I must say that I have been a bit spoiled since I stumbled into the world of writing for the pugilistic art form that is boxing. My first fight that I covered was in Puerto Rico on the night that Miguel Cotto captured his first championship in 2004. Since that time I have been lucky enough to venture to an assortment of other large venues to cover shows. But I would be lying if I said that that building on Broad Street didn’t have an allure to it that made me want to walk through its doors each time I walked or drove by it.
So here I am with a first timer walking into the Blue on Friday night. All at once the history that has occurred inside of those walls begins to seep through. You have no choice but to surrender to it and let it take over all of your senses. Honestly, it was either the history, or the stale old smell that creeps into your nose and over whelms you. It has a cloudy feel that makes you think that you have walked through a time warp and have suddenly been placed into an era when the idea of club box seating was foreign.
How great that feeling truly is. From the old ticket booth that welcomes you as you enter the building to a narrow stair case that forces you to hear what the guy or lady next to you is thinking. A place like the Blue truly makes you grasp what the boxing experience must have been like during its golden era. It’s one of the last buildings dedicated to live boxing as its premier subject.
Once we were upstairs and settled into the balcony section, the entire venue was easily in sight. Places like the Blue are great to watch fights since there isn’t a bad seat in the house. Unless of course you are downstairs and the guy in front of you is equal in size to Manute Bol (or Yao Ming for the youngsters). No cup holders, no cushioned seating, and the lack of leg room made me cramp up at times, but you know what. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Solid wooden seats are sorely (get it) missed.
As for the crowd at a show like this, all I can say is that I continue to count my blessings that I’m from a city like Philadelphia. A city that breeds a knowledgeable sports fan, we may be best known for booing Santa clause at an Eagles game (hey, the guy playing Santa didn’t give it his all out there). But at our core, we know the sports that we take an interest in. Our father’s or mentors that teach us about sports make sure of it.
With that rant about Philadelphia’s fantastic fans out of the way, the crowd was of course great. They came out and supported the fighters they came to see. These fans made sure that the fighter in the ring heard their support and let him have it if they felt he was slacking off. At the end of each bout, both combatants received applauses and were treated with appreciation from the crowd, who understood just what both men put themselves through. Who could go wrong with the cheap food, beer, and accessibility to the fighters that go along with attending these smaller shows? In fact, I spotted several of the fighters up in the balcony hanging out with their supporters after they finished their hard night of work.
At a time when promoters continue to push their weight around in order to try and find the next marketable star or the next television date for their stable. Its nights like Friday that ground you as a fan of the sport, how awesome would it be to get some of those suits out of their offices on the Avenue of Americas and get them grounded to what this sport is all about. No suits in this crowd. Just old fashioned boxing fans, who are not shy in engaged each other with facts, trivia, and memories of yester year.
On to the actual show and what occurred inside of the ring. I got a chance to look at a nice prospect out of Norfolk Virginia by the name of Monndre Pope (3-0). Pope seemed to be polished and relaxed inside of the ring. He has a good sense of where he is at all times and on several occasions used that sixth sense to get himself out of the corner in a slick way. He fights both orthodox and southpaw, which suggests that he has spent many hours inside of the gym. Personally, I think he should stick with the southpaw stance, which seemed to be the stance he landed the harder shots from. A few more fights and this kid could be ready for some seasoned veterans to increase his profile.
Other fighters worthy of note were, Jeremiah Graziano (7-0) (7) a heavy handed cruiserweight out of Kansas City. Graziano has fast hands and solid head movement which helps him blast off on his opponents. He is the type of fighter that will run through most guys at this early stage of his career. Ran Nakash (21-0) (15), fighting out of Israel is another cruiserweight to watch out for. Unlike Graziano, Nakash isn’t as heavy handed, however he makes up for it with his ability to move around the ring and dictate the tone of the fight.
Once the final bell rang and everyone began to leave the building I turned to Eric and asked, “So what do you think?” “Boxing is definitely its own world. A world I’m glad I got to finally see.” On that note, I think its imperative as a boxing fan that you make the trip to the nearest mecca of boxing that you can find. If your not lucky enough to live in a city like Philadelphia that has a place like the Blue Horizon. Make the trip and support the nearest club show you can get to. We all love shows at places like the Garden and the casinos, but it’s these smaller club shows that are just flat out good for your boxing soul.
FIST NOTE: The show at the Blue Horizon was a special event focused on cancer awareness. Make sure that you take sometime out this month (breast cancer awareness month) to make some contributions towards finding a cure for this awful disease. Odds are cancer will play a role in most people’s life, in some form. If it’s not financial support, just giving your time to support activities or support groups is enough. Let’s knock this disease out with a combination that will leave it stretched for good.
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