I have been thinking a lot about “friendship” lately.
It is almost amazing the amount of Treachery and Deceit one experiences in life.
True Friends are rare and hard to find. Associates I have many, friends very few.
Muhammad Ali on Friendship
Muhammad Ali Poem on Friendship:
“Friendship is a priceless gift that cannot be bought nor sold.
But, its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold.
For gold is cold and lifeless, it can neither see nor hear.
In time of trouble its powerless to cheer.
Gold has no ears to listen, no heart to understand.
It cannot bring you comfort or reach out a helping hand.
So, when you ask God for a gift, be thankful if He sends,
not pearls, diamonds, or riches but, the love of real true friends.”
The Rest is Up to You…
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
Muhammad Ali, besides being the best Heavyweight ever, and the most important sportsman of all time, was the original master of the swagger wordplay.
Muhammad Ali Speech
“I done wrastled with an alligator
I tussled with a whale.
I handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail!
Only last week I murdered a rock!
Injured a stone! Hospitalized a brick! I’m so mean I make medicine sick!”
“I’m so fast, I cut off the light switch and was in bed before the room got dark.”
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali vs Henry Cooper
The only person I ever asked for a autograph from.
I was 14.
The Rest is Up to You…
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
Sen. John McCain said Wednesday he’s sure that President Barack Obama “will be more than eager” to pardon the late black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, who was sent to prison nearly a century ago because of his romantic ties with a white woman.
In this corner – Jack Johnson
Appearing with three of Johnson’s family members and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., McCain unveiled a resolution urging a presidential pardon for Johnson, who was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for immoral purposes. The law has since been heavily amended, but has not been repealed.
McCain, R-Ariz., said he planned to speak to Obama about it, but added, “I think the last person I have to convince probably is President Obama.”
Miles Davis- A Tribute to Jack Johnson
“We need to erase this act of racism which sent an American citizen to prison on a trumped-up charge,” McCain said, adding, “I have great confidence this president will be more than eager to sign this legislation and pardon Jack Johnson.”
The White House declined to comment Wednesday. Obama was in London on Wednesday attending a summit on the global economic crisis.
McCain and King — both of whom have done their share of boxing — are advocating the pardon along with filmmaker Ken Burns, whose 2005 documentary, “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson,” explored the case against Johnson and the sentencing judge’s admitted desire to “send a message” to black men about relationships with white women.
Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion on Dec. 26, 1908, 100 years before Obama became the first black president.
“It certainly would be a moment in history,” King said, “to have the first African-American president granting a pardon to the first African-American heavyweight champion.”
The resolution announced Wednesday seeks a pardon that acknowledges Johnson’s career and reputation were wronged “by a racially motivated conviction prompted by his success in the boxing ring and his relationship with white women.” Similar resolutions offered in 2004 and last year failed to pass both chambers of Congress.
Burns helped form the Committee to Pardon Jack Johnson, which filed a petition with the Justice Department in 2004 that was never acted on. He called Johnson “the greatest boxer of all time,” and said when Johnson proved unbeatable in the ring, “the white power establishment decided to beat him in the courts.”
He called a pardon for Johnson “just a question of justice, which is not only blind, but color-blind,” adding, “I think it absolutely does not have anything to do with the symbolism of an African-American president pardoning an African-American unjustly accused.”
Johnson won the 1908 world heavyweight title after police in Australia stopped his 14-round match against the severely battered Canadian world champion, Tommy Burns. That led to a search for a “Great White Hope” who could beat Johnson. Two years later, Jim Jeffries, the American world titleholder Johnson had tried for years to fight, came out of retirement but lost in a match called “The Battle of the Century,” resulting in deadly riots.
Authorities first targeted Johnson’s relationship with Lucille Cameron, who later became his wife, but she refused to cooperate. They then found another white witness, Belle Schreiber, to testify against him. Johnson fled the country after his conviction, but agreed years later to return and serve a 10-month jail sentence. He tried to renew his boxing career after leaving prison, but failed to regain his title. He died in a car crash in 1946 at age 68.
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
Manny Pacquiao’s name is being floated as one of the top contenders of Floyd Mayweather Jr. if ever the former pound-for-pound king decides to come out of retirement.
Golden Boy Promotions chief executive officer Richard Schaeffer said Mayweather, who retired after beating Ricky Hatton in 2007, could pick from four high-profile opponents if he decides to once again climb the ring this year.
A Mayweather-Pacquiao match would pit the reigning pound-for-pound champion against the former title holder.
Mayweather was undefeated in 39 fights, with 25 knockouts, when he retired.
Pacquiao holds a 48-3-2 win-loss-draw record with 37 of his wins by way of knockout. He is currently training for his upcoming fight against Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas.
Schaeffer said Pacquiao would solidify his hold of the pound-for-pound title if he beats Hatton. “I don’t care who you put in front of (Pacquiao), big or small, he would be the pound-for-pound champion.”
He added that a Mayweater-Pacquiao match will be a huge draw in Las Vegas. “To put (Pacquiao) and Mayweather together, it would be for all the marbles. If you think about it, even if you were a casual fan, you would have to get excited about them.”
Others being considered are Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs), “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) and Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs).
Hatton is eyeing a rematch against Mayweather after suffering a ninth-round technical knockout (TKO) loss in their December 8, 2007 fight. He could earn that rematch if ever the British boxing superstar upsets Pacquiao.
“Just imagine the huge draw of a sellout crowd at Wembley Stadium in London with 100,000 people if Hatton would beat Pacquiao,” said Schaeffer. “It (Hatton-Mayweather) would be a huge, huge, historic fight.”
