Punch for Punch
I was seven or eight when I first witnessed a man being knocked out. We used to call him Mr Mune, which actually wasn't his real name. It is just that him not being Tonga had him referring to almost everyone as Mune (pronounced as ''Mu..neee'', to mean friend or fellow), which we soon converted to be his name. He was our neighbor.
I used to wake-up very early so I could go and help out with milking of the cows. But that morning I was woken up by the commotion in our neighbor's yard. I got out in time just to hear an angry man hollering and challenging Mune to an open fist fight. By the way as long as I live I pray that noone ever does that to me, I have come to accept my...shall we say physical deficiencies without having to be disgraced by a physical examination of a totally different type.
Mune came out, still wearing his sleep clothes. I suspect he expected a heated negotiation but not one that would require physical confrontation at worst for he offered a greeting upon seeing his adversary. The other man who I gathered was called Voni, was however in no mood for any niceties, he was shouting something about Mune sleeping with his(Voni's) wife. All I can remember is Mune conjuring up the most innocent and bemused expression imaginable and feebly asking ''me?''. The question did not get a verbal answer but was met with a fist in the mouth. Young as I was I can still recall Mune's disbelieving look as his knees gave way beneath him. One punch, was all it took to fell him.
I do not condone violence but I can at least understand why the other man was incensed to the extent of punching Mune in the mouth, in full view of his wife and a sizeable crowd that included yours truly. There was provocation (although later Voni failed to adduce any evidence of Mune's adultery), and when there is provocation, these things tend to happen. Mune would not take this insult to his dignity, not to mention the loss of three of his front teeth, lying down, though he did lie down motionlessly for a number of minutes, but he sued the other man and following a surprisingly swift court process in which my mother was a witness, Mune was duly compensated.
Now I know that the immediate connotation of the word "knockout" (at least in my mind) conjures up images of two people knocking on two huge mahogany doors, as loud and as furiously as they can. Finally one gives up, cue celebrations from the opponent with shouts of I have knocked you out...''its a knockout!'' shouts the referee. Or it could be a game that involves contestants faced with a number of doors. Behind one of the doors, there is a prize, but you have to choose the door and knock. And so they all knock and voila! one knocks on the right door and it is a ''knockout!''.
No blood spilled, no teeth knocked out, no one is left motionless and sprawled on the ground.
My version of a knockout, will be probably be the furthest thing on Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao's minds when they face each other in the ring in a few day's time, in what has been dubbed the "Fight of the Century". And DSTV have that fight to thank for my parting away with a sizeable portion of my disposable income this month to pay my subscription. It is not that I am a great fight enthusiast, it is just that I have been gripped with the acutest attack of the fear of losing out over this one.
The only boxing fights I was ever enthusiastic about were the Christmas and New Year's day bouts in Monze. Every Christmas, we would walk the ten kilometers from our farm to Monze town to go and watch grown men challenge one another to fights in the ring. A few spectacular knock-outs, a good laugh and we would be heading home to wait for one year till the next pilgrimage to Monze town. I don't know whether those fights continue to be held to this day.
The money being dangled for this fight is simply insane. It is estimated that the fight will gross over 400 million US dollars to be split 60-40 in favour of Floyd Mayweather. I suspect my old neighbor Mr Mune would have gladly taken a punch for such an amount of money as opposed to the two oxen he received as compensation. In addition, there is all the TV money pouring in from the advertising and the numbers are expected to shatter the pay per view records. Fight of the century indeed.
In the midst of all this money whirling around and the braggadocio from the two camps, ultimately this is simply about two guys trying to knock each other out. They most likely have nothing against each other, and their actions will be clothed as sport...albeit of a very violent variety. I have my problems, big problems I should say about the classification of boxing as sport. But that is an argument for another day.
Come the 3rd of May 2015, I will not be the only one gorging myself on coffee and impatiently waiting for these two pugilists to take centre stage. In one corner, there will be Floyd ''Money'' Mayweather Junior who actually will be announced second according to the contract, boasting an undefeated record, coming from a boxing family and carrying a fierce reputation of an unrelenting work ethic. He has won a myriad of titles and awards and is seen by many as favourite although at 38 is considered past his prime.
In the other corner will be Emmanuel ''Manny'' Dapidran Pacquiao, a year younger than Mayweather but similarly boasting a glossy boxing record, tainted by only a few losses. He too has won them all, titles, accolades, awards and even a senate seat in the Philippines. Much beloved in his native country, he is seen as some kind of rags to riches story and he has not shied from marketing himself as such.
For all the moral debates surrounding boxing, this is one fight that has whetted the world's collective appetite. I was not yet born when the Rumble in the Jungle involving Muhammed Ali and George Foreman took place in Zaire, mordern day Democratic Republic of Congo, but the Rumble in the Jungle looks like child's play in the face of the figures and publicity swarming the ''Fight of the Century''.
I hope there is a decisive winner, and that it will be by knockout. If not for me, then for all those who have ever had the misfortune, like Mr Mune of being felled by a punch.
