Probably as strong a tradition as any that I have right now, yours truly and co-founder Rudy Mondragon have long phone conversations to mark the end of years and what to look forward to in the next. I know, it’s practically deep 2017, but Rudy and I actually had our talk in late December, sharing a late afternoon reflecting on life and our shared interest in boxing. His new series is something to marvel, a deep look at the trenches of the life of Jonathan Walley hailing from Tengoose Boxing Gym, Part I and Part II. I say trenches because it’s incredibly enlightening to look at the challenges of our young men and women who’ve decided to dedicate themselves to the sport. In these times, the physical sacrifices are arduous just to participate at the amateur level, but the mental and emotional challenges are heightened.

My goal this year is also to write with purpose. I propose a series, called the Essence Historic: Essays of boxing historic consequences and how they have affected modern boxing. As current boxing media is reactionary, I will concentrate on specific aspects of the sport. Like number of rounds, weights of gloves. The queensberry rules. Gentleman’s agreements, unspoken rules, roles, jobs, referees, and other real things that make the fight. As long as it’s a recurring modern pattern, we’ll work backwards from it.

That’s BMB. Always a different facet, a different angle. It’s a different year already.

BMB