Ever see one of the old great heavyweights get one more chance at the Title Fight? The Old Man with a chance to win the World Championship, once and for all? You know the scene: A fighter who, in his day, was about to become World Champ, but then, through his own actions, let his path to the top get short circuited by his own undoing? He then spends the next few years fighting in the lower rounds against a greatly inferior group of opponents. His former trainers and handlers, all respected in the field, left this fighter long ago, no longer willing to watch the degradation of a once proud legend.

Many former fans wondering what happened to the fighter, every now and then would catch a glimpse of his work and shake their head in the disappointing results. Clearly, they thought, he can't hang on much longer.

And then the big break comes! Because he has some "dirt" on the reigning World Champion, the Champ is forced to fight him, even though at this point in their careers, the Champ should be able to beat the Old Man very, very badly. The pundits are calling this the biggest mismatch in history.

And so the fight begins. It starts slowly, with no clear winner. The rounds drag on endlessly, seeming to take years to complete. The Champ appears to be cruising, but the Old Man is hanging on. The judges score the early rounds even, as the fans wait for the Champ to land one of his legendary right hands to the chin. Surely this thing can't go the distance.

The fight drags on into the late rounds, and then the unexpected happens: The Old Man staggers the Champ with a series of combinations! The midsection and head of the Champ are peppered with powerful shots, resulting in the Champ wobbling around, clutching and grabbing just to stay upright. The judges are now scoring the fight heavily in the Old Man's favor!. The bell rings, sending the fight into the final round. The Old Man seems to be in good shape, and is poised to get the big win he has been looking for. The unthinkable is about to happen!

And what happens next shocks the fight community. The Old Man doesn't answer the bell for the final round. The Champ is up, still wobbly, looking for all the world that he is about to lose his title, crown and money. But the Old Man, he doesn't move from his stool. The crowd looks on, breathless. And then from the Old Man's corner, we see a flash of something white. It lands in center ring. The towel. The Old Man has thrown in the towel! He quit! Just when it looked like he was going to win - he quit. Why?

It seems that there had been negotiations between the handlers of each fighter during the fight. The Champ's people, recognizing they were about to lose this fight, struck a deal. "Look, they said, We can't lose this fight. We've got too much at stake. We've got a long reign ahead of us as the dominant fighter in the world. We lose this, and we'll look like chumps." The Old Man's people, who were by all accounts, very savvy, said, "Yeah, we know. But you want the title, pretty bad, don't you? We're gonna win this thing, and you know it. But us winning the title doesn't really do us any good. We no longer have the legs to win anything ever again. But it fucks you up, but good. Believe me, we never liked you guys, and we're tempted to see you go down, but here's what we'll do: You give us a big pile of cash, and we'll throw in the towel. Your guy goes on to continued glory, and we'll just sit back and count the money.

And that's exactly what happened. The Old Man, tiring of the fight game, and realizing that his chance at glory had long ago slipped away, sold out. He took the fall. And took the money. His dreams of what could have been crushed, yet his pain soothed by millions of dollars.

A hollow and joyless victory has been handed to the Champ. May he wear the crown well.

September 20, 2001