Keith 2015
I used to wake-up very early so I could go and help out with milking of the cows. But that morning I was woken up by the commotion in our neighbor's yard. I got out in time just to hear an angry man hollering and challenging Mune to an open fist fight. By the way as long as I live I pray that noone ever does that to me, I have come to accept my...shall we say physical deficiencies without having to be disgraced by a physical examination of a totally different type.
Mune came out, still wearing his sleep clothes. I suspect he expected a heated negotiation but not one that would require physical confrontation at worst for he offered a greeting upon seeing his adversary. The other man who I gathered was called Voni, was however in no mood for any niceties, he was shouting something about Mune sleeping with his(Voni's) wife. All I can remember is Mune conjuring up the most innocent and bemused expression imaginable and feebly asking ''me?''. The question did not get a verbal answer but was met with a fist in the mouth. Young as I was I can still recall Mune's disbelieving look as his knees gave way beneath him. One punch, was all it took to fell him.
I do not condone violence but I can at least understand why the other man was incensed to the extent of punching Mune in the mouth, in full view of his wife and a sizeable crowd that included yours truly. There was provocation (although later Voni failed to adduce any evidence of Mune's adultery), and when there is provocation, these things tend to happen. Mune would not take this insult to his dignity, not to mention the loss of three of his front teeth, lying down, though he did lie down motionlessly for a number of minutes, but he sued the other man and following a surprisingly swift court process in which my mother was a witness, Mune was duly compensated.
Now I know that the immediate connotation of the word "knockout" (at least in my mind) conjures up images of two people knocking on two huge mahogany doors, as loud and as furiously as they can. Finally one gives up, cue celebrations from the opponent with shouts of I have knocked you out...''its a knockout!'' shouts the referee. Or it could be a game that involves contestants faced with a number of doors. Behind one of the doors, there is a prize, but you have to choose the door and knock. And so they all knock and voila! one knocks on the right door and it is a ''knockout!''.
No blood spilled, no teeth knocked out, no one is left motionless and sprawled on the ground.
My version of a knockout, will be probably be the furthest thing on Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao's minds when they face each other in the ring in a few day's time, in what has been dubbed the "Fight of the Century". And DSTV have that fight to thank for my parting away with a sizeable portion of my disposable income this month to pay my subscription. It is not that I am a great fight enthusiast, it is just that I have been gripped with the acutest attack of the fear of losing out over this one.
The only boxing fights I was ever enthusiastic about were the Christmas and New Year's day bouts in Monze. Every Christmas, we would walk the ten kilometers from our farm to Monze town to go and watch grown men challenge one another to fights in the ring. A few spectacular knock-outs, a good laugh and we would be heading home to wait for one year till the next pilgrimage to Monze town. I don't know whether those fights continue to be held to this day.
The money being dangled for this fight is simply insane. It is estimated that the fight will gross over 400 million US dollars to be split 60-40 in favour of Floyd Mayweather. I suspect my old neighbor Mr Mune would have gladly taken a punch for such an amount of money as opposed to the two oxen he received as compensation. In addition, there is all the TV money pouring in from the advertising and the numbers are expected to shatter the pay per view records. Fight of the century indeed.
In the midst of all this money whirling around and the braggadocio from the two camps, ultimately this is simply about two guys trying to knock each other out. They most likely have nothing against each other, and their actions will be clothed as sport...albeit of a very violent variety. I have my problems, big problems I should say about the classification of boxing as sport. But that is an argument for another day.
Come the 3rd of May 2015, I will not be the only one gorging myself on coffee and impatiently waiting for these two pugilists to take centre stage. In one corner, there will be Floyd ''Money'' Mayweather Junior who actually will be announced second according to the contract, boasting an undefeated record, coming from a boxing family and carrying a fierce reputation of an unrelenting work ethic. He has won a myriad of titles and awards and is seen by many as favourite although at 38 is considered past his prime.
In the other corner will be Emmanuel ''Manny'' Dapidran Pacquiao, a year younger than Mayweather but similarly boasting a glossy boxing record, tainted by only a few losses. He too has won them all, titles, accolades, awards and even a senate seat in the Philippines. Much beloved in his native country, he is seen as some kind of rags to riches story and he has not shied from marketing himself as such.
For all the moral debates surrounding boxing, this is one fight that has whetted the world's collective appetite. I was not yet born when the Rumble in the Jungle involving Muhammed Ali and George Foreman took place in Zaire, mordern day Democratic Republic of Congo, but the Rumble in the Jungle looks like child's play in the face of the figures and publicity swarming the ''Fight of the Century''.
I hope there is a decisive winner, and that it will be by knockout. If not for me, then for all those who have ever had the misfortune, like Mr Mune of being felled by a punch.
Keith 2015
Lol uluse ba Mune.... Great read, best believe Sunday we will all be watching excitedly.
ReplyDeleteI just hope it lives up to the billing. These things can peter into a cagey twelve rounds of nothing. Always appreciate it when you pay this blog a visit Martha.
ReplyDelete