maybe I would get into trouble.
“It’s also important because it’s probably the most multicultural place in Canada,” Biyarslanov continued. “We had kids from all over the place. Indian guys, Pakistani guys, we had another Chechen training with us, we had Russians … there were people from all over the world. Without CYC, where would they go?”
The CYC has been around since 1972, providing recreational programs and summer camps for low-income families and at-risk youth in the area. Sadly, funding from all levels of government have begun to disappear and there is a last-ditch effort afoot to find new revenue sources to keep the club alive before it’s forced to close permanently at the end of March because of a lack of money.

Memorabilia, ring chairs, speed bags, fight posters and boxing gear fill the walls, cabinets and tables at the boxing club atop the venerable Cabbagetown Youth Centre. JACK BOLAND/TORONTO SUN
Mayor John Tory has pledged to do what he can, but the future of the centre — and the boxing club — is still very uncertain. Without a doubt, losing the CYC would be a disaster for the community. Wylie, a retired Toronto cop, said the club and his boxing program have helped thousands of kids stay on the straight and narrow. He said a “countless” number of ex-boxers, many from impoverished families, have gone on to become lawyers (including Raftery), teachers and successful business people.
“Everyone is screaming that they want to do something about gun violence and drug problems and the opioid crisis and everything. Well, there’s 190,000 people on a waiting list to get into recreational facilities in the core area of the city. Everyone is screaming for this and that, and there’s no money available for it.
“And who are we? We’re a small registered charity. But for many, many years, we have taken up the work load of the city in that area. In the summers, we’re putting through 1,200-1,400 kids in summer camp.”



Kalbhenn came to the Cabbagetown club as a teenager from New Hamburg, Ont., to train in the early 1980s and has been there ever since, first as a boxer (amateur and pro) and now as a long-time coach. He has seen first-hand how the sport, and his club, can change lives.
“Everybody can box. You don’t have to speak English. It’s a poor man’s sport. We throw a pair of gloves on, a pair of running shoes, and they’re good to go,” he said. “The kids have a bad day at school, they come in and bang the bag or they get in the ring. And they gain respect for each other.”
Biyarslanov gets emotional contemplating the idea that his old club might be forced to shut down.
“That club means to much to me,” he said. “It’s very sad that it’s in danger of closing.”
What would be great, Wylie and Kalbhenn agree, is if some wealthy philanthropist or organization in the city stepped up and made a major donation to the club — perhaps a sports-centric organization like Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
In the meantime, a GoFundMe page has been set up for anyone wishing to make a contribution.
sbuffery@


@Beezersunpostmedia.com








BUFFERY: Venerable Cabbagetown Boxing Club is on the ropes
Steve BufferyMore from Steve Buffery


Published:February 13, 2020



Toronto boxer Arthur Biyarslanov goes by the nickname “The Chechen Wolf.” He’s been chewing up and spitting out the competition since turning pro in 2018.

Biyarslanov, 24, is probably best known to Canadian sports fans for his stunning and dramatic victory over Olympic and world championship medallist Yasnier Toledo of Cuba in the gold-medal match at the 2015 Pan American Games as fans at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa chanted, “Canada! Canada! Canada!”

At 21, he was the only male boxer from the Great White North to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. He has since become arguably this country’s most promising professional, crafting a perfect 6-0 record with five knockouts, including a third-round KO over tough Argentine journeyman Nicolas Velazquez in Miami on Jan.30.

Born in the war-torn Russian republic of Chechnya, Biyarslanov immigrated to Canada with his family in 2005 when he was 10, moving into the tough St. James Town section of Toronto.

He couldn’t speak English, had lost his dad when he was a young boy and was picked on at school. In his own words, he “was lost.”

But then his older brother Rustam brought him to the Cabbagetown Youth Centre and Biyarslanov became involved in the after-school programs at the club, including the boxing program upstairs. As a result, The Chechen Wolf has become the latest fighter from the Cabbagetown Boxing Club to have risen to international heights in the sport, joining a storied list that includes fellow Olympians Shawn O’Sullivan, John Kalbhenn and Asif Dar … as well as fighters who competed at Olympics for other countries, including Marcus Priaulx (Australia) and Sean Black (Jamaica). Pat Fennell, John Raftery, Marc Leduc and Egerton Marcus are just a few of the other greats who trained at the club.

