Tony thought the kid was crazy at first, but after a while, he had to admit to himself that Apollo came up with something pretty damn clever/
the young boxer told Tony that press conferences were usually snoozers that failed to get people excited enough to want to see a fight/
sure, the tickets sold anyway, the seats were filled, the show made money, but how about trying to do something that could last forever?/
a narrative, sensationalism, hype, controversy, things to make people talk, make them argue, get the whole world to pay attention/
that's what Apollo was going for on June 2, 1963 at the Beverly Hilton hotel during a promotional event for his upcoming heavyweight bout/
the 21-year-old Creedon was set to square off against Bobby "The Deal" DeBron, both fighters having made quite a strong ascension/
Apollo's record was an impressive 16-0, while the 20-year-old Bobby was at 14-0 with one draw and the two young men were intensely excited/
DeBron had been trained by Leroy Evans, who had worked out a deal with Tony and a white promoter named Albert Michaelson to set up this fight/
this was a great thing, it meant lots of money for all involved and Apollo was obsessed with "the show", he was a flame that couldn't be unignited/
Bobby was very light-skinned, a mixture of a Jamaican father and Italian mother, with long black hair and an attractively effeminate face/
he was a lean machine of muscle at 6' 3", 201 lbs. and he had come to be known as the "punching pretty boy" a nickname he wasn't proud of/
Apollo, meanwhile, had developed into a dark brown sculpture of fitness at 6' 2", 204 lbs. and not one portion of his anatomy was out of place/
his handsomely masculine face now sported a thick mustache and his smooth short afro would almost seem to glisten if he was in the right light/
the tv and newspapers were calling this "the battle of the pretty boys" and that's just how Apollo wanted it, the publicity could work wonders/
these two guys waging war in the ring while trying to protect their good looks was a really interesting way, Apollo thought, to promote this fight/
and he also wanted people to think that he and Bobby actually hated each other in order to add more drama and, thus, it was showtime/
after posing and showing off their muscles for the flashing cameras, the two young warriors joined their respective trainers at a big table/
"Folks of the press..." Michaelson, centered at the table, said "This promises to be an amazing exhibition of two great fighters in their prime!"/
he added: "This bout will take place on July 8 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. You do not want to miss this!"/
team Creedon sat at the right end of the table, team DeBron at the left, Apollo and Bobby remembering to throw hard nasty scowls at each other/
photographers clicked away, reporters shouting and firing questions, one lady in particular coming out ahead as Michaelson said: "Yes, Miss!"/
"Bobby, um..." she began, a pencil and pad in her hands "What's your strategy against Apollo and are you worried about any damage to your face?"/
"Well," Bobby said with a smirk "my strategy is to win and...damage to MY face? When it's over, I'll still be better looking than Apollo anyway."/
Leroy smiled brightly as he rubbed Bobby's shoulder while, at the other end, Tony and Apollo were expressing looks of pride and grace/
"Apollo, Apollo!" a male reporter shouted "It's been said that there's real animosity between you and Bobby. Uh, would you care to elaborate?"/
"Let's see now..." Apollo said, scratching his chin "I'm faster, stronger, prettier than him and I WILL destroy him! But he's a nice guy! Heh heh!"/
there was a chorus of laughter from the crowd and Bobby grew very tense as Leroy whispered to him: "Easy...it's part of the act...don't get irate."/
patting Apollo on the back, the Duke said: "We're all just proud to be here, we've come a long way. DeBron is a tough dude, it'll be a good fight."/
Tony, also having grown a mustache himself and now with a bald head, nodded reassuringly at Leroy as if to say It's cool, man, everything's fine/
"Bobby!" another voice "How do you feel about Desmond Travis beating Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight belt last year? Him being white-"/
"Apollo!" a different voice "Is it true that you may be joining the Nation of Islam and that you've been having some meetings with Malcolm X?"/
Apollo, not expecting that question, played along with: "Uh, I was supposed to meet him at Lola's Rib Joint, but for some reason he didn't show!"/
more laughter, Tony's face in his hand, Leroy and Bobby looking at each other, chaos, lights flashing, Michaelson shouting: "Next question, next!"/
Bobby suddenly stood up, yelling: "Let me tell yall something! I don't care about any Desmond or Malcolm! I just wanna whip Apollo's butt!"/
gasps from the crowd and Apollo whispered to Tony: "Umm, you think he's being serious? He sounds serious, like FOR REAL serious."/
"Once I crush this punk..." Bobby added "ain't nobody else gonna stop me! You hear me, Creedon? Or is it CRETIN?" and Apollo said: "WHAT?"/
"Aww shit." Tony said to himself as Leroy grabbed Bobby by the shoulders and said: "Hey, cool it, man, relax! It's just publicity, calm down!"/
"What did you just call me??" Apollo roared "Tell you what, DeBron, call me that again and we can throw down right now! C'mon, let's go!"/
Bobby laughed and flexed his muscles for the crowd, saying: "Ignore the cretin, folks. He's nothing, I'm gonna stick him in the ground."/
"You half breed sucker!" Apollo spewed "I'm gonna hurt you so bad, you won't even remember which side of you is white and which one is black!"/
and they charged each other, Tony, Leroy and security guards trying to break them up, lights flashing, cameras popping, the crowd frenzied/
"What the hell just happened here??" Michaelson said to no one in particular, but he knew full well that the hype train for this fight was on track/
as for Apollo, this was his idea, to dramatize, to put on a show, but he didn't expect Bobby to pull out the word "cretin", a word that brought him pain/
ever since he was small, all the way to high school, he had to deal with other kids turning his last name into "cretin", a word he just wanted to erase/
well, it was time to teach this Bobby DeBron a lesson, a painful one, time for the whole damn world to learn and never forget his name
TO BE CONTINUED
No comments:
Post a Comment