Ringside Report Exclusive: Feature Boxing Writer Steps Into Boxing Ring – Maybe…

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

As someone who never laced a glove nor got in a ring there are people who are curious as to why I would ever follow the sweet science. I have no aversion to blood nor am offended by the smell of sweat, blood or tears though I have never found myself in pursuit of brandishing any of the three of them. Pugilism does not sit well with some of my University colleagues, especially those who studied medicine. I have heard all their arguments and witnessed their heads shaken at my words as if they have had been in a ten rounder with a heavyweight contender as I keep coming back with arguments as to why their medical expertise is not the point.

And yet I love this sport. I remember when as a kid, about 12 years old, a school friend came in to school to tell me that he had joined a boxing gym. That he was my namesake – another Stewart may have heightened the tale but the fact he was one of the smartest at school is what sold it. He became part of our drama club that won a trophy a few years later which also may have been significant but here was a cool and smart guy fighting. It wasn’t really fighting because he never fought in a ring as far as I knew but his association with the sport kind of made it all right for me to have that affection. I loved him for it and I loved that it legitimized my passion too.

So maybe it rubbed off on me but I had already been hooked thanks to my dad having the foresight to let me hear and see Ali fight. And yet, the issues remained for I was this pacifist, this young guy who wanted to follow Shakespeare and not Ali but was in awe of brutality.

As you get older you reflect and as an adult I have often wondered if there was an inner desire to get involved but an outer fragility that stopped me. At 17 years of age I was skinny and unlikely to cause anyone to worry about my ability in a fight. It led me to avoid any form of violence and by the time I went to university there was no doubt my days as a boxing fan were just going to increase and not diminish. It was not going to include though getting in any gym.

This was the time of the Clones Cyclone and Jim Watt. It was Eubank and Benn before we got Bruno. It was my awakening as a human being as I responded to the intellectual challenges given to me by the academics around me but accompanied by the pouring another drink and disappearing into myself. Boxing afforded me an escape in the same way that football did and watching – increasingly occasionally – the local team of my home town Ayr United heartily screw it up annually was nothing to my delight at just being close enough to feel involved, even if it was just watching.

With boxing I had always felt the thrill that came with the sound of the bell, the scream of the agony, the pure joy and the ecstasy and most importantly the thrill of the event. As the bell would go and the fighters would meet there was I sitting with the remote in hand squeezing until I realized that I was unable to affect the outcome on screen by choking the buttons off the very thing that would keep me tuned in.

You’ve got to understand that I have always had that desire to be involved but never the ability to get beyond the armchair; Until now.

Last week it arrived and for 112 pounds sterling I shall be applying to become a ring announcer. I could be standing in a ring to announce the careers of future champions and that gets me even more excited. Of course they might think I am not worthy of such elevation from the ringside chair to handle the pressures of the microphone but who knows. I am here in hope.

I have no ring tone like Mr Buffer nor the stock in trade ring phrase that catches your attention but I do have enthusiasm, some drama training and the ability to hold quite a few things in my head at the one time. I have a working knowledge of boxing and more importantly I know my place. I am not the main event, the admiration I have for anyone who gets into a ring to pursue their dream is such that I have absolutely no delusions that my step towards more boxing work is to help with the experiences of the audience and not take the limelight away from the real stars. I aint going to be doing world title fights but I am going to try and be there when a few kings come in the ring. Wish me luck and stay tuned, this might be a fascinating ride….

[si-contact-form form=’2′]