Boxing In Ohio (Where?)

If I could afford to, the first thing I would do this Saturday night is PPV the Gatti/Mayweather fight. And even if I didn't have the fifty bucks (give or take a buck or two) to do that, but had slightly less money to spend on entertainment (which I don't) I'd attend Powers Championship Boxing at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Who where, you say? Columbus, which is in Ohio. Which is sort of where I live. But at twenty-five bucks a ticket, that's not exactly a cheapo night out either, so I'll probably just stay home.

I have a confession to make. As much as I absolutely LOVE the sport of boxing, I've never been to a real, live fight. No, I've just been watching it on TV for years. This is largely due to the fact that I live in Central Ohio. We don't get much in the way of boxing around here. There's Powers, and that's about it. I know, it seems almost criminal. It would be like trying to write about baseball without ever having been to a game. There's an entire dimension you miss by not knowing what it's like to actually be there. I suspect it's a similar thing with boxing.

Anyway, I tried to talk the guys at Powers into giving me access to their fighters. I wanted write about them while learning more about what it takes to be a boxer. Seemed to me that it'd be a good deal for them - they get free PR and carte blanche with whatever I write. Hell, it's not like the local rags around here are going to cover boxing. They're already forked up about Buckeye Football (yeah, I know it's only June - welcome to Columbus!) I mean, can anyone outside of Columbus even name a single Powers fighter? I don't even know where these guys train. But they just ignored me, never answered any of my emails. Way to build a fan base, guys. Oh, and go schedule your big fights the same night as Gatti/Mayweather - that's a great idea too.

Well, at least there's FNF tonight on ESPN, and that's free....