Sunday, July 28, 2002
JOHN BOYD
Staff Writer
Ovidion Mendoza Jr. of Midland has found a dark corner of the San Angelo Coliseum to collect his thoughts and shadow box with his future father-in-law.
His fists are taped and he’s ready to go.
Ten feet away, Steven Myers paces. He looks wired, ready to hear a ring bell.
Fifteen minutes later, they enter the boxing ring. One will leave bleeding.
It’s all a part of fight night on Saturday, brought to San Angelo by the Toughman Championship Series.
Ring announcer Justin Roberts calls it “a bar room brawl in a ring with a referee.” The description is a good one.
For three one-minute rounds, local men and women throw an assortment of haymakers and slaps in hope of moving on to the next round of the tournament and winning their part of $3,000 in prize money.
“These are armchair athletes who want to find out if they’ve got what it takes to be a fighter,” Toughman coordinator Lydia Robertson said. They’ve got guts and they’ve got heart.”
More than either hearts or guts, Toughman has loyalty.
In it’s 23 years, Toughman has grown from amateur boxing night in Bay City, Mich., to one of the biggest sporting draws on cable television, thanks to it’s partnership with the FX Networks.
FX’s Friday night Toughman broadcasts average more than twice as many viewers as rival ESPN2’s Friday boxing shows.
Neither Mendoza nor Myers seem to have ratings on their mind, though when they enter the hazard-yellow and black Toughman ring.
With the opening bell, the fighters meet in the middle of the ring with a blizzard of fists and elbows. The ring looks more like a blender with the two fighters spinning and colliding with each other.
“The first punch is a wake-up call,” Mendoza said. “It really teaches you to keep your hands up.”
By the second round, though, Mendoza is the one giving out most of the punches.
He manages to outbox Myers who is getting tired quickly. A jab from Mendoza explodes Myers right cheek and sends Myers to the mat.
Gobs of sweat and blood fly several feet into the air, flying almost far enough to hit the ringcard girls, who are on their feet screaming for both fighters.
Myers gets up from the jab and makes it through the rest of the second and third round, but the fight might as well have been over.
For his effort, Mendoza gets the chance to fight again; this time against the 400-pound James Jones; a man more than twice his size.
Some say that’s tough luck, but it’s not. It’s just Toughman. And if Mendoza can beat Jones and win two more fights (a total of four in one night) he’ll win a $1,000.
More importantly to him though, he says he’ll have earned the other fighters’ respect.
“A lot of people didn’t think that I would last,” Mendoza said. “I’m fighting for pride.”
For most of the fighters, pride is what Toughman is about; even if it comes in three-minute spurts.