FNU FOUNDER “RABBLE ROUSIN’” RICH BERGERON’S BOXING COMEBACK BLOG: ROUND TWO

Posted on | September 3, 2009 | No Comments

See ROUND ONE OF THIS SERIES HERE

By: Rich Bergeron

I’ve hit another milestone on the comeback trail after getting my weight under 190 pounds for the first time in a long time today. I feel incredible after running through the 21-day course of 714X, and I will be posting a new blog about that experience at Alternative Health Central over the next couple days.

Next week I will be sparring for a third time at the Petronelli Gym. My workout last night there set the stage for my weight cutting feat today. I am starting to actually feel skinnier for the first time, and 175 pounds doesn’t seem so far away. I decided I will try to land one amateur fight sometime in October as my first tune-up bout and turn pro at light heavyweight by year’s end. The key is trimming off the last 15 pounds or so. I am at a sub-190 post-workout weight, which is a sign that in a few days I should be around 190 when I wake up. At the end of September, I will surely be ready to try to improve my amateur record to 4-2. This time around I will be doing it at a weight 10 pounds lighter than I boxed at in college. Hard to believe I can even do that more than 10 years out from my last official fight. One might wonder reading this what the heck I’m trying to prove.

My real motivation through all of this has been my determination to grow old with no regrets about boxing. Here I am commentating on guys still fighting into their late 40s, and I never bothered to give the pro ranks a try. I always had good potential and worked very hard at it. I taught plenty of college students how to box, though I’m not sure if any of them went on to fight another day after I left school. I figured I’m almost 32 now. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is the same age and could be considered to be in the prime of his career as long as he handily beats Marquez this month. My timing couldn’t be better to say it’s now or never. I’m no Floyd Mayweather, and I don’t have one iota of his experience, but I’ve got what all other great boxers are known for. I have determination, heart, and a passion for the sport.

Another motivator for me has been Rocky Marciano, a man I now technically work for in spirit since I am helping out with the Rocky Marciano Foundation and ROCKY49WINS.COM. As I continue to learn new details about this great champion’s life and what he overcame to win every fight, I am humbled by the sense of history and the weight of his accomplishments.

Staring down at the 188 pounds registering on the scale this afternoon, I instantly thought to myself, “Nice, I’m at Rocky-weight now.” Rocky kept himself right around 185-189 pounds through most of his fights as a professional heavyweight, which folks who claim he was over-rated tend to forget. He was fighting bigger guys with way more experience at the end of his career, and he still came out on top when nobody gave him a chance in the beginning.

Lately, the historical significance of what Rocky did for boxing has become the stuff of legend. The 40th anniversary of his death and what would have been his 86th birthday just passed, and there was a sudden flood of recognition and respect shown by local media, nostalgic for the days when the heavyweight champ hailed from New England and a little shoe town called Brockton. Rocky used to scribble notes to himself in his own style of broken English, and one such note found after his death read simply, “Live Fast, Die Hard.” He did just that, always traveling in his later years and ultimately killed in a horrible plane crash. The collision with a sole oak tree poking out of an otherwise harmless cornfield took Rocky’s head off, literally. Knowing Rocky’s penchant for sleeping through such dangerous small-engine plane trips, he probably never saw it coming. Yet, in some ways the whole tragic ending sealed his fate as a true legend. Such tremendous and enduring tales always seems to end too soon, with the hero dying young.

I felt sort of ashamed when I first began learning all the intricate details of Rocky’s living years, knowing all this time I was ignorant of this incredible legacy of a local guy made good. Reading Everett M. Skehan’s “Undefeated: Rocky Marciano; The Fighter Who Refused To Lose,” I felt like a young kid again, sharing popcorn with my dad during a Mike Tyson fight on HBO. Great fighters so often have backgrounds that really don’t seem to fit with their inside the ring persona. Rocky epitomized the regular guy figure no matter how big his ego should have been. He had the ability to beat any man in the world in the prime of his career, but he was gracious and wholesome, not angry and ornery. He remained humble and true to his Brockton roots. Looking at the impact he still has today on his old stomping grounds truly pushed me over the edge of admiration into complete reverence for this lost son of Brockton that I will never get to meet.

Yet, I came to understand that Rocky was the kind of guy you didn’t have to meet. Wandering around George’s Cafe in Brockton and taking in the hundreds of authentic Rocky photos is like viewing a veritable slideshow of “The Brockton Blockbuster’s” best years and beyond. My first time there a couple months ago, I spent a few minutes absorbing each image, I felt almost like I’d gone back in time and just shook Rocky’s hand. 40 years past the point of his death his brother Peter still beams with pride about Rocky’s greatest triumphs and can never forget how happy and personable Rocky was in life. Those who knew him well carry the legend of the man like a torch of living history, passing the fire on to the next generation whenever possible. Once you grasp what this man was able to do and realize that nobody after him could replicate his undefeated heavyweight record, you feel obligated yourself to remind people of his awesome impact on boxing.

