For the first time in months, Charles would be seen. Till that point, Charles, who, for years, covered big fights for CNN, had been on the outside looking in, as the fun and games took place. For him, there was nothing quite like covering a big fight.
"I felt like that guy in the neighborhood when we were playing football in the streets- because there were no parks that were handy in Chicago- and I’d see the one kid there and he would be looking out the window because his mother wouldn’t let him come down and get the scabs and break his wrist, diving for footballs," is the way Charles described his exile. "That’s how I felt. So I really wanted to get back in."
Charles was greeted warmly that night. He is a universally popular figure among the boxing set, whose professionalism is highly respected.
"The big thing for me, it was so psychologically important, when Bob Arum called me personally in the hospital," he recalled. "I was having chemo and it was in the middle of a four-day thing and he essentially said, ’You’re welcome back anytime, we don’t care how you look. The point is, we know you can do the job’ and I went and did that Pacquiao-Cotto fight; the international feed. And I wanted to show up ringside and talk to people, looking terrible, all battered and beaten with black eyes; like I had gone 15 rounds and no hair and all of that stuff. It was really important to me to show up that way.
"I did and it was almost a litmus test for your legitimacy again and your relevancy and the fact that I live in a sub-culture of boxing that I defend to the death,” continued Charles. “For everything that’s wrong with it, I will defend it.. There’s a lot of love going around in this boxing sub-culture."
He had promised not to pull punches when it came to fighting his cancer, which meant going through with painful chemotherapy treatments with as much vigor as humanly possible..
"I mean it attacks everything," Charles said of chemotherapy, “The side effects suck. They suck and I don’t even want to get into them. It’ll ruin people’s appetites, every part of you. I can give you ten things that weren’t the same. But the worst thing was your energy level because it attacks your red hemoglobin and your susceptibility to infection; the white blood cells.. So you’re on the floor that way. But I worked out four times a week and I always knew- I said, ’OK, you’re really tired because the red-blood cells are your energy. It’s the gas in your tank.’ So I was going on six-cylinders, instead of ten, if you equate it that way. But I was still working out. I kept my strength up. I was still eating, even though, sometimes, I didn’t know if I was eating cardboard or caviar because your taste buds go out the window. But I kept it up and it was part of the attitude, ’Man, I’m not going to shrivel up and die. I said that in the hospital."
Charles’ treatments took place in Houston and he says that the nurses and doctors got quite the kick out of his performing push-ups and dips in the hallways before his sessions. But later on, they joined him in his regimen.
"They said, ’You’re doing the right thing. We see a lot of people come in here, and every cancer patient is different, of course, but they curl up in the bed and they do crappy because they all feel sorry for themselves and they go home and they complain that they didn’t do well and the chemo didn’t do well for them," he says."So I think a lot of it is psychological and the old attitude is destiny, so no matter what they thought of me, [I would say] ’Give me the worst you can, Doc, because I want to get well.’ It’s poison they’re putting in you. It kills the good stuff and the bad stuff but we got to get rid of this thing."
His unwavering disposition in the face of this life-threatening ailment was no shocker to those who know Charles well."Nick’s a man’s man and a mature man and it didn’t really surprise me because I know he’s a spiritual guy. I knew he’d find strength that way," said his “ShoBox” broadcast partner, Steve Farhood. "I knew that his wife, Cory- who I know quite well- would be very supportive and so it didn’t surprise me. And that’s something I’m actually going to say on the broadcast next week. It did not surprise me at all that he responded in the manner that he did. But, with that said, he’s human and when you hear the ’C-word,’ I mean, we’ve all been through it with parents, friends or whatever. It obviously shakes you up and he handled it so well. I give him all the credit for that. I don’t know if anyone could have ever handled it any better."
This Friday night, Charles, who received the Sam Taub Award for excellence in broadcast journalism in 2008 from the BWAA, will be back in his rightful “ShoBox” spot next to Farhood at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Chris Avalos faces Jose Nieves and Archie Ray Marquez takes on Derrick Campos (broadcast live on Showtime, 11 PM ET/PT). Not exactly Ali-Frazier I, but that’s of little concern to Charles. He’s just grateful to be doing what he loves.
