No way, Sugar Ray
“No way, Sugar Ray” read the cover headline. Alongside those words – staring right at me at the Walden Bookstore in Waterbury’s Naugatuck Valley Mall – was the one and only Roberto Duran. I’m not sure a chill went down my nine year old spine at that exact moment, but one may as well have. For the legendary Duran was preparing to face American superstar “Sugar” Ray Leonard in Montreal. It was the first major fight I was really excited for, and the first issue of Sport’s Illustrated that really caught my attention. There more more afterward – many more.
l’ll always remember the article about Donald Curry’s 1985 destruction of Milton McCory for instance (even now I recall Curry being described as having gunfighter eyes). And let’s not forget the 1984 piece on heavyweight kingpin Larry Holmes almost losing to Tim Witherspoon. Or the one on Mike McCallum’s stunning one punch kayo of Curry in the summer of 1987. Or the brilliant piece later that same year on Evander Holyfield’s unique training methods (people forget he rung in an era where fighters began training differently). Even decades later, I still found myself impressed with well presented, fascinating articles like the one penned about a still undefeated Adrien Broner in 2013.
Make no mistake – SI, as it was called, presented some terrific fight writing, writing which impacted this particular fight writer in numerous positive ways. And now we learn that the great Sports Illustrated is firing it’s entire – or a great percentage of, depending on your source – staff of writers. Authentic Brands Group, which owns the magazine, has apparently decided the venerable publication, which has been around since the late 1950’s is no longer worth the effort to keep running as is. In a world of online journalism and changing tastes, the news should come as no surprise. Still, it does.
In a world plagued with countless problems, the disappearance or severe decline of a sports publication may seem insignificant. People will briefly express surprise upon hearing the news, only to swiftly forget about it in the days to come. Such is the nature of our society. However, for those of us who cherished the exceptional content that graced the pages of Sports Illustrated, this is a bitter pill to swallow. Its demise signifies more than just the downfall of a business. SI provided more than mere sports news; it offered remarkable writing, at least for a period of time. Hopefully, the best of that writing will endure, for truly great writing has a tendency to persist.
