Saturday June 11, 2022
In keeping with the often repeated assessment of boxing
as being the theatre of the unexpected, many of the more joyful moments
experienced during Hall of Fame weekend in Canastota are the ones you never
could have seen coming.
Case in point, bumping into Sumya Anani and her one and
only trainer Barry Becker on an otherwise uneventful Saturday morning on the
HOF grounds. What a pleasant surprise to meet the four-time world champion who,
in her first career ten-rounder, handed Christy Martin only her second defeat to that point. Barry told me that Sumya beat her up so badly that
Christy ended up in the hospital that night. Rewatching the fight for the first
time in a long time after I got back home several days later, it was easy to
see why.
Her resume is also highlighted by victories over Dora
Webber (twice), Britt Van Buskirk (avenging her first career loss to Britt by
winning their next two), Fredia Gibbs, Lisa Holewyne, Jane Couch, and Belinda
Laracuente. Sumya was inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of
Fame in 2016 as part of the same class as Lady Tyger Trimiar.
A massage therapist and yoga instructor dating back to
her boxing days, Sumya is incredibly humble and kindhearted. Rather than pose
for the camera with balled-up fists, which is usually standard operating
procedure when taking a photo with a boxer, I followed Sumya’s lead and flashed
a peace sign instead. As luck would have it, while she was signing my copies of
Malissa Smith’s A History of Women’s Boxing and Mary Ann Lurie Owen’s Extraordinary
Women of the Ring, Bonnie Mann stopped by to say hi to Sumya. I asked
Bonnie if she wouldn’t mind waiting to add her autograph to both books as well,
which she was all too happy to do.
One other chance meeting was with Ivan ‘Mighty’ Robinson,
one of boxing’s esteemed Philly fighters best remembered for his pair of 1998
wars with Arturo Gatti. Ivan was nice enough to spend well over an
hour outside the Hall of Fame museum signing autographs and posing for photos
with everybody who wanted one.
Speaking of Philly fighters, longtime middleweight
champion and 2020 IBHOF inductee Bernard Hopkins delivered an impassioned
Ringside Lecture as the morning drifted into afternoon. Fans lined up at the
table set up on the side of the stage in anticipation of Hopkins coming over to
sign autographs, only for him to be whisked off to a nearby tent to do an
interview. I waited for awhile with my friend Len until I got word from Lady Tyger
that they were getting ready to take her over to the memorabilia show at the
high school right down the road from the Hall of Fame. I wished him luck with getting
Bernard to sign his induction program and set off on a short, brisk walk down North
Peterboro Street.
I wouldn’t find out until later from Len that Hopkins
bounced around from place to place on the grounds, causing confusion among the
fans and volunteers who were now following him aimlessly, not knowing what was
going on. Ultimately, Bernard lit into the fans for wanting his autograph only
so that they could sell the items and make money off his name. As I mentioned
earlier, and will come back to in a few moments, this undoubtedly and
unfortunately happens. So I understand him up to a point. But his outburst directed
at everyone as a whole was misguided, as the true fans like Len and myself regard
an autograph as a treasured souvenir and not a salable commodity.
The boxing memorabilia and autograph show at Canastota High
School is one of the events I always look forward to most during induction
weekend. I knew ahead of time that legendary promoter J. Russell Peltz was
going to be set up there selling and signing copies of his memoir Thirty
Dollars and a Cut Eye, and I made his table my first stop.
Immediately after stashing Peltz’s book into my backpack
for safe keeping, I had the great pleasure of once again encountering Eva
Jones-Young. She was having the time of her life, as I imagine she does everywhere
she goes, enthusiastically posing for pictures as well as handing out photos from
a large stack she had printed up at her own expense which she was carrying
around with her and happy to autograph, all free of charge. She was kind
enough to sign one for me, in addition to my copies of Malissa Smith’s and Mary
Ann Lurie Owen’s books on women’s boxing. Eva has such an energetic spirit and
a personality so big no room she happens to occupy at any given time could
possibly contain it. Getting the unexpected opportunity to spend time with Eva Jones-Young
and Sumya Anani put an extra wide smile on my face all weekend long and for
days afterwards.
Lady Tyger arrived very shortly after, and I spent the
remainder of my time at the high school with her and her wonderful home health
aide and friend Carmen. For the next hour or so, Tyger signed gloves, photos,
and even a piece of custom artwork painted by one particularly talented fan.
Before I go any further, allow me to explain that Lady
Tyger is how she likes to be known in direct relation to her boxing career and
is exactly how she signs autographs. Marian Trimiar is her birth name and how
she is addressed by close friends, but she prefers to keep her personal life
separate from her boxing identity. She was asked numerous times throughout the
weekend to also add her real name to her signature. The requests were always
polite, as were the reactions to the fans she took the time to explain all of
this to. Except for one “bozo” that is.
The pushy memorabilia dealer I wrote about in the first
installment rents out a table at the show each year where he peddles his wares.
It was our great misfortune that he abandoned his post and resurfaced with his
induction program in hand, the very same one she had already signed “Lady
Tyger” at the Turning Stone on Thursday night. He asked that she at least write
her last name, presumably so that he would have a unique item that would be
more valuable, and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer even after she explained to
him about her separation of Marian Trimiar from Lady Tyger.
“I don’t want to make you do anything you’re
uncomfortable with,” he said. She affirmed that she was not comfortable with
his request or his persistence, but he kept at it regardless. Finally, or so we
thought, Lady Tyger, Carmen, the nearby volunteer, and I all made it abundantly
clear that it wasn’t going to happen and that he should walk away now.
Appearing very put out, he did. For the time being.
