"HOW MANY CHAMPIONS ARE TRULY THE BOSS?" By Stephen Jones

A while ago a very old man well into his nineties came into the cafe that I own in my home town. He was dressed impeccably, groomed immaculately but nonetheless, did look his years. His eyes seem tired and his face worn; he breathed deeply as he was helped by his wife to drink a cup of coffee.

A lady that I know who had seen the condition of the gentleman whispered to me, "it is a real shame to see a man of his stature in that kind of shape," she said. "Years ago that man was the best looking, most distinguished, suave, debonair man around." The woman told me that she had worked for the gentleman when he was a very wealthy, powerful boss of a cotton mill in our town. He had the best cars, wore the finest suits and fresh pressed shirts, and was as sharp as a dice, and fair too; if he spoke you listened, he never cussed and he knew everyone of his one thousand plus employees Christian names and often families too. He was everything a real Boss should be.

The mill still stands to this day, but it has new backers now and it was never the same after the man retired. Mr. Liver was his name and shortly after seeing him I heard he had passed away. The most poignant thing that the woman said was that despite being dressed clean, and untouchable in appearance, Mr. Liver knew how to do every job in that mill better than any employee, and if anything went wrong he would go in on the front-line and put it right -and he was in his 60's then. "I can do any job in the factory and I would not expect anyone to do anything that I am not prepared to do myself." The bottom line was that Mr. Liver was not afraid to get his hands dirty, he really was the BOSS... and could put workers far younger in years to shame.

The turn of the century had a man who claimed similar capabilities. The great John L. Sullivan had a phrase he would stand by throughout his prizefighting days, on entering a saloon or liquor joint he would BARK "I Can Lick any man in the house," and he meant it. He never had any challengers!!

In boxing today we see and hear stories of fighters being undisputed, undefeated champions, and a few of them use the word Boss like any other noun.... But who in boxing can truly stand up to Mr. Liver's definition of a real Boss? A man who can do his profession better than anyone else in his immediate company and isn't afraid to prove it. You have to go back a few years to find a World Champ who could honestly hand on heart say he never avoided anyone in his whole career. For one reason or another, at some point of most fighters careers, they do see an opponent that they deep down would climb Everest to steer clear of ... and many go to the most extreme measures to shy away from.

December 1908 Canada's Heavyweight Champion of the World, Noah Brusso, better known as Tommy Burns, had successfully defended his title eleven times, yet was so fearful of the rise of the number one contender Jack Johnson that he packed up his bags and traveled from country to country to avoid a meeting with the so called Galveston Giant. It became evident that he was shaking in his boots at the mere thought of sharing the ring with the rising prospect. It took years for Johnson to track the Champ down to get his big opportunity. When he finally did it was in an obscure part of Sydney Australia called Rushcutters Bay.

Mr. Burns was so leery of Johnson that an agreement was drawn up that if in any way Burns' life looked in any danger, the local police would rush the ring and intervene.. after 14 one sided rounds the police had seen enough and they dashed onto the mat in defense of the Canadian awarding the Texan the title on a decision. The Boss mister Burns was not!

Many said that Rocky Marciano was one of the toughest men to walk the earth, yet fearful of one man, and on one occasion even stated that he would never give that man the opportunity to box him, that was a tough Cuban heavyweight puncher called Geraldo Ramos Ponciano Valdez, cut to short, "Nino" Valdez. Nino racked 48 wins with 36 KO's and had beaten names like Harold Carter, Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson and Ezzard Charles, but when his opportunity was brought to light, Rocky opted to box a British heavyweight in San Francisco called Don Cockell, a fighter that Nino had taken 6 rounds less to dispatch that same year. No one can ever prove this case but the evidence is out there, even the toughest champions have their demons. I am not suggesting that Rocky was not tough but by Mr. Livers definition, was he THE BOSS?

Ten years ago almost, then undisputed heavyweight champion Riddick Lamont Bowe was being pressed by the WBC and the public to defend against its number one contender Lennox Lewis, and on a goodwill trip to London of all places he decided to indulge in the most bizarre gesture of all, publicly awarding his WBC Title belt to the trash can. Either he thought Oscar from Sesame Street was a finer fighter than he, or he was afraid to face the wrath of Mr. Lewis.

Bowe gave many excuses in years to come, but their on-off supposed fight never seemed to materialize and a potential money spinning rematch from the '88 Olympics final (that Lennox won may I add on a stoppage) went by the wayside. Until this day Lennox himself has never really avoided any opponent that has been suggested to him, often facing foes that no one else would touch. No one wanted to know Razor Ruddock when Ruddock was enjoying his purple patch of wins in the early nineties, even Evander never really showed willingness to box him and although never ordered to, Lennox did step to it and blew Razor away in double quick time. Ruddock faced Tyson twice and Lewis, but to this day never, ever had a crack at a legitimate heavyweight title, sometimes you are too dangerous for your own good.

There are no real threats for Lewis today, and he is headed to an almost heavyweight standstill, but one man who may disagree is the elusive IBF champion Chris Byrd who may have his own opinion on Lennox and his agenda. Lewis is very dismissive of Byrd as a future opponent, kind of suggesting that Byrd as an opponent is beneath him. Chris reckons that Lewis is scared of him because his style may have that awkward essence that could once again crack Lewis' code and unlock his twice cracked chin.

I will leave time and your own judgment to dwell on that one, so on that note, if you ever hear a fighter call him or herself the Boss, remember what responsibilities the title commands; it's a heavy load to carry in its proper terms.