By David Weinberg
I recently turned 65, which means MediCare is my primary insurance, I can play golf from the gold tees, and I qualify for the senior citizen discounts at local restaurants.
It means I played Little League baseball in a flannel uniform. I got to practices and games by hooking my glove around the handlebars of my Schwinn Stingray and pedaling a mile to the field on Lafayette Street in Cape May.
I played football for the Cape May Rockets on a field with H-shaped goal posts. If you got hurt, say sprained your ankle, coaches wrapped a 10-foot-long Ace bandage around your leg, then fastened it with a pair of metal clips.
There were three stations – Channels 3, 6 and 10 from Philadelphia – on our black-and-white TV when I was a kid. A few years later, 17, 29 and 48 were added, then New York-based stations arrived with Channels 9 and 11. Dinners were eaten in the dining room, except on Friday’s, when my two younger brothers and I got to set up trays in the living room and eat TV dinners – portable meals served on an aluminum square that contained items such as Salisbury Steak, green beans, mashed potatoes and a dessert. You peeled off the cover in hopes that yours had the brownie square or Apple Crisp.
You listened to songs on your transistor radio, then rushed to the record store to buy the top singles on a 45. That was a vinyl disc about the size of a salad plate that you placed on your turntable, then carefully lowered the needed onto the edge. Sometimes you taped a nickel onto the top of the needle to prevent the record from skipping.
The 45’s contained two songs, called an A side and B side. The A side was the one considered the hit record, then you flipped it over to hear a lesser-known song by the same band. I’m ashamed to admit that the first 45 I bought was “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies. I have no idea what song was on the other side of the record.
Boxing shows follow a similar pattern.
The bout sheets contain A and B fighters. The A competitors are the favorites, the ones with impressive records and large fan followings. B fighters are “opponents” who are usually brought in from out of town. Often, they are expected to lose.
But sometimes, things don’t go according to script. Sometimes, the flip side of the record turns out to be a top-40 hit. Sometimes, the B fighter earns the victory.
Don’t be suprised if that happens on Saturday night, when Pleasantville welterweight Anthony Young (24-2, 8 KOs) takes on top-rated Alexis Rocha (22-1, 12 KOs) at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
Despite his success – Young is ranked No. 8 by the World Boxing Organization – he is the underdog. Rocha is the WBO’s number one contender to champion Terrence Crawford.
“I’m definitely the B side fighter,” Young said. “But honestly, it doesn’t make a difference to me. All the pressure is on him. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
He hasn’t lost in the ring in over seven years, since a defeat against Skender Halili in 2016 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Since then, Young has registered 13 consecutive wins, including an impressive, third-round TKO over former WBO junior-middlweight champion Sadam Ali in Las Vegas on May 4, 2019.
That was supposed to lead to a title shot, but Covid-19 KO’d those plans. Now he’s back in line for another chance at a championship.
If he beats Rocha.
“I think I was headed for big things in 2020, but Covid got in the way,” Young said. “But I just stayed patient and waited for the next opportunity. I knew there would come a time when some ‘quote/unquote’ prospect or title contender would come knocking on my door.”
Young isn’t like most boxers.
He didn’t pick up boxing until his early 20’s. He focused on other sports in high school, playing football and running track. The 2007 Pleasantville High School graduate was a member of Pleasantville’s 4 x 800 relay that reached the Championship of the America’s Final at the Penn Relays in 2007.
He also doesn’t have an intimidating nickname like “Iron” Mike Tyson, Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, Arturo “Thunder” Gatti and former Atlantic City contender John “The Eastern Beast” Brown.
Young is nicknamed “Juice.”
“I’m not sure how I got it,” he said. “My grandmother used to call me ‘Juice’ because I was always asking for juice when I was a little kid and it stuck.”
I’ve had several nicknames. My college roommate at Appalachian State still calls me “Winey.” Because I was a resident assistant (R.A.), guys would refer to me as “Myra,” as in “My R.A.”
I’m currently called “Poppy” by grandsons Hampton, Graham and Nixon.
Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s 4 p.m. and that means it’s dinner time for us senior citizens.
3 Local earns victories
Atlantic City junior-middleweight Justin Figueroa (5-0, 5 KOs), Atlantic City lightweight Francisco Rodriguez (2-0, 2 KOs), and Somers Point lightweight Miguel Garcia (2-0) posted wins last Saturday at Showboat Hotel’s new event center.
Figueroa won via first-round TKO over Antwion McCullough (0-1) of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Rodriguez stopped Venezuela’s Jose Luis Fracica Baron (0-4) in the second round. Garcia earned a four-round, unanimous decision over Toms River’s Michael Ruiz (0-1).
Figueroa netted a bizarre victory. McCullough came out swinging wildly with no success, retreated to his corner about a minute into the fight, dropped to one knee and then told referee David Fields he couldn’t continue, much to the crowd’s dismay.
“He just told me, ‘That’s it,’” Fields said.
Figueroa, a Holy Spirit High School grad and member of the Atlantic City Beach Patrol, was disappointed in the way the bout ended.
Larry Hazzard, Commissioner of the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, was miffed.
“We had two fighters from Kalamazoo, Michigan (McCullough and heavyweight Isaiah Cobbs who also lost in the first round) who came to Atlantic City to quit in the ring,” Hazzard said. “They are not getting paid. They are entitled to a hearing, but we’re withholding their purses. And they’re never fighting in Atlantic City again.”
