By GEORGE MAHL – Sports Editor

To say the least, it has been very busy lately. We have got baseball, softball and track in full swing right now. For me, that is enough. I did something for a change last Thursday night. Myself along with my co-worker Rhett Triche went to the Argosy Casino to see live boxing.

I have been to numerous boxing matches throughout the last few years. Rhett on the other hand had never been to one. He, like many others, had only viewed them on television. I told him before we went that we would be sitting ringside. What I did not tell him was how close we would be to the ring.

“This is really ringside,” he said to me. He noticed right away how much different it would be while watching it with the fighters only two or three feet in front of you.

We both flinched everytime a boxer would get hit with his back against the ropes in front of us. It was almost as if you could feel the shot.

About the only complaint I had was the price of the hot dogs. I gave him $10 expecting to see about $7 or $8 in return. Instead, I only got $5 dollars back. In fact, the hot dog was not very big.

Getting back to the fights, the main event featured two local guys fighting each other. Will McIntyre of Covington battled Ron Weaver of New Orleans in a Louisiana Super Middleweight bout. For the most part, I thought the fight was dull.

About the only excitement happened in the crowd. One guy got a little carried away and was handcuffed by Baton Rouge’s finest. They released him when he agreed to behave himself. Nonetheless, it was somewhat of a humorous moment. About the only real action in the fight came when Weaver landed a series of unanswered punches to McIntyre’s head.

“Mcintyre needs to do something fast”, Rhett said to me. “I really don’t think he is hurt,” I replied. In the end, McIntyre was not hurt. He is someone who takes a punch well.

Known in the ring as “Kid Fire”, McIntyre battled back after losing the first few rounds. He did not stun Weaver but managed to get back in the fight. I felt that he did not do enough to win. The judges, however, saw it differently. One scored it for McIntyre while the other two scored it a draw. It ended up being a majority draw. Not only were the fighters not happy with the decision, neither were some of the fans. One guy behind me yelled “that’s bull.”

To which I turned to him and said “that’s boxing.”