Keep in mind, this is the guy who really inspired the tale of “Rocky Balboa.” Rocky V actually included a small tribute to Rocky Marciano in the form of a cuff link the real Rocky supposedly gave to Rocky’s Trainer Mickey. I say too little, too late, but the real history buffs all know the truth.

More so than any other aspect of Rocky’s life, his ability to energize a whole city full of people (Brockton) and a whole race of people (Italians) pales in comparison to every other heavyweight champion other than maybe Muhammad Ali. Rocky never had to use a hateful word to generate buzz, though. He just had to be himself. That’s all I want to be, and to be able to start my boxing career in the same town that produced this great American hero is an honor to me. Though I don’t kid myself into thinking I have enough time to become a world champ myself, the fact that Rocky did when not much was expected of him at least gives me hope. I know it’s possible, because Rocky accomplished it. Like Rocky did, I have made roadwork my religion, and I even want to replicate his Grossinger’s training hangar when I make enough money to put it all together. I just want to follow the guy’s example any way I can.

The Petronelli Gym, where I train now, is a special place. I don’t get over there too often. It’s a good ten minute drive from my house, and I don’t have wheels. I actually run through the outskirts of Brockton every day on my way to the high-tension power line trails, but I find running too long on pavement never feels good, so I’ve decided not to try to run to the gym. I take the bus when I can, which is not as often as I’d like. I have strict instructions from the folks who introduced me to the gym that I can’t go there without my trainer Tony Petronelli (42-4-1, 22 KOs). If he’s not there, or if I don’t have money for the bus, I stay home to work out. I get a better workout at the gym because there’s heavy bags, and it’s always hot in the small, very antique third-floor space. Wanting to be fresh in case I have to spar, I usually skip running on my gym days. I don’t regret it when it comes to weight cutting, though.

Coming out of the Petronelli Gym and working with a bona-fide Petronelli with 352 more professional rounds under his belt than I have puts a bit of a fire under my backside to do the best I possibly can and forget my age. I look around that gym sometimes and marvel about how much history is plastered on the walls. I can’t help but wonder how many pro boxers came through that space on their way to the ring and the spotlight. I see the current crop of up and comers there and know there is no better place for me. Like Rocky was, the gym itself is legendary and oh-so-humble. You’d never know it’s there up all those flights of stairs. You can’t even see the sign telling you it’s the Petronelli gym until you get halfway up all those steps. The cross-town gym run by the Capiello family may be nicer and newer, but this place has class. Screw nice. I want gritty. I want tough. I want that rugged look that shows this is proving ground where so many fighters went from OK boxers to becoming some of best in the business.

The Petronelli gym gives me a sense of perspective no other gym could. Also, from interviewing Goody Petronelli, 1/2 of the Petronelli brotherhood that created Marvin Hagler (Tony’s father Pat Petronelli was the other half), I know that Rocky wanted to join Goody in opening the gym and spoke to Goody about it before the crash that killed him. You can’t help but feel that Rocky’s spirit is there. It’s this kind of place that forces you to remember that Brockton really is a boxing town, and it ain’t called “The City of Champions” for nothing. I just hope one day I can bring a championship belt back to that gym and maybe some new equipment. I wouldn’t change a thing about the grungy look of the place, but there’s at least one heavy bag I’d wanna swap out. Those who train there know what I’m talking about.

Another thing about the Petronelli Gym that’s very encouraging and motivating is that it never feels empty. Sometime you have to wait in line to get on a heavy bag. Sparring rarely takes place in more than one of the two rings, but everyone seems to be transfixed on the action when it does. Whoever says boxing is dead, they obviously haven’t been to the Petronelli Gym lately.

Kids of all ages come up to train, and there’s no real drama to speak of or hard feelings expressed. No complaining, either. I don’t think I’ve even heard an “ouch” out of anyone’s mouth in that place yet. I get the sense that this is the kind of environment Rocky thrived on while he was going through his training camps. No BS, no games, no excuses. It’s just 100 percent boxing and everything you have to put together to become great has been put together there before. I usually feel like the fattest guy in the place, too, so that motivates me to cut more weight. Every fighter who sticks it out there seems to end up looking chiseled. If I keep going there I know I will be, too.

OK, enough rambling. Next time I write a blog about my comeback I will hopefully have some sparring footage. I’m going to have to start thinking about getting sponsors soon. I want to have something to show for my hard work and to prove that I’m going to really rise to this challenge. I also want to be able to pick my performance apart so I can hone my skills before my debut. Stay Tuned!