Friday, May 24, 2002
Toughman matches
'not Disney on Ice'
By Jerry Daniel
Reed
Reporter-News Staff Writer
Toughman boxing competition
may not be everybody's notion of family entertainment, but Tony
McMillan insists it can be family-friendly.
The Taylor County
Expo Center manager expects no less during the Original Toughman
Contest at the Taylor County Coliseum on Friday and Saturday nights.
Toughman competitors are not professional or amateur boxers, but
value their street-fighting ability enough to climb into a ring
for three rounds with a complete stranger.
Last week, McMillan
said the Expo Center board pursues a goal of providing family-style
entertainment in events at the coliseum and other Expo arenas.
In responding to a suggestion that the board consider revisiting
its no-alcohol policy, McMillan said serving alcoholic drinks
would be incompatible with family entertainment at the Expo.
By early Thursday
afternoon, 42 men had confirmed plans to compete in the single-elimination
tournament, said Toughman promoter Murray Sutherland. Two or three
women also called to say they planned to fight, he said.
The men will compete
for $1,000 prizes awarded to the winners of the light-heavyweight
and heavyweight divisions. The women's champion will bank $200
to $1,000, depending upon the number competing.
Fewer than 1,000
tickets to each performance had been sold by noon Thursday, said
Rochelle Johnson, Expo Center events coordinator. About 1,500
to 2,000 are expected each night, she said.
Norman Archibald,
an Expo board member who is also an Abilene city councilman, said
he sees Toughman as appealing to young people much like wrestling
does. World Wrestling Entertainment drew a near-capacity crowd
of 7,300 last month.
"It's not like
Disney on Ice, and it's not Cinderella, and it's not Barnum and
Bailey,'' he said.
Archibald said he
sees Toughman as part family entertainment and part sports entertainment
for adults.
Bill Chaney, the
Expo board's immediate past president, said he did not know enough
about Toughman to have an opinion about its family appeal.
Archibald and Chaney
last week cited the Expo's no-alcohol policy as enhancing family
entertainment at the coliseum.
McMillan said he
does not consider Toughman boxing as family entertainment, but
said his staff will ensure that families find it safe to attend.
Most standard professional
and amateur boxing rules apply to Toughman competition, with exceptions
such as fewer and shorter rounds and more protective equipment.
In Texas, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation governs
Toughman competition as it does professional and amateur boxing.
A Toughman bout consists
of three one-minute rounds with a minute's rest between rounds,
compared to 10 to 12 rounds for most pro bouts. Toughman competitors
wear 16-ounce gloves, compared to the 10- to 12-ounce mitts worn
by the pros. They also must don groin guards and headgear.
Enthusiastic fans
Steve Allspach, a
sportswriter for the Sioux City Journal in Sioux City, Iowa, said
Toughman is not mainstream family fare.
In 1997, police were
called to break up fights among Toughman spectators in the Sioux
City Auditorium, the Journal reported. Allspach said Sioux City
officials have since learned the number of security officers necessary
to maintain crowd calm.
McMillan said ample
security, paid for by the promoter, will be at the Taylor County
Coliseum.
Allspach said Toughman
fans in Sioux City like to drink beer at ringside, an option not
available to local crowds. Alcohol definitely adds to the rowdiness,
he said.
Sutherland and Original
Toughman publicist Steve Coppler claim their sport has come a
long way in its appeal to families over the past 10 years, particularly
since the event has been televised on Fox sports cable channels
the last three years. TV created a new group of fans among young
teens and pre-teens, Sutherland said.
Ten years ago, males
comprised 99 percent of Toughman crowds. Now women are about 40
percent of the gate, Coppler said.
"We've made
it more of a family-oriented event,'' he said.
Twelve- and 13-year-old
boys enjoy the faster pace of the bouts compared to pro or amateur
boxing, as well as the up-tempo music that accompanies the event,
he said. The youths also go for Toughman merchandise such as T-shirts,
Sutherland said.
The promotion of
the event is unabashedly macho, down to the nicknames given the
fighters. Among the 40 fighters signed up for this weekend's Toughman
contest are "Crazy" Calvin Abor and Michael "Roughneck"
Anderson.
"Don't believe
everything you read,'' said a laughing Coppler, who admitted the
fighters' crafted images are part of the hype.
Even the stated upper
weight limit for the heavyweight division, 400 pounds, is largely
hype, Sutherland said. The weight ranges are 175-184.9 pounds
for light-heavyweights and 185-400 pounds for heavyweights.
Despite the macho
hype, Southerland and Coppler insist Toughman competition is safe.
Fighters undergo pre- and post-bout physicals, physicians sit
at ringside, and a manned ambulance stays parked outside, as mandated
by state law.
A fighter who died
in 1996 in Oklahoma was participating in a "rip-off"
event unconnected to the Original Toughman Contest, Coppler said.
Nevertheless, the death prompted an Oklahoma labor commissioner
to suspend Toughman and similar competitions in the state in 1997.
The pugilistic events
were made legal again by the state legislature in 2002.
Though Toughman does
not suit every taste, McMillan said it fits into the community's
need for a diversity of entertainment.
"It's just an
event that a lot of people enjoy," he said.
Contact public
affairs writer Jerry Reed at 676-6769 or reedj@reporternews.com
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