Xavier Biggs

Excerpt from The Sweet Sucker Punch – “A Tribute to Georgie Benton (1933 – 2011)”: It was a balmy spring day in Philly and I was feeling pretty battle ready, so I decided to cruise North Philly and visit ‘Smoking’ Joe Frazier’s Cloverlay Gym on Broad St. I needed unfamiliar sparring to keep my guns sharp. It was about 1pm, a slow time at the gym. There were only a few boxers and a couple of trainers milling around. I remember it well, that nostril-attacking odor of sweaty gloves and pungent hand-wraps when opening the door.

But this smell was spiked with the hint of a familiar, exotically aroma. It was Georgie Benton’s cologne wafting the stale air as he strutted around the floor in his tailor-made outfit and big-brimmed hat angled on his head. Then I heard that unmistakably raspy voice: “Aayy Baby Cakes, ‘what’s happ’nin?”

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The following excerpt from my book, The Sweet Sucker Punch, is taken from one of many inspirational stories of honor and character of my experiences with some of boxing’s elite. It is my intention that you will be entertained and inspired to purchase the book for my promotional campaign in honor of the 30th anniversary of the greatest Olympic boxing team in history. Some of the proceeds will be used to help bring tribute to those legendary 1984 Olympic boxing icons.

I remember at that time I was in peak shape and scheduled to meet Rocky Lockridge for more sparring at Georgie Benton’s gym. My conditioning and confidence made me eagerly anticipate the session. When that day finally arrived, I came to the gym earlier than usual and shadowboxed and danced around the ring to the funky music that was kicking from the high-powered boom box in the corner of the gym.

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Tyrell’s final opponent was Francesco Damiani from Italy. Damiani was about 225 pounds of brutal, awkward mayhem. He was an extremely determined brawler who earlier defeated the giant Cuban, Teofilo Stevenson. Stevenson had defeated Tyrell several tomes in international competitions. This obviously wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for Tyrell.

Tyrell was coming off an impressive victory over Lennox Lewis earlier in the box-offs….

…Suddenly I was popped out of my reflective trance by Bobby Dance’s voice, “Hey, your brother’s getting ready to go next.” I was paralyzed with anxiety as I sat on the sofa peering at the TV as Howard Cosell broke down their bios while the fighters were escorted to the ring by their trainers. This was the most anticipated bout of the evening.

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