"It’s like San Quentin called you, in your cell, and said, ’Y’know what? Early parole..’ That’s what it feels like. It’s like when you have a new perspective on life and this is a life-changing thing," Charles told Maxboxing last week. "I have to tell you, having cancer and getting it mostly in remission, now, beyond the life-line and having a new lease on life… there’s a saying we had when we were growing up in Chicago. I remember a guy telling me, ’Nicky, don’t major in the minors.’ And he’s right. I’ve learned not to major in the minors and I hope it sticks for me. When I say that, [it means] I’m so involved in things when it comes to the show and anal about every little factoid, every little thing, every word of the opening of the show. I’m not going to just go in there and mail it in, now, on “ShoBox” or anything. But I just learned to let things go. Pick your battles and forget about other things because the one thing I’ve learned about coming back and ending an illness like this- somebody said it who was smarter than me- its 20 percent of what happens to you and 80 percent of how you react to it. And that includes an L.A. traffic jam and it includes cancer. How do you react to it?
"And I’ve just had this positive attitude at the same time; the relevancy in your life as a professional, a person who loves boxing, to be relevant again, to be watching tapes, thinking about the script, talking about Archie Ray Marquez and digging in and calling his managers and stuff like that .It’s just a high for me."
Stuff that used to be considered so mundane or routine takes on a special meaning when they are taken away from you. It’s so cliché, but staring at your own mortality does change you as a person. "It absolutely does," agreed Charles. "Again, I’ve said it before and thought about it, talked to friends about it and I think adversity is a wonderful teacher. In terms of this, a life-threatening illness, it taught me [The first thing I learned was] how strong I could be- and I always thought I was a strong guy. I just know the way I grew up. I know I’ve had to bite down in life. I’m not trying to make myself out to be some hero. But you gotta take it. You’re laying in the chemo thing for four days and nurses putting gloves on because if the chemo touches her, it’ll burn right through her. That’s how strong this stuff is. It’s stuff that’ll kill you if you’re not in good shape and you can’t stay on it indefinitely. The doses I was taking because I wanted to get well. And you’re laying there and you’re saying, ’Y’know, what? I can’t wimp out on this. Give it to me. Give me the strongest stuff you have.’ Because I want to beat this.
"And then, the second thing you learn is, it reveals who your genuine friends are. Look, the people in the boxing community, for all the ruthlessness you hear, the follow-up calls I’ve had from cut-men, cornermen, promoters, champions, the shout-outs, stuff like that. It’s been incomprehensible. It’s been life-affirming to me. And I think the third thing you learn is to value your happiness, and that means every day. I have a little daughter, I have older kids and I see her; she lives in the present and it’s a great lesson for all of us. Live in the present. You can’t worry about next week. It’ll take care of itself. And that’s how you value it, when you get those little hits, every day, of happiness," said Charles.
For him, happiness is calling Avalos-Nieves and Marquez-Campos.
"He belongs. It’s a great feeling," said Farhood, who’s not just a colleague, but a close personal friend of Charles. "For the first 130 shows of “ShoBox,” with the exception of one single show, we worked together. So yeah, it’s great to have him coming back. More so, for the fact that he’s able to; which is a good sign for his health, [other] than any selfish reasons of loving to work with him, which I do. It’s exciting, we’re all excited, he’s excited and it’s just great for him, too, because he wants to work and, for awhile, he couldn’t. This is wonderful."
During his absence, Antonio Tarver did an admirable job in his place, but Showtime is overjoyed by the return of Charles. Gordon Hall, executive producer of “ShoBox,” stated, "When I spoke with Nick and he called me the day he got the test results back and that he was going into remission, I have to say I was very emotional about it because of the fact [that] Nick and I have developed not only a professional relationship over the last nine years, but a personal relationship. So, obviously, I was very happy for him and look forward to his return. As do probably the 20 other regular ShoBox production personnel who work with him, week in and week out on ‘ShoBox.’"
