"Rocky" Redux

"With high hope for the future, no prediction is ventured."

    - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th U.S. president

As I was having my morning cup of coffee and reading the sports pages, I ran across this inspirational Associated Press article by Ben Walker (brief registration required). It's the story of Najah Salah Ali, a 24-year-old Iraqi boxer who will be among about two dozen others from his country who will be going to the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Ali has visited New York and Michigan and is currently working out with U.S. boxers at the Galena Park Boxing Academy in Houston, Texas. Later this month he'll compete at the Titan Games, a pre-Olympics event in Atlanta, GA, then he will fly to Japan for some appearances before making the trip to Athens. 

He is being trained by American Maurice "Termite" Watkins, who himself qualified for the 1974 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, and fought for the WBC Junior Welterweight Title in 1980. Watkins, who was on assignment in Iraq as a pesticide expert, met Ali through a chance encounter with a British officer who liked boxing. Interested, he asked the officer to introduce him to the Iraqi boxers. He described his first encounter with them:

"When I started working with those guys, some of them were barefoot. The boxing rings were concrete, and there were four metal posts stuck in the ground. There were four ropes for the ring--well, three ropes sometimes."

Despite the oppressive conditions under which they were training, he sensed potential and volunteered to work with Ali and his friends in cooperation with the foundation Playing For Peace, an organization that helps foreign athletes who are in difficult situations. His effort in this regard resulted in him using his single wild card to select Ali as Iraq's sole representative to the Olympic boxing competition--clearly his best choice since Ali is the current Iraqi National Champion in his weight-class and also won the Arab Championship in Egypt.

And what does Ali think about all that is happening to him?

"I feel my country needs this. With all this situation in Iraq, we need this medal. If someone gets a medal, it would be very big. I would give the medal to my country. After that, my dream is to be a professional boxer."

I'm a sentimental slob and this whole story reminds me of how I felt years ago when I saw the movie "Rocky," where underdog Rocky Balboa got a shot at fighting Apollo Creed, the heavyweight champion of the world. I don't know how Ali will do in the Olympics, and that really doesn't matter, for simply getting to participate is a great achievement in itself. But wouldn't it be something if he won a medal? Can you imagine? 

I say, more power to him and to the people who are helping him. The world needs more Maurice Watkins who are willing to volunteer their time and energy to help lift someone up, and more Najah Salam Alis, who are willing to take a leap of faith and work their hearts out to achieve their dreams. Good luck guys!