According to Peter Wylie, the long-time head boxing coach, there have been 10 Olympians to come out of the Cabbagetown. O’Sullivan won an Olympic silver medal and a world amateur title. Many other fighters captured Commonwealth and Pan Am Games hardware. The club has long been a lifeline for the Canadian national team.








Memorabilia, fight posters, former boxers, and boxing gear fill the walls,...



Memorabilia, fight posters, former boxers, and boxing gear fill the walls,...



A plaque was dedicated to the people of Cabbagetown and the Boxing...



Jennifer Doiron, an administrator who has Level One coaching works at...







But more important than producing world-class fighters, the Cabbagetown Youth Centre has contributed in an immeasurable way to young people in that highly diverse area of Toronto, a hard-scrabble corner of the city that includes tough neighbourhoods such as St. James Town and Regent Park. The club is a haven for immigrant kids trying to adjust to a new country — kids like Biyarslanov who said, in some ways, the centre, and the sport of boxing, saved his life.

“That gym is what made me what I am today,” said the Montreal-based fighter, whose family still lives in St. James Town. “To have a boxing gym in that area, a place kids can go to after school, is very important because, who knows? If I didn’t go to the gym, what would I have done after school? Maybe I would get into trouble.

“It’s also important because it’s probably the most multicultural place in Canada,” Biyarslanov continued. “We had kids from all over the place. Indian guys, Pakistani guys, we had another Chechen training with us, we had Russians … there were people from all over the world. Without CYC, where would they go?”

The CYC has been around since 1972, providing recreational programs and summer camps for low-income families and at-risk youth in the area. Sadly, funding from all levels of government have begun to disappear and there is a last-ditch effort afoot to find new revenue sources to keep the club alive before it’s forced to close permanently at the end of March because of a lack of money.

Memorabilia, ring chairs, speed bags, fight posters and boxing gear fill the walls, cabinets and tables at the boxing club atop the venerable Cabbagetown Youth Centre. JACK BOLAND/TORONTO SUN

Mayor John Tory has pledged to do what he can, but the future of the centre — and the boxing club — is still very uncertain. Without a doubt, losing the CYC would be a disaster for the community. Wylie, a retired Toronto cop, said the club and his boxing program have helped thousands of kids stay on the straight and narrow. He said a “countless” number of ex-boxers, many from impoverished families, have gone on to become lawyers (including Raftery), teachers and successful business people.

“Everyone is screaming that they want to do something about gun violence and drug problems and the opioid crisis and everything. Well, there’s 190,000 people on a waiting list to get into recreational facilities in the core area of the city. Everyone is screaming for this and that, and there’s no money available for it.

“And who are we? We’re a small registered charity. But for many, many years, we have taken up the work load of the city in that area. In the summers, we’re putting through 1,200-1,400 kids in summer camp.”

Kalbhenn came to the Cabbagetown club as a teenager from New Hamburg, Ont., to train in the early 1980s and has been there ever since, first as a boxer (amateur and pro) and now as a long-time coach. He has seen first-hand how the sport, and his club, can change lives.

“Everybody can box. You don’t have to speak English. It’s a poor man’s sport. We throw a pair of gloves on, a pair of running shoes, and they’re good to go,” he said. “The kids have a bad day at school, they come in and bang the bag or they get in the ring. And they gain respect for each other.”

Biyarslanov gets emotional contemplating the idea that his old club might be forced to shut down.

“That club means to much to me,” he said. “It’s very sad that it’s in danger of closing.”

What would be great, Wylie and Kalbhenn agree, is if some wealthy philanthropist or organization in the city stepped up and made a major donation to the club — perhaps a sports-centric organization like Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.

In the meantime, a GoFundMe page has been set up for anyone wishing to make a contribution.

sbuffery@postmedia.com

@Beezersun  



The Sun’s Steve Buffery (left) speaks with John Kalbhenn at Cabbagetown Boxing Club. JACK BOLAND/TORONTO SU