First Fight
By ice rivers
- 187 reads
T'was a 1952 Friday night at Madison Square Garden and McKinley Street when the music introducing the Gilette Cavacade of Sports kicked off the broadcast. "To look and feel sharp" da da dant da da "Choose the razor that is right for you" da da dant da da.....
Thornton Krell was ten years old and watching the Friday night fights on television for the first time. Watching televison for the first time. This sure as hell wasn't radio.
........"It's adjustable and man it's new."
Krell wouldn't need to worry about Razor blades for another six years but when he did, he would remember to look sharp and feel sharp.
"Now we switch you over to ringside to our reporter Jimmy Powers."
Krell wouldn't miss a Friday night fight from the Garden on teevee for the next seven years but this was the first one, the one you never forget. The first one is the one that starts it all and can never ever be repeated. Take this story for one quick example, you can never read it for the first time again.
Krell was seated in front of the seven inch teevee screen that was the talk of the neighborhood and cost according to rumor " a goddamned fortune". The room was full of cigar smoke. Five men and one boy had gathered around the screen in Uncle Whitey's living room. The place smelled great.
The contestants entered the ring, a pair of undefeated welterweights....Rocky Wilson and Sandy Sessions. The giant microphone descended from heaven and ring announcer Bob Timpani welcomed the crowd and the teevee audience. Timpani recognized Jack Dempsey in the audience and asked Jack to come up to the ring and take a bow. The Mauler climbed between the ropes and shook hands with both boys as the crowd roared its appreciation. Krell took his first live look at the ex-champ thta he had heard about his entire life
Also in the audience that night was Mr. Gray, Frankie Carbo and his associate the big nosed, pint sized Blinky Palermo. They sat on opposite sides of the ring. Even though they were associates, the elegant Mr. Gray had no desire to associate with Blinky in public. They did their business in the shadows.
Referee Marty Carroll gave the pre-fight instructions as Wilson and Sessions faced each other in the middle of the ring before touching gloves. Wilson was a slim 6-5 betting favorite. The bell rang and the fight was underway.
The first round was a feeling out round as both boxers were cautious and measuring the distance with feints and jabs.
The fireworks started in the second round when Rocky started applying pressure from the bell. He fired punches from all directions, connecting with two lefts to the side of Sandy's head that clearly rattled his cage. The fight immediately turned as the desperate Sandy recovered and began to dominate the infighting. Sandy hooked a left to Rocky's body followed by a right to the chin that pushed Rocky into the ropes. Rocky bounced off the rope and with a winging right cross opened a terrible cut over the left eye of Sessions.
The MEN in front of Whitey's tevvee yelled as they saw real blood on teevee for the first time, pouring down the side of Sandy's face. The MEN were not surprised because for all his will and strength and skill Sandy was a notorious bleeder. Some said that he started bleeding at the weigh-ins. Sandy was used to bleeding in the ring but this one was different as the blood poured into his eye, partially blinding him. Although the blood encouraged Rocky, it enraged Sandy.
Whitey yelled at the teevee set, "Now watch that son of a bitch comeback" which Sandy did with a vengeance.He forced Rocky into the corner and dropped him with a solid combination to the head. Rocky took a nine count and wobbled to his feet where he was greeted by another left hook and sent to the canvas for the second time. He climbed to his feet again and the two boxers went toe to toe for the final 40 seconds of the round. Somehow, Rocky stayed on his feet and avoided the three knock down rule which would have ended the fight .
They went back to their corners while the guys at Whitey's house screamed and yelled and burped and farted and chugged their Pabst Blue Ribbons.These guys had all fought in WW2 and they were MEN goddamnn it and they were watching MEN in the ring being MEN. There were no WOMEN in this godamned room. Krell, the boy wanted to be just like them someday.
The fight continued for another gruelling two rounds. One of Sandy.s eyes was closed shut and the other eye was pouring blood.Sandy needed more than a cutman in his corner between rounds, he needed a plastic surgeon and a transfusion. He needed Allen to put a gallon in him.
At the conclusion of the fourth round, Sandy, knowing the fight would have to be stopped at any minute launched another desperate all out attack. He floored Rocky two more times and fed him leather sandwiches when he climbed to his feet. Rocky was once again one knockdown away from losing by TKO and Sandy was minutes away from losing the fight on cuts.
The MEN were on their feet.
The round ended.
And suddenly the fight was over.
Who won? What the hell happened? Did somebody throw in the towel?
In the Garden itself, referee Mary Carroll had to make a decision. Nobody wanted a death in the ring not a death that people were watching occur as it was happening before their very eyes. He decided to make a visit to both corners.
He went to Rocky's corner first.
"Rocky, do you know where you are?", asked the concerned ref.
"Yeah, Marty, I'm in Madison Square Garden and a bum is beating the shit out of me."
Marty contemplated that answer as he made his way over to the opposite corner where he was greeted by the ring physician
"Sandy, can you continue?"
"Yeah ref, I can continue" said the blinded warrior.
"but not realistically." said the physician.
For a split second Marty pondered what "unrealistically" might look like to the hundreds of thousands of teevee viewers tuning in some, like Krell for the very first time. How would a bloodbath look on teevee?
"What's happening Uncle Whitey?", Krell wanted to know.
"The ref's stopping the goddamned fight", someone yelled out.
"Rocky won. Rocky won", Give me that five bucks."
What a fight. What a night. What a start to becoming a MAN.
Forty years later, Rocky and Sandy bumped into each other at the Canastota Boxing Hall of Fame.
Rocky said "do you know who I am?"
Sandy said, "Maybe if you fall down and get back up, I'll recognize ya."
Rocky said "that was a helluva night".
Sandy said, "Carbo offered me thirty grand to take a dive. I should have taken the money."
Whitey was long gone.
Krell had been married and divorced. The WOMAN didn't get it/
He was wearing a ZZ Topp beard
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