By Eric Roman: Religion is a touchy subject in our nation. People have a tendency to shy away from the topic as soon as it comes up, but for some, they proudly wear it on there sleeve for the whole world to see. Bert Sugar did just that, except his religion was Boxing. As we all know, the golden age of Boxing is long gone. The Heavyweight Division is starving for talent, Mayweather and Pacquiao want to get it on as much as your Grandparents want to, and the rise of MMA has Prize Fighting up against the ropes nearing an eight count. When a boxer is cornered, the one element needed to fight his way out is “heart”, on Sunday, March 25 2012, our sport took a major hit and lost a piece of it’s heart.
Bert was one of the last Historian’s left, now with him and Hank Kaplan both in better places, it’s up to our generation to keep this beloved sport alive. It’s up to guys like Max Kellerman, and Elie Seckbach to get young kids to fall in love with it. Kids like Alden Chodash, who’s already making a name for himself as a young journalist. Yes, boxing needs great fights, yes, it also needs great fighters to create those fights, but the heartbeat of pugilism lies within its fan base. We are the connection between the two. Without the media, without the writer’s and analysts, we’ll lose sight of who these fighters are.
We are the ultimate fan’s and Bert Sugar was one of our leaders. His passion was in everything he wrote, he ate, slept and bled Boxing from the “smokers” of the past to the multi million dollar Pay Per Views of today. As much as I’m sure he’d want to take our sport with him where ever he’s gone off to, we can’t allow that to happen. Don’t let Boxing die with our legends and heroes, let’s keep it alive. Let’s create an era that our children will speak about for decades. Watch a fight with your son, ask your Dad to come over for the next big one, invite some friends, because although boxing is about competition, it’s more so about tradition, something Bert Randolph Sugar knew extremely well. You will be greatly missed Mr. Sugar, but your memory will live on in the sport you helped grow.