Who We Fight and Why We Fight
We hate in others what we hate in ourselves. Some say hate is a strong word… so is love… so is fight… so is empower.
Who we fight is no great mystery; hold up a mirror and you will see your enemy. Eventually, all conflict in rational human beings boils down to this. I said rational… the psychopaths are on their own.
In the ring, Glenn will be fighting Hosier Bruno, the man in the background of the first picture. Hosier is a soft spoken French Canadian Muay Thai specialist, he wears sandals in winter, he looks you in the eye when he shakes your hand, he carries prayer beads.
Hosier could be anybody, it wouldn’t matter. Glenn’s opponent is always the same.
Today is the official weigh-in. We travel to Robert Guertin Arena in Hull, Quebec, ten minutes from downtown Ottawa. The weigh-ins are better organized than most, but still take longer than they should. Fighters lounge at cafeteria tables. Those trying to cut weight suck ice cubes or shadow box, quiet, inside themselves. There is little or no bravado, a bit of territorial pissing between the headliners but that’s about all.
Glenn and Hosier shake hands. They are respectful of each other. When they separate, one watches as the other walks away. Glenn has seen what he needs to see, Hosier has questions still.
After the official weigh-ins we got to Glenn’s daughter’s school in Kanata for a choir recital. Mariko joins us. Later she asks me if I saw the tears in Glenn’s eyes. For her, the fact that Glenn can show this kind of joy one day before the fight is a small miracle. She’ll take it.
Back to Ottawa for a media dog and pony show at the Hard Rock Café. The fighters strip down as their weights are announced and flashbulbs fire rockets at their flesh. The crowd is typical fight; young men with very little hair and fight t-shirts. I am slightly surprised that I also fall into this description… except that I am not young anymore.
Then we’re at the hotel and the Warrior One (W1) production office. W1 is the company promoting the fights and all in the fight game have high hopes for what seems to be a stand up crew, but the gate isn’t in yet and the checks haven’t been signed… plenty of time for the greed to take hold.
Driving and still and hour from home, Glenn talks to his kids on the phone to wish them good night. He doesn’t like this, it upsets him that he is not there. After a day like today I wonder what motivates him to go through this. The reality is that he has probably spent more on doctors, chiropractors, trainers, and spending time promoting the event than he will ever get back in pay.
Selfishly, he has a reason, a test of himself the results of which are only known to him.
But aside from that, there is only what will be.
And what will be wakes him up every morning with kisses and I love you daddy’s.
What is and what will ever be…
