It was just eight days after the World Trade Center tragedy.
America was numb and, being there at the time, I felt it. The US pulled together but no one really knew if you could laugh at jokes, have fun, go to events or even go out.
But what must have been one of the earliest sporting events post-9/11 took place at Kahunaville Night Club in Wilmington, Delaware.
And while it’s listed as a nightclub, the fight took place outdoors, with guests seated at tables and chairs.
The most notable fight on the card was the last professional contest of former two-division champion Tracy Harris Patterson, son of former heavyweight champ Floyd.
The most notable bout on the card from my perspective was slightly different, and it saw Lisa Foster, then 3-3-1, take on the 3-1-1 Lakeysha Williams.
I’ll start by admitting I don’t remember the fight exactly, and I can’t even tell you how I got to the Dee Lee (Diane Fischer)-promoted show. What I do know is a convoy of us travelled up from Atlantic City, and that included light-heavyweight legend Matthew Saad Muhammad, former heavyweight champion Ray Mercer, and the Danish duo of welterweight contender Thomas Damgaard and Danish heavyweight Brian Nielsen.
Interesting note, by the way, that Patterson had lost to Arturo Gatti in 1996 and 1997, and Damgaard would lose to Arturo in 2006.
Anyway, I suppose there were about 10 or 15 of us across two or three tables. Mercer and Nielsen had been sparring together and were pretty friendly, but everyone got on, ate and enjoyed the seven-fight card as it went along.
(Photo: The bigger names are presented to the crowd with Nielsen (back row third from left), Saad Muhammad in the cap, Damgaard (bottom left) and Mercer (denim shorts)
One of the men in our posse, a former pro called James Ernst, knew Fischer and the three of us chatted a bit. She started speaking about the women’s fight on the bill and Ernst, always thinking about a quick buck, volunteered my services as a round-card guy.
He said to Diane that I would go topless in between rounds and hold a card informing spectators what round was coming up.
My first thought was, I’m not a piece of meat and I’m not Ernst’s to sell. My second thought was, how much are we talking here?