When she was done signing autographs, Tyger wanted to do
a lap around the gymnasium to check out the wide array of items for sale. We
didn’t even get around the first corner after stopping to look at a Muhammad Ali
Halloween mask and vintage Mego action figure when the “bozo” appeared yet
again. Thrusting his program under Tyger’s nose, he insisted that she sign her
last name. I doubt he knew how very close he was to me knocking his teeth down
his throat at that very moment. If the volunteer assigned to stay by her side wasn’t
there to defuse the situation, the potential was very real for it to
have escalated and gotten ugly. I would like to report that the matter was
settled once and for all. I would like to, but I can’t. Sit tight for the final
showdown between Lady Tyger and the “bozo.”
The surprise that came next was all the more gratifying given
Tyger’s bad experience at the show. A wheelchair accessible mini school bus was
lady Tyger’s mode of transportation throughout the weekend, driven by different
volunteers depending on their schedules. The woman behind the wheel on Saturday
afternoon happened to be the driver of that very same bus during the school
year. One of her young riders is the daughter of a friend of a friend of the
person who had designed the Dunkin’ Donuts cups with the boxers’ pictures emblazoned
on them which I mentioned in Part Two of this series. She went out of her way
to let him know how much Tyger would like to take her cup home as a one-of-a-kind
memento, and he told her by all means to stop by and pick it up to give to her.
Lady Tyger was so happy and appreciative of this gift when we got back to the
bus and she was handed her coffee cup. Seemingly small gestures can mean quite a
lot in the grand scheme of things, and this really made everyone’s day.
Since there were a few hours to spare between then and the
meet-up time for that evening’s Banquet of Champions, I headed back to the Hall
of Fame grounds to hang out with Len while Tyger and Carmen were treated to a nice
sightseeing tour of the Finger Lakes region before being dropped off at the
Turning Stone to get ready. Lady Tyger proudly showed off her Dunkin’ Donuts
cup when I got to her room a little later, and we did a fun little photo shoot of
her posing with it.
She also got to tell me about finally meeting Laila Ali
earlier in the day and talking to her about the times she visited her father’s
home where she would play and shadowbox with Laila when she was just a little
girl. She has photographs from back then, but couldn’t locate them in time to
bring and show Laila.
While we are on the subject of Laila Ali, she and Ann
Wolfe got to sit down and converse with one another for the first time ever in
the private reception room prior to the banquet. A mega-bout between these
fierce female warriors was one that topped the wish list of many boxing
enthusiasts but never came to pass.
Speculation ran rampant among fans and members of the
press, and has ever since, that Laila was afraid of Wolfe and unwilling to risk
her perfect record or equally unblemished face against such a renowned and
feared power puncher. More than fifteen years later, the two women were given
the chance to get to know one another on a personal level and agree not to
allow a nonexistent feud manufactured by the media prevent them from being
friends. This was a private moment that I was obviously not witness to, but
both Ann and Laila posted photos they took together on social media with captions
relating this awesome story that I was very happy to read about.
Chairs lined all four walls of the reception room with
the inductees’ names posted above in the order they would be introduced when
they did their walk-ins at the beginning of the banquet. Most of them were temporarily
unoccupied as the fighters, writers, promoters, and special guests all mingled
around the room, so I sat down in one while Georgina filmed some conversations
between Lady Tyger and Laila Ali for her upcoming documentary Right to Fight
which I wrote about earlier.
Momentarily lost in thought, I was startled by the
approach of someone who said jovially, “Hey, what’s going on, ‘Sugar’ Shane
Mosley?” I peered up, and who did I see standing before me but ‘Sugar’ Shane
Mosley. I craned my neck to look at the sign hanging above the chair bearing
his name. Turns out I had stolen his seat. Ever the nice guy, Shane just
laughed and clapped me on the back when I shot up out of his chair, mumbling some
sort of inarticulate apology. “It’s all good, champ,” he chuckled.
A coincidental and pretty neat twist of fate saw to it that
Tyger, Carmen, and I were seated at the same table for the banquet as the
Mosley family, all of whom were as cool as the other side of the pillow and
funny as can be. Also sharing our table was former Golden Gloves champion (who fought
one pro bout) Corey Frizzell and his wife, both great people as well. The food
might have been substandard (especially at $175 a plate with a bowl of ravioli
as my only vegetarian option?!) but the company was top notch.
It was a long evening, but a fun one, with the speeches ranging from genuinely touching to needlessly melodramatic—not to name any names. Let’s just say that, just as boxing can be considered the theatre of the unexpected like I mentioned at the outset of this piece, it can just as often prove to be the theatre of the absurd, which is how I would have to categorize the choice of one individual to stand at the podium and cry crocodile tears for five minutes before uttering a single word, especially when everyone was asked to keep their remarks to three minutes or less out of respect to their fellow speakers. I guess when you have that kind of money, some people feel as though the rules don’t apply to them.
It was all a little much for me, and I know for a fact that I’m not alone in my opinion. Especially gross was the blatantly disingenuous effort this person made of jumping down to help Barbara Buttrick stand and wave to the crowd when she was introduced from her seat at a table below the stage. Even at the age of 92, and still recuperating from the effects of a bout with Covid, it was obvious to anyone who spent any sort of time with her, or just briefly observed Barbara for a few fleeting moments, that she had no trouble getting around on her own. This display was not born of altruism but the kind of last ditch effort made by a wayward Boy Scout trying to earn his merit badge by helping the little old lady across the street who, it’s quite plain for all to see, needs no such assistance. Enough said about all that.
There was an after party at a night club called Exit 33
just downstairs, but with the night already growing late and a big day ahead, I
said good night to Tyger and Carmen, dropped Georgina off at her hotel,
returned to mine, and somehow managed to get a few hours’ sleep.
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