This card is special for another reason, because the man, who now is acutely aware of living in the moment, can look ahead to his future.
"I have a connection to it because it’s in New Mexico, ironically, for the first time," says Charles, who will turn 64 a day after this broadcast. "One of my dreams [involves my family] moving out to Santa Fe, New Mexico, because we just want to be there. I looked all over, I want to be out West and we have four acres and we’re going to move and I’m going to break ground."
He knows this is no time to defer his dreams.
"I don’t know how long this is going to stick; this remission, but I gotta get on with plans like that, tangible plans. So it has special meaning that way. But, in terms of the card, if anything, I just wrote my opening comments. I said, ’I gotta keep ’em brief, I gotta be on the air.’ But I wanted to say how much this means to me in terms of coming back and, during this kind of illness, never doubting that I would be back because of the fortifying presence I’ve had from boxing people and from fans. I’ve had people from “ShoBox,” from 35 years ago; whom I knew when I was doing local sports, who have emailed me. It’s not only life affirming, it’s fortified me and I want people to know how darn important they are. I mean, what inspiration, what encouragement.
"There’s been none better in my life and I really want them to know that. I’m not going to talk about it forever, but I wanted to take 20 seconds to let them know."
BOXING AFTER DARK
Both Yuriorkis Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez were extremely impressive this past weekend at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden and they began the process of heading towards a collision course, for next year.
Gamboa looks like he’s cleaned up some technical flaws, and he destroyed the normally durable Rogers Mtagwa in two explosive rounds. The Cuban looks as though he’s settled down and not jumping in recklessly; leaving his chin exposed as he had in the past (He’s been floored four times). At his best, he is an impressive blend of speed and power, with a full offensive arsenal.
“JuanMa” opened eyes, not by winning- as he was the betting favorite- but by stopping WBO featherweight champion, Steven Luevano, in seven rounds. The defending champion from La Puente, California, gave a game effort, but he was simply out-gunned and out-classed by a young man who looks to be the next great Puerto Rican prizefighter.
Now, all the talk will turn to a clash between Saturday night’s victors. But Arum made it clear to me last week- and everyone else over the weekend- that Lopez-Gamboa will have to wait a while. Simply put, he wants to let this fight marinate. Bottom line, this card was at the small room at the Garden, when these guys do face each other, Arum wants to put it inside the actual “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Like almost everyone else, I can’t wait.
UPDATE
On Friday night, in the Philippines, Brian Viloria was upset by Carlos Tamara for his IBF junior flyweight title. But that became a secondary concern, when Viloria collapsed in the dressing room after getting stopped in the 12th round. In what was said to be a pretty grueling fight, Viloria ran out of gas late.
His manager, Gary Gittelsohn sent me this email from Manila, on Saturday:
"Brian is in Makati hospital in Manila where he is undergoing tests and will be kept for observation for two nights. Brian’s condition is good -- all his tests have returned normal and it is likely that his scary collapse in the dressing room following a brutal fight was the result of a concussion and/or dehydration. The doctors have informed me that Brian will not be cleared to fly home for approximately 10 - 14 days; they will first require Brian to return to the hospital for final tests."
Our thoughts and prayers to Viloria, who is one of the nicest young men I have ever had the pleasure of covering.
FINAL FLURRIES
Arum told me that his June 12th card at the Garden, featuring WBA junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto, might end up on pay-per-view...Lots of boxing on this coming week. ESPN2, Fox Sports, Showtime and Telemundo all have televised shows on Friday. Make sure your TiVos or DVRs are set...Also, Peter Manfredo faces Matt Vanda as the headliner at the Mohegan Sun on a TKO Boxing Promotions card...If Peyton Manning can lead the Colts to his second Lombardi Trophy, I would consider him the best QB of this generation...Any questions or comments can be sent to k9kim@yahoo.com... twitter.com/stevemaxboxing…
