Photo and text by Juan C. Ayllon Last night while reading responses on Facebook to my new review of the Pass Labs X250.8 amplifier at Positive Feedback (you can read that HERE), someone wrote that they were big fans of Thomas "Hitman" Hearns -- whom I'd mentioned in the introduction while referring to his late trainer, Emanuel Steward of the acclaimed Kronk Gym, as a lead-in to Nelson Pass, who founded Pass Labs and holds similar status in high end audio. I shared some additional photos from my days writing and editing at the Cyber Boxing Zone (that's how I heard about Steward's influence and actually met him), and that got me thinking today, "whatever happened to the boxers and personalities I wrote about and got to know from my tenure at the CBZ?" Starting out in December 2003 and carrying on through 2014 or so, when hackers' malware made uploading photos impossible, I wrote for the CBZ and was its newswire editor for the greater part of that stretch. And through it all, I got to know a lot of boxers. To my surprise, many embraced me with open arms. Michael Hirsley, then reporter for the Chicago Tribune, told me at a boxing match that I'll find that many fighters are a humble lot; they go up under the lights fully exposed and, at any moment, things could go horribly south, and there's no one to blame. It's just them against their opponents. Sure, they have a corner, but they're not out there fighting for them. After I posted a photo a friend snapped of me at ringside, retired boxer, "Macho" Miguel Hernandez commented "Good old days!!!!" Yes, they were. I am considering revisiting some of those friends and acquaintances in the near future on these pages. However, in the meanwhile, I'll leave you with a few photos.
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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